Cuban Style Beef Tacos

Cuban style beef tacos is a flavorful dish featuring tender, slow-cooked beef seasoned with bold Cuban spices, garlic, and citrus. It delivers a rich, savory taste with a hint of zest—perfect for a hearty, on-the-go meal with authentic Cuban flair. Often served on a roll but we like to serve on zero carb flour tortillas for a low carbohydrate meal.

Cuban style beef usually consists of the following ingredients.

• Ropa Vieja: shredded beef made by slow cooking tough meat such as chuck roast, bottom round roast, brisket or shoulder roast. Flank steak is more traditional but can be expensive.
• Vaca Frita: fried shredded beef that is pan fried until edges are crispy.
• Mojo flavor: blend of orange and lime juice, garlic and cumin.
• Spices: oregano, garlic powder, paprika
• Sofrito: sautéed onion, garlic and green bell pepper that is often cooked with canned crushed or diced tomatoes.
• Garnish: cilantro, avocado, squeeze fresh lime juice
• Serve: on a Portuguese or Ciabatta roll with a slice of Provolone cheese. However if you are watching your carbs you can serve on a zero carb flour tortilla.

While this dish doesn’t use all of the above ingredients, the Cuban flavors are still there. This slow cooked recipe is great for busy weeknights. Just pop it in the slow cooker in the morning. When you get home, shred the beef discarding any fat. Then serve with your favorite garnishes. It’s that easy!

My family loves Cuban style food and this dish delivers! It has a nice mixture of flavors. Give it a try and I think it will become a favorite of your family too!

Meat: You will need a 2-3 pound roast but any cut will do. I’ve used chuck, bottom, shoulder and brisket. All have turned out great.

Vegetables: 1 onion and 1 sweet bell pepper. Both sliced.

Spices: 2 beef bouillon cubes (or Better Than Bouillon), salt, black pepper, minced garlic, cumin seed (or ground), and oregano.

Juice: orange juice and juice from 1 lime

Tortillas: Any size soft taco shell will work but we like to use small “zero carb” street style size tortillas. It saves on calories and carbohydrates.

1. For easy clean up, use a cooking spray to grease slow cooker.
2. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker except tortillas.
3. Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours. Remove the meat, shred and discard any pieces of fat. Return meat to the slow cooker.

Can different kinds of meat be used? Yes. This recipe is great for those typically tough meats that are hard to work with. Any type of roast or brisket works well. Chuck roasts tend to be a bit fattier, so I like to use bottom round or shoulder roasts. As mentioned earlier, flank steak is more traditionally used but not in a slow cooker. Plus, I’d rather use flank steak for recipes like steak fajita or pan grilled marinated steak.

Substitutions: 1 tsp. ground cumin instead of 1 1/2 tsp cumin seed; 2 tsp. “Better Than Bouillon” instead of 2 beef bouillon cubes; 2 Tbs. orange juice concentrate instead of 1/3 cup orange juice.

Pan Fry: If you want your tacos a bit less juicy, try fan frying the meat after it has been shredded. It totally changes the texture and really enhances the flavors.

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Cuban Style Beef Tacos

Recipe by janet @ mykitchenandkin.com

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Slow Cooker, Beef, Low Carb, High ProteinCuisine: CubanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

8

hours 

Total time

8

hours 

10

minutes

Cuban style beef is a flavorful, dish featuring tender, slow-cooked beef seasoned with bold Cuban spices, garlic, and citrus. It delivers a rich, savory taste with a hint of zest—perfect for a hearty, on-the-go meal with authentic Cuban flair.

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• 2-3 pound roast, trimmed (chuck, bottom, shoulder, or brisket)

• 1 onion, sliced

• 1 bell pepper, sliced

• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin)

• 2 teaspoons beef “Better Than Bouillon” (or 2 beef bouillon cubes)

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic

• 1/3 cup orange juice (or 2 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate)

• juice from 1 lime (about 3 teaspoons)

• 1 package small zero carb flour tortillas (street style size)

Directions

• Place all ingredients in the slow cooker except tortillas.
• Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
• Remove meat to shred and discard any pieces of fat. Return the meat to the slow cooker.
• Serve on zero net carb tortillas (with shredded cheese) for a low carbohydrate meal. If you don’t mind the carbs use toasted buns or rolls.
• Garnish rolls with a slice of provolone cheese, sliced avocado, cilantro, and/or squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Notes

• Freeze Ready Meal: Place all ingredients in a gallon size zip top bag. Label, date and freeze. When ready to cook, thaw in the fridge overnight. Place contents in a slow cooker and follow above directions.

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