The best beef taco filling can be in your tummy today.
Barbacoa de res is a Mexican beef dish that’s slow cooked til juicy, soft and tender, then coated in a savory red chile sauce that has just a tiny hint of spice and a huge hit of flavor. If you love tacos and you love beef, this is the taco filling for you.

This is one of the greatest meat dishes to come out of a region full of delicious meat dishes. If you like carnitas, al pastor, adovada, carne asada, or birria tacos, you’re gonna love barbacoa. But even if you already know how amazing barbacoa is, keep on reading to find out just how crazy easy it is to make at home.What is barbacoa?
Barbacoa originated in the Caribbean as an in-ground slow cooked whole animal wrapped in leaves, but these days it’s most closely associated with Mexican food. Fun fact: Barbacoa is said to be the originator word for barbeque, and it’s basically the same idea: carefully slow cooked meats imbued with a lot of intense flavors.

Mexican barbacoa as we know it today is a juicy and super flavorful soft shredded beef/lamb/goat seasoned with dried chiles and spices and slow or pressure cooked until it falls apart. It’s sweet, tangy, just a little spicy, very complex, and irresistibly good. You can serve it in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, flautas, and so much more more. This version is a super easy and simplified barbacoa de res, which translates to barbacoa beef, although you could adapt this recipe to lamb or goat if you want.

Ingredients
Chicken for Tacos

1/2 cup orange juice,3 cloves garlic minced,1 tbsp neutral oil,1 tbsp white vinegar,1 tbsp chile powder chimayo chile powder preferred, optional,2 tsp ground coriander,2 tsp smoked paprika,2 tsp dried oregano,2 tsp ground cumin,1 tsp black pepper,1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs see notes for other meats

Tacos,:12 4″ corn tortillas,2 cups shredded cheese Mexican cheese preferred,1/4 bunch fresh cilantro chopped,1/4 medium onion diced
guacamole optional,avocados diced, optional,salsa optional,hot sauce optional,limes cut into wedges.

Air fryer chicken thighs are extra juicy. Plus I love the fact that everything was made in the air fryer. You can also go for pork chops or steak if you’re not feeling chicken.
Spices. For extra flavor the chicken is marinated in orange juice, vinegar, garlic, chile powder, and a bunch of spices for an extra kick. The orange juice and vinegar tenderize the chicken making it super juicy.
Cheese. Cheese is optional but who doesn’t love cheese, especially when it’s melty?
Toppings. You can go wild here. Classic is onions and cilantro of course, but maybe do like El Parasol and add some guacamole on? We went with some lettuce, avocado slices, hot sauce, and some limes to squeeze on for some tart-freshness.

Marinate. Boneless skinless chicken thighs in a marinade made up of orange juice, vinegar, and spices for 2 hours.
Cook. Lightly oil the air fryer basket and cook the chicken, flipping once. We like to slightly undercook our chicken because it’s going to get cooked again when the taco is assembled, so extra juicy is extra good. After the chicken is cooked, shred or chop it into small pieces.
Assemble. Warm up your tortillas – this is key so they don’t crack and break – wrap them up in a damp paper towel and microwave briefly. Oil the tortillas on both sides, then top with chicken and cheese and fold over carefully.
Crisp. Place the folded over tacos in the air fryer basket and crisp them up, flipping once. They tend to get a bit crispier as they cool, so you can take them out once they feel crunchy. Finish the tacos off with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

The number one reason to make barbacoa is for the best homemade tacos that aren’t birria. Once you have your barbacoa made, it’s easy:
• Shred the meat. When the beef is done cooking, take the beef out of the consomé and use a couple of forks to shred it up. It’ll be so tender that it’ll basically fall apart instantly. Spoon some extra consomé back on so it’s extra juicy.

• Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano is actually a bit different than the usual stuff you find in the spice aisle; it’s actually a different plant altogether! Mexican oregano is indigenous to Mexico and has a more woodsy, citrus-lime earthy flavor compared to your typical oregano, which is Mediterranean oregano. You can find it in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store and if you can’t, you can sub regular oregano, but try and find some, it makes a difference.
• Cumin. Cumin adds a huge amount of flavor to barbacoa. It give the barbacoa a nutty, earthy, spicy, almost lemon-y aroma.
• Vinegar. Vinegar tenderizes the beef as well as adds brightness and balances out the richness of the meat. You can use whatever vinegar you have on hand.

You might notice that there are a lot of spices in the ingredients list when I could have just specified taco seasoning instead. The reason is that taco seasoning is not only deeply unhealthy (it’s like 3 kinds of salt) but it’s also not that tasty compared to homemade. The taco seasoning you end up making here is good not just for chicken but beef or pork too, once you try it, you’ll never go back to store bought!

Chicken taco ingredients
Corn tortillas. If you want crispy crunchy tortillas, you’re going to want corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are great too, but they don’t fry up the same way in the air fryer. Usually we like street taco size small corn tortillas (about 4 inches) but we also use the slightly bigger corn tortillas too, the ones that are about 6 inches. We have a local tortilleria where we get tortillas, but you know, Mission street taco corn (or flour) tortillas work well too!

Taco Tuesdays forever, amiright? Especially crispy air fryer tacos! Stuffed corn tortillas with juicy chicken and cheese, crisped up in the air fryer for the ultimate in crunch.

Last summer, Mike and I were lucky enough to go on a road trip through New Mexico. We went camping at White Sands National Park, we spent a thankfully air conditioned afternoon inside Meow Wolf (highly recommend!), and we ate ALL the green chile cheeseburgers and tacos. It was truly the land of enchantment. I never knew that New Mexico would touch me so deeply, but it did. I’m forever changed by its stark beauty, its quiet sunsets, and its food, of course. I have a vast appreciation for New Mexican and Southwestern food.

While the green chile cheeseburgers were the highlight of our trip we also had a lot of tacos, specifically crispy chicken tacos. If you guys are ever in New Mexico, get the crispy chicken tacos at El Parasol. They are legit the best crispy chicken tacos I’ve ever had. The chicken is juicy, the tortillas are crisp, and the guacamole is the perfect creamy counterpoint to all of it. These crispy air fryer tacos are inspired by those very tacos!

Sometimes you just want the hug of a soft taco – especially if you have some plush flour tortillas on hand. For soft chicken tacos, add 2 minutes of cook time to the chicken in the air fryer so the chicken is cooked through. Warm your tortillas up then top with the shredded chicken and hello super juicy soft chicken tacos!
Why air fryer tacos?
Did you know you can make your own crispy hard shell tacos at home? Just like homemade tortilla chips, homemade hard shell tacos are super easy, barely an inconvenience. All you need are corn tortillas. You could deep-fry or bake the tortillas for that crispy crunch you’re looking for, but really, the air-fryer is the answer. Less oil, less mess, more crunch. Everything you could want in a homemade hard shell taco.
Do I need an air fryer?
Technically you don’t need an air fryer because an air fryer is really just a very tiny convection oven that heats up super quickly. So if you have convection mode on your oven or don’t mind waiting for your oven to heat up, you can bake these tacos for that same crispy crunch. We love the current air fryer we have though because it has such a giant fry basket and cleanup is a lot easier than washing baking trays.

In a large dish, bowl, or a ziplock bag, whisk together the orange juice, garlic, oil, vinegar, coriander, paprika, oregano, cumin, pepper, and salt. Add the chicken thighs and marinate covered in the fridge for 2 hours. Do not marinate for more than 4 hours otherwise the chicken will start to break down.
Remove the chicken from the marinade, lightly brush the basket with oil, and place the chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 360°F for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Remove the chicken thighs from the air fryer and chop or shred. If the chicken is slightly underdone, don’t worry, it’s getting cooked again.
If needed, warm your tortilla shells in the microwave to make them pliable. Rub both sides with oil (or spray with cooking spray), lay flat and top half of the tortilla evenly with chicken and a layer of cheese (if desired). Gently fold the tortilla in half, and place in the air fryer basket, flat.
Air fry on 400°F for 6-7 minutes, flipping once, or until the tortilla is crispy and the cheese is melted. Repeat as needed. The tortillas will continue to crisp up as they cool. Let rest on a rack while you are prepping your remaining tacos.

Keto friendly low carb street style carnitas inspired tacos with egg “tortillas.” They look just like the real thing and the taste amazing! Crispy pork flavored with oregano and cumin made quick and easy in the Instant Pot.
I love tacos, especially their hand-held qualities. Nothing beats grabbing a taco and shoving it in my mouth. When I started on this keto journey I thought that I’d have to give them up and just be eating bowls, but then, after snacking on some egg ribbons, I thought about egg crepes and then I thought, what if I make the crepes mini, like the size of tortillas and here we are!

There are a ton of keto tacos online but most of the taco shells I saw online were for crunchy hard shell tacos made of cheese. I wanted those classic street tacos you get at your favorite food truck, in the middle of the night. Enter this keto Instant Pot carnitas inspired street tacos recipe! These little egg tortillas (just two ingredients!) were perfect because they fold up just like regular tortillas and have zero net carbs.

1 pound pork shoulder butt
1-2 tablespoons pork fat or fat of choice
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 onion
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
3 large eggs
1/2 jalapeño, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1. Heat up the Instant Pot in Sauté High. While it’s heating up, cut the pork into chunks and season with salt and pepper. I did big chunks, but cut them down later so the next time I make this I’m going to do small chunks, but do whatever feels right.

2. Sear the pork in pork fat, lightly browning. Add the half onion.

3. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the chicken stock, oregano, and cumin. Add a bay leaf. Add to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.

4. While the Instant Pot is doing it’s thing, whisk the eggs with a bit of salt in a bowl. Heat up a small 4 inch frying pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the whisked eggs, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. When the eggs set, flip and cook the other side for 10-20 seconds, until just cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

5. Slice the jalapeño and chop the red onion and cilantro.

6. When the Instant Pot is done, quick release. Carefully remove the pork and chop into bite size pieces (if you left them large when cooking).

7. Heat up a pan and crisp up the pork over medium high, using some of the cooking liquid.

8. Assemble the tacos: evenly divide the pork between the egg “tortillas” and top with jalapeños, onions, and cilantro. Drizzle on some extra cook liquid if desired.

1 pound pork shoulder butt
1-2 tablespoons pork fat or fat of choice
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 onion
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
3 large eggs
1/2 jalapeño, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1. Heat up the Instant Pot in Sauté High. While it’s heating up, cut the pork into chunks and season with salt and pepper. I did big chunks, but cut them down later so the next time I make this I’m going to do small chunks, but do whatever feels right.

2. Sear the pork in pork fat, lightly browning. Add the half onion.

3. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the chicken stock, oregano, and cumin. Add a bay leaf. Add to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.

4. While the Instant Pot is doing it’s thing, whisk the eggs with a bit of salt in a bowl. Heat up a small 4 inch frying pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the whisked eggs, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. When the eggs set, flip and cook the other side for 10-20 seconds, until just cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

5. Slice the jalapeño and chop the red onion and cilantro.

6. When the Instant Pot is done, quick release. Carefully remove the pork and chop into bite size pieces (if you left them large when cooking).

7. Heat up a pan and crisp up the pork over medium high, using some of the cooking liquid.

8. Assemble the tacos: evenly divide the pork between the egg “tortillas” and top with jalapeños, onions, and cilantro. Drizzle on some extra cook liquid if desired.

Keto friendly low carb street style carnitas inspired tacos with egg “tortillas.” They look just like the real thing and the taste amazing! Crispy pork flavored with oregano and cumin made quick and easy in the Instant Pot.
I love tacos, especially their hand-held qualities. Nothing beats grabbing a taco and shoving it in my mouth. When I started on this keto journey I thought that I’d have to give them up and just be eating bowls, but then, after snacking on some egg ribbons, I thought about egg crepes and then I thought, what if I make the crepes mini, like the size of tortillas and here we are!

There are a ton of keto tacos online but most of the taco shells I saw online were for crunchy hard shell tacos made of cheese. I wanted those classic street tacos you get at your favorite food truck, in the middle of the night. Enter this keto Instant Pot carnitas inspired street tacos recipe! These little egg tortillas (just two ingredients!) were perfect because they fold up just like regular tortillas and have zero net carbs.

Sometimes you just want the hug of a soft taco – especially if you have some plush flour tortillas on hand. For soft chicken tacos, add 2 minutes of cook time to the chicken in the air fryer so the chicken is cooked through. Warm your tortillas up then top with the shredded chicken and hello super juicy soft chicken tacos!
Why air fryer tacos?
Did you know you can make your own crispy hard shell tacos at home? Just like homemade tortilla chips, homemade hard shell tacos are super easy, barely an inconvenience. All you need are corn tortillas. You could deep-fry or bake the tortillas for that crispy crunch you’re looking for, but really, the air-fryer is the answer. Less oil, less mess, more crunch. Everything you could want in a homemade hard shell taco.
Do I need an air fryer?
Technically you don’t need an air fryer because an air fryer is really just a very tiny convection oven that heats up super quickly. So if you have convection mode on your oven or don’t mind waiting for your oven to heat up, you can bake these tacos for that same crispy crunch. We love the current air fryer we have though because it has such a giant fry basket and cleanup is a lot easier than washing baking trays.

Taco Tuesdays forever, amiright? Especially crispy air fryer tacos! Stuffed corn tortillas with juicy chicken and cheese, crisped up in the air fryer for the ultimate in crunch.

Last summer, Mike and I were lucky enough to go on a road trip through New Mexico. We went camping at White Sands National Park, we spent a thankfully air conditioned afternoon inside Meow Wolf (highly recommend!), and we ate ALL the green chile cheeseburgers and tacos. It was truly the land of enchantment. I never knew that New Mexico would touch me so deeply, but it did. I’m forever changed by its stark beauty, its quiet sunsets, and its food, of course. I have a vast appreciation for New Mexican and Southwestern food.

While the green chile cheeseburgers were the highlight of our trip we also had a lot of tacos, specifically crispy chicken tacos. If you guys are ever in New Mexico, get the crispy chicken tacos at El Parasol. They are legit the best crispy chicken tacos I’ve ever had. The chicken is juicy, the tortillas are crisp, and the guacamole is the perfect creamy counterpoint to all of it. These crispy air fryer tacos are inspired by those very tacos!

You might notice that there are a lot of spices in the ingredients list when I could have just specified taco seasoning instead. The reason is that taco seasoning is not only deeply unhealthy (it’s like 3 kinds of salt) but it’s also not that tasty compared to homemade. The taco seasoning you end up making here is good not just for chicken but beef or pork too, once you try it, you’ll never go back to store bought!

Chicken taco ingredients
Corn tortillas. If you want crispy crunchy tortillas, you’re going to want corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are great too, but they don’t fry up the same way in the air fryer. Usually we like street taco size small corn tortillas (about 4 inches) but we also use the slightly bigger corn tortillas too, the ones that are about 6 inches. We have a local tortilleria where we get tortillas, but you know, Mission street taco corn (or flour) tortillas work well too!

In a large dish, bowl, or a ziplock bag, whisk together the orange juice, garlic, oil, vinegar, coriander, paprika, oregano, cumin, pepper, and salt. Add the chicken thighs and marinate covered in the fridge for 2 hours. Do not marinate for more than 4 hours otherwise the chicken will start to break down.
Remove the chicken from the marinade, lightly brush the basket with oil, and place the chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 360°F for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Remove the chicken thighs from the air fryer and chop or shred. If the chicken is slightly underdone, don’t worry, it’s getting cooked again.
If needed, warm your tortilla shells in the microwave to make them pliable. Rub both sides with oil (or spray with cooking spray), lay flat and top half of the tortilla evenly with chicken and a layer of cheese (if desired). Gently fold the tortilla in half, and place in the air fryer basket, flat.
Air fry on 400°F for 6-7 minutes, flipping once, or until the tortilla is crispy and the cheese is melted. Repeat as needed. The tortillas will continue to crisp up as they cool. Let rest on a rack while you are prepping your remaining tacos.

Ingredients
Chicken for Tacos

1/2 cup orange juice
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp neutral oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp chile powder chimayo chile powder preferred, optional
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs see notes for other meats
Tacos
12 4″ corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese Mexican cheese preferred, optional
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
1/4 medium onion diced
guacamole optional
avocados diced, optional
salsa optional
hot sauce optional
limes cut into wedges
Chicken. Air fryer chicken thighs are extra juicy. Plus I love the fact that everything was made in the air fryer. You can also go for pork chops or steak if you’re not feeling chicken.
Spices. For extra flavor the chicken is marinated in orange juice, vinegar, garlic, chile powder, and a bunch of spices for an extra kick. The orange juice and vinegar tenderize the chicken making it super juicy.
Cheese. Cheese is optional but who doesn’t love cheese, especially when it’s melty?
Toppings. You can go wild here. Classic is onions and cilantro of course, but maybe do like El Parasol and add some guacamole on? We went with some lettuce, avocado slices, hot sauce, and some limes to squeeze on for some tart-freshness.

The number one reason to make barbacoa is for the best homemade tacos that aren’t birria. Once you have your barbacoa made, it’s easy:
• Shred the meat. When the beef is done cooking, take the beef out of the consomé and use a couple of forks to shred it up. It’ll be so tender that it’ll basically fall apart instantly. Spoon some extra consomé back on so it’s extra juicy.

• Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano is actually a bit different than the usual stuff you find in the spice aisle; it’s actually a different plant altogether! Mexican oregano is indigenous to Mexico and has a more woodsy, citrus-lime earthy flavor compared to your typical oregano, which is Mediterranean oregano. You can find it in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store and if you can’t, you can sub regular oregano, but try and find some, it makes a difference.
• Cumin. Cumin adds a huge amount of flavor to barbacoa. It give the barbacoa a nutty, earthy, spicy, almost lemon-y aroma.
• Vinegar. Vinegar tenderizes the beef as well as adds brightness and balances out the richness of the meat. You can use whatever vinegar you have on hand.

Marinate. Boneless skinless chicken thighs in a marinade made up of orange juice, vinegar, and spices for 2 hours.
Cook. Lightly oil the air fryer basket and cook the chicken, flipping once. We like to slightly undercook our chicken because it’s going to get cooked again when the taco is assembled, so extra juicy is extra good. After the chicken is cooked, shred or chop it into small pieces.
Assemble. Warm up your tortillas – this is key so they don’t crack and break – wrap them up in a damp paper towel and microwave briefly. Oil the tortillas on both sides, then top with chicken and cheese and fold over carefully.
Crisp. Place the folded over tacos in the air fryer basket and crisp them up, flipping once. They tend to get a bit crispier as they cool, so you can take them out once they feel crunchy. Finish the tacos off with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

The best beef taco filling can be in your tummy today.
Barbacoa de res is a Mexican beef dish that’s slow cooked til juicy, soft and tender, then coated in a savory red chile sauce that has just a tiny hint of spice and a huge hit of flavor. If you love tacos and you love beef, this is the taco filling for you.

This is one of the greatest meat dishes to come out of a region full of delicious meat dishes. If you like carnitas, al pastor, adovada, carne asada, or birria tacos, you’re gonna love barbacoa. But even if you already know how amazing barbacoa is, keep on reading to find out just how crazy easy it is to make at home.What is barbacoa?
Barbacoa originated in the Caribbean as an in-ground slow cooked whole animal wrapped in leaves, but these days it’s most closely associated with Mexican food. Fun fact: Barbacoa is said to be the originator word for barbeque, and it’s basically the same idea: carefully slow cooked meats imbued with a lot of intense flavors.

Mexican barbacoa as we know it today is a juicy and super flavorful soft shredded beef/lamb/goat seasoned with dried chiles and spices and slow or pressure cooked until it falls apart. It’s sweet, tangy, just a little spicy, very complex, and irresistibly good. You can serve it in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, flautas, and so much more more. This version is a super easy and simplified barbacoa de res, which translates to barbacoa beef, although you could adapt this recipe to lamb or goat if you want.