Slow Cooker Shredded Beef

I love slow cooker recipes. It’s so satisfying to mix a few things together and set it to cook for several hours.

I often do this the night before and make room for the slow cooker in the refrigerator so that I can just take it out and plug it in before I leave for the day. When I come home from work, the house smells wonderful, and my main dish for dinner is nearly done. When I do a roast, I usually just serve it as is, carved and served with baked potatoes (made in the microwave), a microwaved vegetable, and a quick tossed salad. Oh, and I also make a quick gravy with the juice from the roast.

But recently, I decided that I wanted to try another way of cooking a roast. I’ve been tempted at the grocery store by the pre-made shredded beef and pork products, but as usual, I wanted to make it myself at home. So when I found this recipe through the Reiman Publications Taste of Home Menu Newsletter, I thought it would be worth a try.

As usual, I made a few changes for our own kitchen. I increased the garlic and onion, and the amount of cayenne pepper to give it more kick. Also, I didn’t have regular cola on hand, so I used some of my husband’s favorite cherry-flavored cola instead (Cherry Coke or Cherry Pepsi).

It turned out wonderful! And it was so easy to make! I served it on hamburger buns with roasted asparagus, and homemade spicy garlic pickles on the side…Yum!

Ingredients:
¾ cup cola
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. vinegar (I used red wine vinegar, because that’s what I had on hand)
¾ tsp. chili powder
¾ tsp. ground mustard
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 boneless rump roast (2 pounds)
3 medium onions, chopped
1 cup ketchup

Combine everything but the roast, onions, and ketchup in a 4-cup measuring cup. Set aside.

Cut the roast in half crosswise, and brown meat on all sides in a nonstick skillet.

Place onions in a 3-quart slow cooker. Top with meat, and pour half the cola mixture over the meat (saving the other half and refrigerating it until later). Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove meat from cooking liquid to cool a bit. Strain the onions from the liquid and put them back into the slow cooker, saving the liquid. Shred the beef with two forks and add it back to the slow cooker with the onions.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cola mixture that you saved in the refrigerator and about half the leftover liquid from the meat with the ketchup to make a barbecue sauce to add back to the meat and onions. Mix together and heat again to serve.