Slow cooker mushroom barbacoa tacos
Mushrooms braised all afternoon in smoky chipotle, lime and spices, then crisped in a hot pan and tucked into tortillas with refried beans.
- 265 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.51 a serving
- 430 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb baby bella mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped, plus 1 tbsp of the sauce
- 2 limes, divided
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- 1 can vegetarian refried beans
- 12 corn tortillas
- ½ white onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup queso fresco, crumbled
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 430 calories, 19 g protein, 71 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $3.51 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No yellow onions? Red onions work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No queso fresco? Cotija cheese or feta cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
In the slow cooker, stir together the onion, garlic, chipotles and adobo sauce, vinegar, juice of 1 lime, cumin, oregano, broth and salt.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Add the mushrooms and bay leaves and to coat. Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours (or High for 2 hours).
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Timer: 240 min
Fish out the bay leaves and the mushrooms roughly with two forks.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Dolly’s tip: They’ll look soupy. The next step fixes that and gives you crispy edges.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high heat. Lift the mushrooms out with a slotted spoon and fry until the edges , 3 to 4 minutes, adding a few spoonfuls of the juices at the end.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Warm the refried beans in a small over medium-low heat, stirring, until hot, about 5 minutes.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Warm the tortillas one at a time in a dry over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds per side, and stack them in a towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Spread each tortilla with beans, pile on mushrooms and top with onion, cilantro, queso fresco and a squeeze from the second lime.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Food safety: If you’re pregnant, buy queso fresco labeled “made with pasteurized milk,” and for extra care, warm it until it’s steaming hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
