Authentic Mexican Birria Recipe

Step 1

Season the meat with salt, pepper, and cumin

Step 2

Cut open the dried chiles with scissors and remove the seeds

Step 3

Fry the dried chiles with a small amount of oil in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes, moving constantly so they don't burn. Set aside

Step 4

Add the chiles from the previous step to a small pot with boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until softened.

Step 5

In the same frying pan where you fried the chiles, add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the onions and tomatoes until they are browned. Add the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and all of the remaining spices except for the ground cumin and ginger. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, moving it around often.

Step 6

Add the chiles (including the water), the ingredients from the previous step, and the ginger, cumin, apple cider vinegar and water to a blender and blend until smooth. It will still be pretty thick, but that is fine. Strain and set aside the resulting sauce for the next step.

Step 7

Pour the sauce over the meat in a large bowl and cover. If using the oven or stovetop methods, you will want to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight. If using the electric pressure cooker option, you can marinate it, but it isn't necessary.

Step 8

Follow the cooking instructions according to your preferred method below.

Step 9

Add the meat with the marinade to a large stockpot and cook over medium heat, covered, for about three hours, or until the meat falls off the bones and is easy to shred.

Step 10

Add the meat with the marinade to a large oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 2 hours or until the meat is easy to shred.

Step 11

Add the meat with the marinade (or just the meat and the marinade separately if you chose not to marinate it) to the pot of the electric pressure cooker.

Step 12

Follow instructions for your electric pressure cooker to bring it to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Release pressure naturally for 5 minutes and then use the quick pressure release option to release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid per instructions and the meat will be tender and ready to shred.

Step 13

Remove the meat and shred it. You can then serve it over the soup made from the sauce that the meat cooked in or you can serve it with tortillas as tacos with cilantro, lime, onions, and salsa.