As soon as school is back in session, I turn my sights on my slow cooker to help keep the weeknight dinner routine manageable. Some of our family favorites are Spicy Pumpkin Chicken Corn Chowder, Root Beer Baby Back Ribs, Shredded Pork Breakfast Tostadas, and Light Almond Milk Tapioca Pudding . Honestly? It’s impossible to choose favorites. We’ve loved all the recipes for the slow cooker shared on Boulder Locavore, and candidly from the attention to those posts, readers have too! Though weather is getting chillier in the morning, and the mercury is bounding back to the 90’s by midafternoon, there still are great slow cooker recipes to make without waiting until the deep of winter.
One of the first slow cooker recipes I ever posted on Boulder Locavore remains a favorite: Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches. I wanted to come up with a Shredded Barbecue Beef recipe both for some fun sandwiches and also to feature in a recipe inspired by our recent trip to the Canadian Maritimes. The latter will be coming your way soon, but in the meantime this Shredded Barbecue Beef recipe will become a favorite. The preparation takes mere minutes and shredding the beef only takes a few minutes when it has finished cooking. You can literally pop it into your slow cooker first thing in the morning and it will be ready at dinner time.
In addition to making weeknights easy, this makes a perfect meal for football season. The finished recipes yield 5 to 6 cups of shredded barbecued beef that can easily make a full platter of slider sandwiches using dinner rolls or slider buns. The prepared beef can be frozen in 1 cup serving sizes for future meals too!
Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Beef Sandwiches
Ingredients
Ingredients for the BBQ sauce
- ½ cup Ketchup
- ½ cup Chile Sauce
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar (light or dark)
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper , freshly ground
- 1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Ground Mustard
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Dash of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (or more if you want it spicy; taste first then add more if desired)
- 3 pound Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
- Hamburger buns or rolls
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients except for the beef roast; whisk to fully combine.
- Add the beef roast to a 6-7 quart oval slow cooker (it can also be cut in half and placed in a round slow cooker). Pour the sauce over the roast and turn the roast to coat fully.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on LOW. When the meat is cooked, skim any fat from the surface of the liquid and discard. Using two forks, scrape the roast to shred it. Serve on buns or rolls. Extra portions can be combined with the sauce and stored in the refrigerator or frozen.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
This is slow cooker perfection! My husband would love these, so I’ll have to make these for him soon 🙂
Joyce Brewer (@MommyTalkShow) says
Not only are your sandwiches eye catching, but you included my favorite side dish – cole slaw. I’ve been trying to set up the crockpot for Sunday mornings so we can come home from church for an early dinner.
Toni Dash says
Perfect Joyce! Everytime I come up with a recipe like this I think I really should do it every day of the week! I love cole slaw too.
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert says
Very nice recipe Toni! Who doesn’t just love a great, tender, juicy BBQ sandwich?! Thank you!
Susan says
This sounds very nice. I’ve been looking for something to replace cold cuts (which are too salty and I got really tired of) for making burritos for lunch. I think this would work very nicely in that role. 🙂
Susan says
Just to let you know, I made this and serve the beef in my homemade whole wheat/mesquite flour tortillas. Wonderful! It was a hit with both of us. I wasn’t sure about the BBQ sauce when I first put it together, but I think that I will be using this recipe any time I need BBQ sauce, too. 🙂
Toni Dash says
Susan I’m so glad to hear this and your tortillas sound amazing! I love mesquite flour (thinking I need to make some gluten-free versions of them). I love the sauce and hopefully you saw the Poutine recipe using this beef and a thickened version of the sauce too. To die for!
Linda@ThereandBackAgainFood says
I love using my slow cooker, especially during the busy week. This recipe is now on my to-try list!
Pam says
I am from the south, so I love barbecue. This looks absolutely delicious.
Liz Mays says
Now these sound good. I love when it’s nice and tender. I have to give your barbecue sauce a go!
Catherine S says
This looks so yummy. I love to use my crock pot. This recipe will be perfect for our end of the summer BBQ.
Isabella Grey says
Oh, this look delicious! I might have to see if I can make some with chicken instead!
Valerie says
That looks incredible! I am going to have to make this for dinner soon!
Kelly Hutchinson says
I have not had good shredded BBQ beef in so long! This looks like such a delicious recipe. I cannot wait to give it a try!
Debbie Denny says
I like using the crockpot meals in the winter. Pulled pork makes a great meal.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
These look delicious! I love a good barbecue sandwich.
Marcie W. says
This recipe is great for this time of year since it is still too hot to turn on the oven and back to school makes it hard to cook. Slow cooking beef always leaves it so moist and tender too!
Tracey says
This looks so good! I love a good slow cooker recipe. Will Pin this one!
Megan @ C'mon Get Crafty says
One of my favorite things about fall is how appealing my slow cooker is, and shredded beef is a big fave! Miy sandwiches are never as pretty as yours though!
sue|theviewfromgreatisland says
This is calling me, loudly! I love pulled meat of any kind, and I could eat this every night for a month — love all those ingredients in the sauce!
Ora Lee Gurr says
Wow, this slow cooked shredded barbecue beef looks good. Tri-tip is going on sale this weekend, so it will be a good time to try the recipe and dazzle the family with delicious barbecue beef sandwiches.
Crystal says
My slow cooker and I, we are in love. I think our relationship will be even more serious after making these sandwiches. Yum!
Christie says
This is great for school dinners. Nothing better than meat simmering in a crockpot all day1
Ann Bacciaglia says
I love to use my slow cooker. I will have to try this recipe. It looks so delicious and i know my kids will love it.
Toni Dash says
Aren’t slow cookers a lifesaver, Ann? Mine is gurgling away with a new recipe as I write.
Chris Scheuer says
This looks like the perfect recipe to feed a crowd. I’m ready also to pull out the slow cooker! Sounds like a yummy combination of ingredients Toni!
Toni Dash says
We are still hitting the mid 90’s Chris but it’s such an easy dish to make! We’ve been enjoying it all week long.
Camesha | Mama Motivator says
These sound really good. It is about that time to start pulling out my crock pot again.
Shell says
I love crockpot bbq sandwiches! I haven’t tried them with beef before.
Toni Dash says
I think you’d love these Shell. They are tangy and a great texture.
Sujeet says
That looks absolutely delicious, and I think I know what I’ll be cooking up this weekend.. 🙂
maria s. says
I am a real beef lover so these look amazing to me. I love adding slaw to my sandwich and I feel like beef is the best way to enjoy shredded barbecue. It’s so savory!
Dana M says
This sounds delish! Would I be able to use a bone-in chuck roast? We have some in the freezer that I’d like to use. Thanks for sharing!
Toni Dash says
I have only made the recipe with the Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, Dana. Chuck can be made of many different cuts from the same area of the steer so I’m not sure if your roast is the same as what I used just with a bone, or from another area. Normally bone-in cuts need to cook longer in the oven however with slow cooking often those traits even out over the hours it cooks. A long way to say it probably would be fine but I don’t know for sure and might suggest consulting your butcher on the swap out. I was not able to find an answer to that question myself.