Easy Shredded Beef Recipe (2024)

If you’re looking for an easy way to get delicious shredded beef, you’ve come to the right place. We’re using the slow cooker and a limited ingredient list to get amazing beef that’s mostly hands-off in about four hours. Great for meal prep and delicious in tacos, sandwiches, and more. (Note: There are instructions for making shredded beef in the oven and in the Instant Pot below as well).

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

Any cuts of beef that you like to use for pot roast will also work though. When developing my favorite (and truly THE BEST) pot roast recipe, I tested a variety of cuts and found which ones work best for braising, and those will all be good here. I’m summarizing those results here for you:

• Brisket is a always a good choice for shredding, and for other braises and slow-cooking methods since it also has that marbling. It can be pricey though. Here’s how to cook Brisket in the classic way, and then it’s sliced, not shredded.
• A Round Roast (Rump Roast or Bottom Round Roast) can be used in this shredded beef recipe. It’s much leaner though and can end up dry, even when braised. The leanness means that it will slice well though. Shredding can be a bit trickier. If you go with a round roast, make sure to add the braising juices mentioned at the end of the recipe to help with the dryness.
• Eye of Round, but it’s lean like the above Round Roast and will have similar issues.
• Beef Shanks will work, but you have to remove and discard the bones before shredding. And I should say that I truly prefer beef shanks that are braised and then served whole, like this Beef Shanks recipe.
• Oxtail can also work but it’s pretty pricey and I advise that you save that for a classic Oxtail Soup or beautifully braised oxtails, which are served whole, not shredded.
• Short ribs will work as well, but you’ll need to remove the bone before serving. They’re also quite pricey for this technique and are best served whole, not shredded. Here’s how to cook short ribs the classic way, and here is how to cook them in the Instant Pot. They do sell boneless short ribs, but those are even more expensive so you definitely don’t want to just shred those up!

Cuts To Avoid For Shredded Beef

Cuts that you don’t want to use for shredded beef are those that are very lean and/or already very tender. If the roast is already very tender (think of filet mignon) it won’t benefit from the braise and actually gets stringy. Lean roasts should also be avoided because, without the fat, nothing is melting into the meat as it cooks to make it more tender. Both types are best cooked quickly with high heat to a medium (or lower) temperature, and then sliced thinly. Large roast-like cuts that you should avoid for shredded beef are:

• Top round, which is used for the classic London Broil
• Top sirloin, best used for making steak tips and beef tips
• Flank steak, grill it or cook it in a skillet
• Tri-tip, it’s best to grill tri-tip or to cook it in a skillet
• Skirt steak, best grilled or cooked in a skillet. Try it for making Carne Asada, so good!
• Beef tenderloin, best done as a dry roast or cut it into filet mignon steaks like this

Once you have your meat chosen, you just need a few other ingredients to make this easy recipe. We’re going to slice up an onion and then use broth and salsa for lots of flavor with no fuss.

Instant Pot Shredded Beef

Can you make shredded beef in the Instant Pot? Absolutely. If you don’t have a slow cooker or just need the easy shredded beef to be ready quicker, you can use the Instant Pot instead with a couple minor adjustments. It takes about 75 minutes total this way.

Instant Pot Shredded Beef Recipe

• 2.5 lb. chuck roast
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 onion, sliced

1. Cut beef into 4 pieces.
2. Measure the broth and salsa into the Instant Pot. Put the beef pieces in and turn them to coat. Top with the sliced onions.
3. Seal the Instant pot. Set to high pressure for 40 minutes. After the pressure cooking has completed, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes and then turn the pressure valve to release any remaining pressure.
4. Remove meat from IP. Use 2 forks to shred meat. Use a slotted spoon to scoop some of the cooked onion and salsa vegetables from the Instant Pot. Stir into the shredded meat.
5. Season meat with salt and pepper to taste.

Note that I did not include salt and pepper in the ingredient list for the Instant Pot, but instead added it at the end. Why? With this method, I found that the salt from the broth and salsa provided enough seasoning. Also, any seasonings added seem to wash off into the liquid anyways and don’t stay on the roast. It’s best to just leave off the seasoning and add them at the end, if needed.

You also may have noticed that I didn’t sear the beef first. Why not? I did a test searing the beef first compared with not searing it and I found that there was not a significant difference in flavor. If you want to get a bit of a crust and caramelization, you can quickly broil it afterwards. That actually works better than searing it first, as you may have learned from my wonderful technique for roasting pork.

Podcast Episode About Making Shredded Beef

Listen to me explain briefly about how this easy shredded beef, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:

Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.

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