Prepare zesty, flavorful meat at home to use when preparing burrito bowls and more with this delicious Slow Cooker Carne Picada recipe. It’s loaded with flavor and tastes amazing with rice, cheese, tomatoes, and so much more.
The Carne Picada Crock Pot Recipe is one of my favorite meals to make because it’s simple, stress-free, and absolutely amazing. You can set it and forget it, coming back to your slow cooker when you’re ready to serve this delicious meat, whether you’d like to add it to a tortilla or serve it in a bowl with some cilantro lime rice and other ingredients.
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The meat is juicy, tender, and full of flavor. It’s absolutely delicious and your whole family will love it.
- You can do so much with this delicious beef. Whether you’d like to make a burrito bowl over white rice, eat it as is, put it on top of a salad, or even toss it on a tortilla with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.
- You can adjust the recipe to your liking, adding more or less spice, depending on what you prefer.
- It cooks in the slow cooker while you carry on with your day, making this my one of my favorite weeknight meals.
🛒Ingredients
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- carne asada beef
- flour
- chili powder
- salt
- garlic powder
- ground cumin
- black pepper
- vegetable or canola oil
- water
- fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- chopped green chiles
See the recipe card below for quantities.
🔪 How to Make Slow Cooker Carne Picada
Step 1: Mix flour and seasoning in a storage bag and toss the meat to coat
In a gallon size freezer bag, combine flour, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, ground cumin, and black pepper. Add the carne asada beef, seal the bag, and toss to coat the meat.
Step 2: Sear cubes in a skillet over medium-high heat
Place a 10 to 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the beef mixture and press down. When the bottom is brown, flip the beef to brown on the other side. Transfer beef to the slow cooker.
Step 3: Scrape the bottom of the skillet
With the skillet still over the heat, add the water and scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to remove any stuck on pieces. Pour this liquid over the meat in the slow cooker.
Step 4: Add together tomatoes and green chilies
Mix together the tomatoes and green chiles. Pour tomato mixture over the meat.
Step 5: Slow cook the beef until tender
Cover and cook the beef on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy
Serve with a slotted spoon. Use the carne picada for tacos, tostados, or nachos. Top with avocado, sour cream, chopped cilantro, sliced radishes, or shredded cheese.
Hint: Don’t skip the searing process. This is important for the flavor and texture of the meat.
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this easy recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Spicy – add chili pepper flakes or diced jalapenos to the slow cooker to give this carne asada a kick.
- Flavor – add extra ingredients to the slow cooker, such as fresh chopped onion, garlic clove, diced bell peppers, and cilantro.
- Citrus – Add a nice fresh tang, and add a hint of lemon or lime juice once the meat is cooked.
- Sauce – Add some more zing to the sauce by adding orange juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce,
Try this Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers, it’s amazing too!
🥄 Equipment
- gallon size bag
- measuring cup and spoon
- large skillet or heavy-bottom pan
- wooden spoon
- slow cooker
- slotted spoon
🥫 Storage
This Carne Picada will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container or can be frozen for 2 to 3 months.
When storing, keep it in an airtight container. If freezing, I recommend using freezer bags.
To reheat, you can cook it on the stove over medium heat until heated through or microwave it for a minute or two.
💭 Tips
- For easy clean-up, spray your slow cooker with cooking spray or use a slow cooker liner.
- If you don’t have time to sear the meat, you can skip that step. However, the flavor and texture of the meat will be affected.
- I like to use low because I find the meat to get a little more tender. However, you can use high if you are in the hurry.
- You can also make this in the Instant Pot on high pressure for 45 minutes.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this slow cooker recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
No, it’s not too spicy. However, you can make it spicy by adding different ingredients, such as jalapenos or adding crushed red pepper.
Sour cream, fresh-squeezed lime, corn tortillas, avocado salsa, shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, and even chopped purple onion are all good ingredients to serve with this meat.
Yes, you can prepare it ahead of time, store it in a container in the fridge, and then reheat it when ready to eat.
I’ve found that if you can’t find a cut of beef specifically labeled Carne picada meat at your local store, then flank steak or skirt steak will work. However, you could also use a chuck roast, stew meat, or sirloin steak or coarse ground beef, cut into 2-inch cubes, if you already have one on hand.
🍽 More Slow Cooker Recipes
Do you enjoy slow cooker recipes? Try these delicious recipes:
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Slow Cooker Carne Picada
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carne picada beef
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup water
- 30 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 ounces chopped green chiles
Instructions
- In a gallon size freezer bag, mix the flour, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, ground cumin, and black pepper.
- Add the carne asada beef, seal the bag, and toss to coat the meat.
- Place a 10 to 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the beef mixture and press down.
- When the bottom is brown, flip the beef to brown on the other side.
- Transfer the beef to the slow cooker.
- With the skillet still over the heat, add the water and scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to remove any stuck on pieces.
- Pour this liquid over the meat in the slow cooker.
- Mix together the tomatoes and green chiles. Pour over the meat.
- Cover and cook the beef on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.
- Serve with a slotted spoon. Use the carne picada for tacos, tostados, or nachos. Top with avocado, sour cream, chopped cilantro, sliced radishes, or shredded cheese.