Slow-Cooked Beef Burritos with Green Chiles

Back home. The playoff run continues. Quarterfinals this weekend. I came back from Las Cruces with something clarified: the season matters, the championship matters, but not in the way that takes priority over what I saw in that kitchen. Everything is in its right order and I need to keep it there. You can be fully committed to your season and fully committed to what you're returning to at the end of it. Both are true. They don't compete unless you let them.

Won the quarterfinals 38-14. Diego had 163 yards. He's been playing with a quality all season that I want to name carefully: he's playing free. Not reckless — free. There's a difference between a player who doesn't care about the consequences and a player who cares about the outcome and has released the anxiety around it. Diego has done the second thing. He plays each game like the outcome matters enormously and simultaneously like he knows what he is regardless of the outcome. That's a psychological achievement that some players never reach.

Semifinals next week. The team that beat us in the spring of 2021 — a different lineup, same program, still dangerous. Williams has been in the film room every evening. I've been in there with him. We don't need to talk much at this point in our working relationship. I watch film and I know what he's thinking. He watches film and he knows what I'm seeing. This is what four years of daily collaboration produces: shared language that doesn't require speaking.

Made birria on Saturday night. The long version, the all-day version. This is the meal I make before the important games because it requires investment over time and I want to practice making investment over time. The food teaches the mind or the mind teaches through the food. I've stopped trying to separate the two.

The birria mindset — low heat, long time, no shortcuts — led me to this recipe when I didn’t have the dried chiles I needed to go fully traditional. Slow-cooked beef burritos with green chiles give you that same investment-over-time payoff: you start them in the morning, you go about your work, and by evening the house smells like something earned. That’s exactly the practice I wanted before a semifinals week. The food doesn’t lie about what it took to make it.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 8 hrs | Total Time: 8 hrs 20 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
8 large flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
Optional toppings: sour cream, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, pico de gallo

Instructions

Season the beef. Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels. Combine cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a small bowl, then rub the mixture evenly over all sides of the roast.
Layer the slow cooker. Place the diced onion and minced garlic in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Lay the seasoned chuck roast on top. Pour the chopped green chiles, diced tomatoes with their juices, and beef broth over and around the meat.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours, or until the beef is very tender and pulls apart easily with two forks. Do not rush this on HIGH — the low setting produces a more tender, evenly cooked result.
Shred the beef. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir it into the braising liquid. Let it rest in the juices on WARM for 15 minutes.
Warm the tortillas. Wrap the flour tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30–45 seconds, or warm them individually in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 20 seconds per side.
Assemble the burritos. Lay a tortilla flat. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the beef mixture (with some juices) down the center. Top with about 3 tablespoons of shredded cheese and any desired toppings. Fold in the sides, then roll tightly from the bottom up.
Optional: crisp the exterior. Place the assembled burritos seam-side down in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for 1–2 minutes per side until golden and lightly crisped. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooked Beef Burritos with Green Chiles — The All-Day Commitment Before the Big Game