Use your slow cooker to make the juiciest, yummiest BBQ beef with the easiest prep and ingredients you probably already have in your pantry!
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Her sophomore year…and one of her favorite dinner requests!
We kicked off the start of the school year with a bang in the last week! With 2 cross country meets in a weeks’ time, as well as first days of school happening tomorrow, you could say we are off to the races…literally! My middle one had some meal requests that I was happy to oblige, since they were great ideas! I love it when my kids help me with meal plan ideas because I sure don’t always love coming up with them!
A recipe from her toddlerhood!
When my crew was little, anytime I would make a beef roast for dinner, I inevitably had leftovers. Little ones with little bellies! I created pulled bbq beef sandwiches from that leftover beef a lot, and it became one of my little carnivore’s favorite dinner concepts!
Preparing your beef (and thoughts on which cut of beef to use)
This recipe is super versatile. I’ve used regular beef roast, super affordable stew beef cubes to make it. This means adding this to your monthly (or weekly!) meal plan is very realistic. If you are using beef roast or stew beef, start by salting the beef to get it ready to sear. (If you want to use leftover beef from your Sunday beef roast dinner, stay tuned below for instructions on how to repurpose those leftovers into these bbq beef sandwiches!)
A quick sear and saute, and it’s time to slow cook!
The beef sear and onion/garlic saute is completely optional. I do think it adds more flavor, and if you have an Instant Pot (or similar multi-cooker), this process is super convenient because it can all be done in one pot! Sear the beef on both sides until golden brown, then saute the onions and garlic in the leftover fat. If you don’t have a multi-cooker, you can do the searing and sauteing in a regular saute pan, or just skip it!
The easy part…
And now comes the easy, dump-it-all-in part! Add all of the sauce ingredients to the sauteed onions and garlic, nestle the beef back in, and slow cook all day! That’s it! When you get home, you’ll be able to pull or chop the beef apart in the sauce, and it’s sandwich time!
Serving suggestions
With 2 cross country runners and a competitive gymnast that practices year round, we need all the carbs we can get in this house. The kids favorite serving option is on buns! We add roasted veggies to the side typically. If you aren’t in the mood for a bun, I have another option for you though!
My favorite bun-free serving option!
Most of the time, I opt for making my pulled bbq beef into a dinner bowl, and let me tell you! It is incredible! Roast some sweet potatoes on one tray, and cabbage, onion, carrot, and broccoli on another. The result is such a satisfying dinner bowl. The kids can have their roasted veggies on the side, so there really isn’t any extra work!
How to make the bbq beef using leftover Sunday dinner beef roast!
You can absolutely make this with leftover beef roast from your Sunday dinner too! I like to make 2 roasts for Sunday dinner, then shred up the leftovers to make this bbq beef. You’ll just need to add all of the ingredients to your Instant Pot as listed above, and it will only need a few hours on low to slow cook since the beef is already cooked!
Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Beef
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil to cook in
- 2-3 lbs beef roast or stew beef
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3 TB blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder You can add more if you like more heat
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup chicken or beef broth or water
Instructions
- I like to use my Instant Pot slow cooker feature for this recipe so that I can start out by searing the outside of the beef, as well as the sauteing the onions and garlic to pull out more depth of flavor. If you are using a regular slow cooker, you can skip this step, or you can sear your beef and saute your onions and garlic in a saute pan and transfer them to your slow cooker.Turn the saute feature on your Instant Pot and add the butter into the pot to melt. While the pot is heating up, salt the outside of the beef. Add the beef to the hot Instant Pot to sear for about 3 minutes. Turn the beef to the other side to sear for another 3 minutes. Take the beef out of the pot, and saute the onions and garlic in the leftover fat for a good 3-5 minutes until soften and golden.
- Turn the saute feature off, and stir in all of the rest of the sauce ingredients to the sauted onions and garlic.
- Add the seared beef to the sauce. Use the slow cooker feature on "low" to slow cook the beef for 8-10 hours.
- When the beef has finished slow cooking, use forks to pull the beef apart into shreds. Alternatively, transfer the beef to a cutting board to chop, then stir back into the sauce. You may have to turn the saute feature back on for a few minutes to reduce the sauce so it is thicker for sandwiches.
Notes
- You can absolutely make this with leftover beef roast from your Sunday dinner too! I like to make 2 roasts for Sunday dinner, then shred up the leftovers to make this bbq beef. You’ll just need to add all of the ingredients to your Instant Pot as listed above, and it will only need a few hours on low to slow cook since the beef is already cooked!
What a wonderful recipe. Love pulled anything!
I can’t imagine anything yummier! Just a big pile of that meat and I’m happy! 🙂
This is perfect! It’s a great idea of how to save time and do something different with your leftovers. Thank you for sharing my sourdough hamburger bun recipe.
What a great idea. I’m having lunch at your house.
Yum! Pinned. Great recipe, adorable kids!
This looks tasty! I’m not pot roast fan, but we get several with our cow share every year. I think I’ll make the pot roast and turn it all into BBQ beef. 🙂
These look amazing and perfect for 4th of July or just a nice weekend with family! YUM!
Yum!! Looks incredible!
This looks so good! I love that she loves this meal too, so fun! And the sauce … swoon. That’s my kind of sauce. Yum!
Thank you Emily!
YUM! I love this idea and definitely need to try it. I have been wanting to try a quick and easy BBQ sauce and yours sounds perfect. Thanks for linking to my plantain buns as an option to serve these on, and for sharing all the other bread options too – I see some other ones I want to try too 🙂
Thank you Amanda!
What a drool worthy recipe! This will make a great recipe to use this summer! Love the adorable pics of your daughter! So sweet!!
I made this tonight for dinner with left over pork, it was wonderful! Thanks for the great easy recipe!
Making this for the second time, Because it’s So Good! Thanks for this great recipe ❤
Hi Pauline! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
the allergy kid will probably love this–AND it is his allergies friendly. Thank you
Great Jenny!
VERY good! Made it and had enough to have it twice. Once over baked potatoes and once on a bun! Husband loved it!!
I made a half batch with some leftover barbecue ribs. Wish I had doubled it because it was delicious! My nearly 5 year old gave it two thumbs up!
So glad you enjoyed it!