Barbacoa: Mexico's Slow-Cooked Pit Beef, Why the Cheek Is the Correct Cut, and the Consommé That Comes Alongside

Barbacoa is a weekend ritual in Mexico City and the surrounding states — specifically a Sunday morning ritual. Barbacoeros (barbacoa vendors) work through Saturday night: they fire their pits at midnight, lower the wrapped meat in around 1 AM, and have it ready by 6 or 7 AM Sunday morning. The lines at good barbacoa stands form before dawn. By 10 AM, the best meat is gone.

The word's journey into English as barbecue is one of food history's cleaner etymological trails: Spanish colonizers encountered the Taíno/Arawak barbacoa (a wooden structure for smoking or grilling meat) in the Caribbean, borrowed the word and the technique, and brought both to Mexico and the American South, where barbecue developed into the American tradition we know today.

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The Cut

Beef cheeks (cachete) are the traditional and preferred cut for modern urban barbacoa — they are deeply marbled with collagen-rich connective tissue that becomes extraordinarily tender and gelatinous after long slow cooking. The cheek also shreds in a distinctive fibrous way that holds moisture better than most cuts.

Historically: Whole cow head (eyes, tongue, brain, cheek — all wrapped together) is the traditional barbacoa, with different parts distributed according to preference. The cheek alone is the most accessible form for home cooking.

Alternative: Lamb shoulder or short rib works similarly; the flavor is different but the technique is the same.

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The Consommé

The liquid that drips from the meat during cooking — fat, meat juices, the flavor of the maguey leaves — pools in a pan placed below the meat and becomes a natural consommé. It is enhanced with:

• Dried chili (ancho, mulato, or pasilla) — provides depth and color
• Chickpeas — the standard addition in Mexico City barbacoa
• Avocado leaves (hojas de aguacate) — a regional flavoring with an anise-like aroma, used dried; not widely available outside Mexico
• Oregano and salt

The consommé is served in small clay cups or bowls alongside the tacos.

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Home-Adapted Recipe (Oven/Slow Cooker)

Serves: 6–8 | Time: 6–8 hours low in oven or slow cooker

Barbacoa

• 1.5kg beef cheeks, trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and black pepper

Marinade:

• 3 dried ancho chiles, seeded and soaked in hot water 15 minutes
• 2 dried guajillo chiles, soaked
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Blend to a smooth paste with 100ml soaking water

Method:

1. Score beef cheeks; rub all over with salt; coat in chile marinade. Marinate 2 hours minimum (overnight better).
2. Place in a Dutch oven or slow cooker. Add a little water (100ml). Cover tightly.
3. Oven: 150°C (300°F), 6–8 hours until the meat is completely tender and shreds easily.
4. Slow cooker: low for 8–10 hours.
5. Shred the meat; return to the cooking juices; mix.

Consommé

• All cooking juices from the beef cheeks
• 400ml beef broth (to supplement)
• 1 ancho chile, soaked and blended
• 1 × 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 2–3 dried avocado leaves or 2 bay leaves
• Salt

Combine cooking juices, beef broth, and blended chile; simmer 10 minutes. Add chickpeas; season generously. Strain if you prefer a clearer broth.

Serve: Shredded barbacoa on warm corn tortillas with white onion, cilantro, lime, and salsa; consommé in small cups alongside.

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Related reading: Tamales Mexican Corn Masa Guide | Pozole Mexican Hominy Soup Guide | Birria Mexican Beef Guide