With just a few simple ingredients you will have yummy seasoned shredded beef perfect for making homemade chimichangas. Try making your own Crock-Pot Shredded Beef Chimichangas either baked (healthier) or fried (traditional). Either way…delicious!
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Chimichangas
This recipe came about as I was meal planning and getting ready to go grocery shopping. You see, we are a large family of 9 and meal planning is essential to help me stay organized, use the products we have in the pantry, fridge and freezer up and save me money and time from making unnecessary trips to the grocery store.
Every other week I sit down and make up a plan for what we are going to have for dinner for the next 14 days. I usually start with a list of meals that are our go-to tried and true recipes for things that I just know how to make…spaghetti, chili, beef stew, biscuits and gravy (kids love that), tacos, stir fry, etc. I have a list of about 40 things that I just make over and over again to choose from. Some are seasonal (we do more grilling, wraps, salads and sandwhiches in the warmer months and more soups, stews and chilies in the colder months), but by keeping a list of our families go to recipe I can easily make a decision for 10 of the 14 dinners. Once a week I make a new to me Crock-Pot recipe and if it turns out good…you will find it here on the blog. And then also once a week I like to try something brand new…usually something I found on Pinterest or maybe saw on a cooking show on the Food Network.
When meal planning I usually take a look at the pantry, fridge and freezer to see what we have on hand already so that I don’t spend money on ingredients that we already have on hand. So this recipe was one of those recipes that came about because I already had most of the ingredients. In the freezer I had a beef chuck roast (picked up a couple when on sale a few weeks ago at $1.99 a pound), and I almost always have canned diced tomatoes with green chilies (RoTel) and canned green chilies in the pantry because I use them all the time. In fact our local grocery store usually has both of these items included in their case-lot sales and I buy them both by the case.
Garlic is something I ALWAYS have on hand because my husband is a garlic nut…he loves his garlic!
And taco seasoning…well I make up a big batch of our homemade taco seasoning mix and keep it on hand in the spice cupboard and use it all the time. I love making this mix over using the store bought stuff because I know exactly what is in it and I can control the salt content. But….I am not above using a packet of the low sodium store bought stuff if in a pinch either.
Do what you gotta do. 🙂
Throw all that into your slow cooker and set it on LOW to cook all day until it is nice and tender and can be shredded with a couple of forks.
The meat is tasty, moist and tender. And while you can use the meat in anything your heart desires like tacos, burritos, quesadillas or in delicious chimichangas like I decided to make up for dinner with this delicious shredded beef.
Whenever I go out for Mexican food I almost always order either carne asada or a chimichanga. I mean basically a chimichanga is a burritos that has been either deep fried or baked until the flour tortilla turns nice and crispy. I loaded up these chimichangas with the shredded beef mixture, some Crock-Pot Refried Beans, Mexican rice and cheddar cheese. Then once crisped up I serve them with some shredded lettuce and sour cream. SO good!
Special Diets
Gluten Free | Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Sodium | Low Sugar
This recipe for Crock-Pot Shredded Beef Chimichangas is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
Crock-Pot Shredded Beef Chimichangas Recipe
Ingredients
Shredded Beef
- 3 pounds Boneless Beef Chuck Roast (excess fat trimmed away)
- 3 tablespoons Low Sodium Taco Seasoning Mix (I used our homemade taco seasoning mix)
- 10 ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles (with the juice (such as Rotel brand))
- 6 ounces Canned Diced Green Chilies (with the juice)
- 3 cloves Garlic (minced)
To Serve
- 16 medium Flour Tortillas (or use gluten free tortillas such as Mission brand)
- Refried Beans (see our recipe for Crock-Pot Refried Beans!)
- Mexican Rice
- Sour Cream
- Cheddar Cheese
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Lettuce
Instructions
- Trim the excess fat (if any) on the boneless beef chuck roast and add it to the bottom of a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Sprinkle half of the taco seasoning on one side of the meat. Flip the meat over and sprinkle the other half of the taco seasoning on the meat.
- Add the diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel), diced green chiles and minced garlic on top of the meat.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours or until the meat is nice and tender.
- Remove just the beef roast from the slow cooker and place it in a bowl or food storage container and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Shred the beef using 2 forks.
- Add as much or as little of the cooking liquid that contains the tomatoes, chilies and garlic back to your shredded beef. This is a personal preference. I scooped out as much of the tomatoes and green chili chunks as I could with a slotted spoon and then poured about 3/4 of a cup of the liquid and mixed it back into the shredded beef to keep things moist but not too wet.
To Prepare Chimichangas
- Make burritos out of the shredded beef adding your favorite burrito fillings such as refried beans, Mexican rice and cheese. Roll the burritos up with both sides closed.
- To bake (healthier): preheat the oven at 350° F. Place rolled burritos on a baking sheet seam side down and spray or lightly brush the top of the burrito with vegetable oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip burrito over, spray or lightly brush with oil and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Both sides should be crispy and lightly browned.
- To fry: Fill a large skillet (cast iron preferred) with about 1 inch of vegetable oil. Heat oil over medium heat until it is nice and hot but not smoking (I test my oil by adding a piece of tortilla to the oil. If it sizzles, sinks really quick and then floats up to the surface pretty quickly the oil is ready). Add rolled burritos 2 at a time seam side down carefully into the hot oil and fry for 2 – 3 minutes per side or until the tortilla is nice and crispy. Drain chimichangas on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Eat your chimichanga as is, or top with sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, hot sauce, salsa, or whatever makes you smile!
Notes
Nutrition
I am 77 yrs old and many years ago I had a crockpot recipe using turkey leg meat to make chimichangas. I can’t find it in my collection. It was a good one and wish I could get it again.
That sounds delicious Beverly. I may have to come up with a turkey leg chimichanga recipe soon!
Does the fat go into the crock pot or does it get tossed into garbage? I am confused about that part.
The fat should be discarded.