Sometimes, I just get the craving for a very specific flavour and I am struck with the inspiration to develop a recipe. That is exactly what happened when I developed this Mexican lamb taco recipe.
I wanted a very specific flavour that is honestly tough to find in Australia, and I am so happy with the results.
I’ve slow-cooked a lamb shoulder in a flavour-packed chili sauce to recreate the taste of a traditional barbacoa-style taco. While, typically, barbacoa is cooked in a pit, you can do this all in your home oven – and your house will smell amazing as it bubbles away!
How to Make Lamb Shoulder Barbacoa Tacos
You will need some speciality ingredients to make this dish properly, but everything I call for is readily available online if you don’t live in an area where dried chiles are common in supermarkets.
I call for four different dried chiles in this recipe, but you can leave out the chiles de árbol if you’re sensitive to heat, as they are quite spicy (or use fewer). The other chiles – ancho, guajillo and pasilla – are all necessary for the final outcome of the dish.
Speaking of chiles, start by removing the stems and seeds. Place a braiser or heavy Dutch oven over medium heat and add the chiles. Toast them, flipping occasionally, until they’re very fragrant – only a couple of minutes.
Then, add the toasted chiles to a small saucepan and pour over some chicken stock. Over the pan, set it over high heat, and bring it to a vigorous simmer. Once bubbling, turn off the heat and allow the chiles to soak and rehydrate for about 10-15 minutes.
In the meantime, you can begin browning your lamb shoulder. I like to use a bone-in roast as I think that the bone adds a lot of flavour, so this recipe is developed with that in mind.
Add a bit of oil to the same pot in which you browned the chiles and also generously season your roast on all sides with salt.
Sear the roast on one side until it’s golden and releases easily from the pan, about 5 minutes, before flipping and browning on the other side. Then, remove the lamb shoulder from the pan and set it aside.
To the pan, now add some sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re softened and translucent – this will take about 5 minutes. To the onions, add some roughly chopped garlic and a squeeze of tomato paste.
This is also the time to add your spices to ensure that your flavours bloom. I like to use ground cumin, cinnamon and cloves. Cook this all until really fragrant, then pour over a bit more chicken stock, some chopped chipotle chiles in adobo and a bit more salt.
Now, go ahead and transfer that entire mixture to the jar of a blender, along with the rehydrated chiles and their soaking liquid. Be careful when blending as the mixture is hot, but blend on high until everything is completely smooth and pureed.
Pour the pureed sauce back into the pan and then stir in some apple cider vinegar and some fish sauce.
That ingredient may seem strange in a Mexican recipe, but I assure you that it adds a great umami quality that you don’t get from salt alone. Throw in a couple of bay leaves then bring the sauce up to a simmer.
Return the lamb shoulder (and any accumulated juices) to the pan and then move the whole thing to the bottom rack of a 135°C/275°F oven. And now, you can effectively walk away! The roast needs to braise for at least 4 hours and up to 5 (or more, you can’t really overdo this).
I like to flip the roast over at least once during the braising process, but other than that, you don’t need to do anything except let your mouth water as the smells start to permeate your kitchen.
You’ll know that the lamb is done when it is extremely tender, falling off the bone and offers little resistance when pricked with a knife. When you reach this stage, remove the pot from the oven.
Lift the roast from the pan and let it rest until it’s cool enough for you to handle. In the meantime, set the pot with the sauce over medium heat and bring it to a vigorous simmer.
Let the sauce bubble away until it has reduced by about one-third – this usually takes about five minutes.
When you can handle the lamb, pull it from the bone (it should fall right off) and then use two forks to shred the meat.
Add the meat into the reduced sauce and stir to combine. Keep it on the stove just until it’s heated through, and that is it!
I like to serve the barbacoa as tacos on corn tortillas with a squeeze of lime, some salsa verde (or my restaurant-style salsa!) and plenty of fresh cilantro.
Lamb Shoulder Tacos (Barbacoa-Style)
Ingredients
- 1 ancho chile stem & seeds removed
- 1 guajillo chile stem & seeds removed
- 1 pasilla chile stem & seeds removed
- 2-3 chiles de árbol stem & seeds removed, optional
- 1 l (4 cups) chicken stock (see note 1)
- 1 ½ kg (3 ⅓ lb) bone-in lamb shoulder
- 10 g (2 tsp) salt divided (see note 2)
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 4-6 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp chopped chipotle chiles in adobo
- 60 ml (¼ cup) apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Move the oven rack to the lower position and preheat to 135°C/275°F. Place a large Dutch oven or braiser over medium heat. Add the dried chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until they are very fragrant, roughly 2-3 minutes. Remove from the Dutch oven and add to a small saucepan. Pour over 500ml (2 cups) of the chicken stock and set over high heat. Cover and bring to a vigorous simmer. Turn off the heat and allow the chiles to soften, covered, for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pat the lamb shoulder dry with paper towels and season with half of the salt. Add 1 tbsp of neutral oil to the pan and add the lamb, cooking on one side until browned – about 5 minutes – before flipping and browning on the other side, another 5 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Then, add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cinnamon and cloves and cook until very fragrant, another minute or two. Pour over the remaining chicken stock, add the chipotle chiles and the remaining salt. Stir to combine.
- Transfer the soaked chiles and their soaking liquid to the jar of a blender. Scrape in the onion mixture into the blender jar, as well. Blend on high until smooth and completely pureed, taking care as the mixture is hot. Pour the sauce back into the Dutch oven, stir in the apple cider vinegar, fish sauce and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer.
- Add the browned lamb shoulder and any accumulated juices. Move to the oven and braise until the sauce is thickened and bubbling and the lamb is tender, offers little resistance when pierced with a knife and is falling off the bone, 4-5 hours, flipping once halfway through.
- Once done, remove the lamb from the sauce and discard the bay leaves. Place the Dutch oven over medium heat and bring the sauce to a vigorous simmer. Simmer the sauce until it has reduced by about ⅓, roughly 5 minutes.
- When it is cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred the meat from the lamb shoulder, discarding the bone. Add the shredded lamb to the reduced sauce and stir to combine, cooking just to warm through. Serve as tacos in corn tortillas, with lime, salsa verde and cilantro.
Notes
- For best results, use unsalted stock so you can control the seasoning of the final dish.
- For best results, measure salt by weight, as different salts vary in crystal size and density.
The shredded taco meat can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the stovetop.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
If you’re craving deeply flavoured lamb shoulder tacos, then this is the recipe for you. It takes a while to cook, but the vast majority of that time is inactive (and the results are worth it!).
Are you after a great taco recipe? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
