Beef Carnitas Tacos

Beef Carnitas Tacos

6
Points®
Total Time
4 hr 10 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
4 hr
Serves
8
Difficulty
Easy
Traditional carnitas is made by cooking pork in fat until the meat is fall-apart tender. In this interpretation, we combine lean steak with a spiced, citrusy braising liquid and let the slow cooker’s gentle heat tenderize the beef for up to 10 hours. The flavorful shredded steak is great in tacos, on top of tostadas, or served with veggies, rice, and beans.

Ingredients

Uncooked lean flank steak

1 pound(s), trimmed

Beer

8 fl oz, (1 cup)

Fresh lemon juice

¼ cup(s)

Orange juice

¼ cup(s)

Chili powder

2 tsp

Ground cumin

1 tsp

Paprika

1 tsp, smoked variety

Table salt

½ tsp

Black pepper

¼ tsp

Corn tortilla

8 tortilla(s), medium, warmed

Pico de gallo

½ cup(s), or chunky salsa

Cilantro

¼ cup(s)

Avocado

1 item(s), peeled and finely chopped

Lime

1 item(s), large, cut into 8 wedges

Instructions

  1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the beef, beer, lemon juice, orange juice, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Cover and cook until the beef is fork-tender, 4 to 5 hours on High or 8 to 10 hours on Low.
  2. Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Discard all but ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Using 2 forks, shred the beef. In a medium bowl, combine the shredded beef with 2 tbsp of the cooking liquid, adding more of the cooking liquid if the beef seems dry.
  3. Serve the beef filling with the tortillas, salsa, cilantro, avocado, and lime wedges.
  4. Serving taco: 1 taco