What would your last meal on earth be? If you could have anything you wanted?

I’ve given this a lot of thought, because, you know, thinking about weightier matters makes my head hurt. So do football games, which is why I would totally (not) watch the Super Bowl for the food.

Not having more than four consecutive hours of sleep in almost eight months doesn’t help, either.

My meal of choice? Unfortunately my answer changes with whatever I happen to be craving. Or the seasons.

Authentic street tacos are high on the list, though. Drippy, tender, shredded beef would be second only to batter-fried fish.

After a few attempts, I’m sure I created THE knock-off of that drippy, tender, shredded beef found in taqueria tacos. (If you don’t live in a place that has taquerias, I suggest you find an area with a large Hispanic population, stat.)

This recipe isn’t a quickie, though. For that reason, I make a LOT and freeze some of it. For the base I use these slightly menacing-looking dried chiles you see in the latin food section of the grocery store. I used to be scared of them until I made the best Chicken Tortillas Soup ever. That soup has become one of our staples, and I keep these chiles in the pantry all the time now.

First they need to be soaked so they blend easier. Put them in a bowl and cover with hot water.

I put another bowl on top so they stay submerged.

After a few hours, I pull them out, pull the stems off, and get most of the seeds out. The chiles go into the blender. . .

. . .along with a bunch of other stuff, and become a really concentrated chile/enchilada paste type of thing.

Sear the roast. For this recipe I used two roasts that were roughly 2 pounds each.

Put the roasts in your big slow cooker. (Not the medium or the small one. Just admit you have three of them.)

Eight hours later it’s dark and the lighting in your kitchen is kind of cruddy, so you use your phone to take a picture so it looks all yellow-ish and hipster like you did it on purpose. Oh, and the meat falls apart, too.

Separate the meat from the juices (strained, preferably).

In the morning the juices will look something like this…. a gelatinous, beefy substance covered in orange wax. Mmm. Just toss the “wax” aka fat, unless you want to keep it around to cook with. The juices will become runny again once heated. If it’s gelatinous like this, it means its full of things that are actually really good for you. (If you started out with good meat, that is.)

And that juicy stuff you’ve got in that bowl? Pretty much the best enchilada sauce ever. You can use it for lots of things. I made another version of those Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with the shredded meat and sauce. And lots of spinach. Wowza, it was good.

You could also make traditional enchiladas. Or nachos. Or those salads packed with all kinds of stuff that I totally crave from a place that rhymes with Rafe Cio that we don’t have in Reno. *Sad face*

Or tacos. Throw some of the meat into a skillet with a few spoonfuls of that sauce and you’re set. For the entire football game. Or for life.

Or. . . for whatever that comes after that. It’ll sustain you.

Beef

Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa Beef mimics the delicious shredded beef served at chipotle! The recipe includes instructions for Instant Pot & Crock Pot!

Shredded Chipotle Beef is a slightly different from this barbacoa recipe with lots of chipotle flavor.

Instant Pot Green Chile Shredded Beef is a good home for a large jar of Hatch green chiles.

Chicken

Instant Pot Green Chile Shredded Chicken — if you want to try a chicken version!

The Best Instant Pot Shredded Chicken for Tacos is another shredded chicken recipe that only has a few ingredients and comes together so quickly!

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If you make one of my recipes, be sure to post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!