I found a great little recipe for Shredded Beef Chimichangas the other day, but it seemed unnecessarily fiddly to me, so I changed it up a bit and converted it to a Crockpot Recipe. I’m in love with my Crockpot at the moment and I’m building a collection of recipes I can turn to in a pinch. My whole family loves Mexican food, so it was a safe bet that they would all devour these Chimichangas, even The Vegemite Kid who thought that this Shredded Beef was the best! If you’re a true lover of Mexican food like Me, you’re probably going to want to double the spices in this recipe, but I have written the measurements I used below to make it kid-friendly and I have put the measurements I am going to use next time in brackets. My kids don’t mind a bit of spice.
Shredded Beef Chimichangas
Ingredients:
1 1/2 – 2kg Roast Beef (I used a Blade Roast)
1 1/2 Cups Beef Stock
3 Tbl Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Chilli Powder (2 tsp)
1 tsp Cumin (2 tsp)
Tortillas
approx. 4 Tbl Butter, melted to brush Tortillas
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Salad and Rice
Directions:
Place your roast in your Crockpot.
In a jug, combine the beef stock, red wine vinegar, chilli powder and cumin.
Pour this mixture over the roast, place the lid on your crockpot and set it on the LOW setting.
Cook for at least 5 hours, or until the beef juices run clear. Every Crockpot is different, I know mine seems to cook a lot faster than the time specified, so just keep an eye on it, but try not to remove the lid unless you are sure it is cooked. You don’t want to lose precious cooking time because your crockpot needs to come back up to temp.
Once your beef is cooked through, remove it to a large baking dish or cutting board and shred it using two forks.
DO NOT DISCARD THE JUICES IN THE CROCKPOT!
Return your shredded beef to the juices in the crockpot and give it a good stir around so that the beef is thoroughly coated and can soak up the flavour from the juices.
Preheat your oven to 180C.
Now it becomes a bit of a production line.
Working with one tortilla at a time, brush both sides of the tortilla with melted butter and lay it in the baking dish you intend to use.
Spoon some shredded beef down the centre of the tortilla, leaving enough space around the edges to fold them in over the beef.
Fold the edges of your tortilla in to the centre enclosing the beef like an envelope and turn seam-side-down in your baking dish.
Once all tortillas have been filled and folded place your baking dish in the oven for around 8 – 10 minutes until they start to brown a little.
Serve your Chimichangas with sour cream, salsa, grated cheese and some rice and a green salad on the side.
Traditional Mexican Rice would be a perfect side dish for these Chimichangas.
This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe found at: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/shredded-beef-chimichangas/