RecipesLunch
Lunch
Beef Barbacoa Prep Bowl
Shredded chipotle and lime braised beef boxed over rice and black beans with a fresh tomato and onion salsa. It holds up across a week of lunches.
- Serves
- 5
- Prep
- 20min
- Cook
- 195min
- Total
- 215min
Programs: Muscle Gain, Lean Bulk and Recomp, Maintenance, Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Cardiometabolic
Per serving
- Calories
- 660kcal
- Protein
- 42.1g
- Carbs
- 78.4g
- Fat
- 21.4g
- Fibre
- 15.1g
Ingredients
For 5 servings · MetricUS
- 700gbeef chuck or brisket, trimmedone joint
- 2chipotle peppers in adobo, choppedplus 2 tbsp of the adobo sauce
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1lime, juiced
- 2 tspground cuminstaple
- 1 tspdried oreganostaple
- 2bay leavesstaple
- 300mlbeef stock
- 1 tbspolive oilstaple
- 250glong-grain rice, dry
- 240gblack beans, drained and rinsed
- 2tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- ½red onion, finely diced
- 1lime, juicedfor the pico
- 2 tbspfresh coriander, chopped
- salt and black pepperto taste
- 1½ lbbeef chuck roast, trimmedone roast
- 2chipotle peppers in adobo, choppedplus 2 tbsp of the adobo sauce
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1lime, juiced
- 2 tspground cuminstaple
- 1 tspdried oreganostaple
- 2bay leavesstaple
- 1¼ cupbeef broth
- 1 tbspolive oilstaple
- 1¼ cuplong-grain rice, dry
- 9 ozblack beans, drained and rinsed
- 2tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- ½red onion, finely diced
- 1lime, juicedfor the pico
- 2 tbspfresh cilantro, chopped
- salt and black pepperto taste
Method
Sear the beef.
Pat the beef dry and season all over with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat and sear the beef on all sides, about 8 minutes total, until deeply browned. A hard sear builds a fond on the base of the pot that dissolves into the braising liquid and carries flavour through the whole three hours.
Build the braising liquid.
Add the garlic, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, cumin and oregano. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant, scraping up any browned bits from the base of the pot.
Pour in the beef stock and the juice of one lime, add the bay leaves, and bring to a simmer.
Braise.
Cover, reduce the heat to low, and braise for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning the beef once or twice, until it shreds apart with almost no resistance from a fork.
Check the liquid level occasionally and top up with a splash of water if it's dropping fast.
Shred the beef.
Lift the beef out onto a board, discard the bay leaves, and shred it with two forks.
Return the shredded beef to the pot and stir through the braising liquid so it soaks back in rather than sitting dry.
Cook the rice.
While the beef braises, cook the rice according to pack instructions.
Make the pico de gallo.
Combine the diced tomatoes, red onion, coriander and the second lime's juice in a bowl.
Season with a pinch of salt.
Assemble the bowls.
Divide the rice, black beans, shredded barbacoa beef and pico de gallo across five containers for boxing up.