birria tacos

Birria tacos are made from tender lamb or beef in a rich adobo sauce. Make this recipe for a delicious dinner with authentic Mexican flavor!

Birria Tacos

ancho chiles

garlic

bay leaves

tbsp sesame seeds

tbsp black peppercorns

cloves

thyme

tsp Mexican oregano

ginger

tsp cumin

water

vinegar

lbs beef or lamb ((See Note 1))

salt ((See Note 2))

vegetable oil

adobo paste ((see above))

onion

tsp black peppercorns

cascabel chiles (stemmed and seeded)

remaining adobo paste ((see above))

oz roasted tomatoes

corn tortillas

cilantro (chopped)

pickled red onion (optional)

Transfer dried chiles to a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and set chiles aside.

In a skillet over medium high heat toast the garlic, bay leaves, sesame seeds,  peppercorns and cloves. Sesame seeds should be a light brown and spices aromatic.

Transfer toasted garlic and spices, thyme, oregano, ginger and cumin, drained chiles, water and vinegar to a blender and puree. Add water as needed for a smooth, thick paste consistency (See Note 3). Strain through a sieve and discard any debris if needed (I use a Vitamix that does a great job, so no need to strain). This can be made 1 week in advance stored covered in refrigerator.

Adobo Sauce

Season lamb or beef all over liberally with salt. Searing meat first is optional (I prefer the browned meat myself, but to save time skip this step). Sear meat all over in a Dutch oven or large skillet with a little oil. Work in batches so the meat sears and doesn&#039;t steam due to over crowding pot.

Remove meat if seared and or place salted meat into the Instant Pot along with onion, garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns. Pour in half of the adobo paste, and cover with water by 1 inch. Cook on Meat/Stew setting, High, for 45 minutes. Allow for Natural steam release.

Remove the meat, reserving the cooking liquid, and shred. Transfer shredded meat back into the Instant Pot and cover to keep warm. Set reserved cooking liquid aside.

To a skillet over medium high heat, add the cascabel chiles. Cook and turn often, chiles should turn a bright red color, for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, roasted tomatoes and remaining half of the adobo paste and simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer tomato chile mixture and half of the reserved cooking liquid to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a sieve and discard any debris if needed.

To the Instant Pot add half the strained chile puree to the shredded meat.  Set to Saute and cook meat and chile sauce, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Birria

Add the remaining half the strained chile puree to the remaining half of the reserved cooking liquid, this is your consommé for dipping. Thin with water or beef stock if needed.

Consommé

Dip tortilla in consommé and pan fry with some oil, turning to cook both sides. Add some birria and shredded Oaxaca cheese or Monterey Jack to each tortilla to warm. Using a spatula, remove from pan and top with cilantro, onion and pickled onions (optional). Serve with a cup of the consummé to dip the tacos in. Tear tacos in half and dip into sauce. Can be eaten as a stew as well.

Serve

Season lamb or beef all over liberally with salt. Searing meat first is optional (I prefer the browned meat myself, but to save time skip this step). Sear meat all over in a Dutch oven with a little oil. Work in batches so the meat sears and doesn't steam due to over crowding pot.

Add all meat to the Dutch oven along with the onion, garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns. Pour in half of the adobo paste and cover with water by 1 inch. Cover with lid and transfer to oven. Bake for 3 hours, or until the meat is very tender and pulls easily with a fork.

Remove the meat, reserving the cooking liquid, and shred. Transfer shredded meat back into the Dutch oven and cover to keep warm. Set reserved cooking liquid aside.

To the Dutch oven add half the strained chile puree to the shredded meat.  Simmer meat and chile sauce, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Baking Version (Preheat oven to 325°F)

Add the remaining half the strained chile puree to the remaining half of the reserved cooking liquid, this is your consommé for dipping.

If you want to hop of the birria tacos trend then this recipe is excellent for making quesabirria tacos at home. In fact, it only takes a minute per taco (after near 6 hours making the birria)

Quesabirria Tacos

kg Beef

White Onion

Chili Peppers

tbsp Black Peppercorns

tsp Cinnamon (ground)

tsp Cumin (ground)

Cilantro

Tomatoes (cut in half)

Garlic

60 ml Olive Oil

60 ml Vinegar (white vinegar is okay)

tbsp Oregano

Black Pepper (freshly cracked, to taste)

small Tortillas (traditionally these are made with corn tortillas,

Cheese (traditionally you

Chop up the meat into large chunks and place in a big pot or dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper and mix.

In a pan toast/fry your chilies for a minute or two. If using dried chilies then place them in some water for 10 minutes after toasting to soften them up. Add to blender.

Grill the tomato halves for a minute or two, until the flesh is charred. Add to blender.

Fry the peppercorns, cumin, and cinnamon for just a minute on high heat. Add some water to the pan to dislodge anything stuck to the pan and then tip everything into the blender.

Add to the blender the garlic, cilantro, olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and the white onion. Blend everything up. If it is too thick add some water or beef broth to thin it down, but we don't want it TOO watery.

Pour the adobo (blended chili sauce) over the meat. Shake the pot to help the liquid seem through all the beef. Pour over just enough to cover the meat. Place the lid on and put into the fridge for at least 12 hours.

Preheat your oven to 160 Celsius and place the pot into the oven. Let braise for 5-6 hours, or until the meat is fork tender and easily shreds.

Strain the meat from the liquid (save the liquid!) and shred all the meat with a couple forks. Place in a serving bowl and ladle over some of the liquid you previously strained out. Mix everything together and enjoy.

Beef Birria

Dip a tortilla into the leftover fatty liquid and slap it on a hot pan. Flip immediately.

Add a scoop of birria meat to half the tortilla and then top with some cheese.

Fold over the tortilla and press it down with a spatula. Rinse and repeat for all the tortillas.

How to Make Birria- a traditional Mexican Stew (with Beef, Lamb, or Goat) in an Instant Pot,  Dutch Oven (Baked or Stovetop), or in a slow cooker. Serve in a bowl as a hearty stew, or use inside tacos. Great for meal prep and freezes well. Serve with Cilantro Lime Rice and Mexican Pinto Beans

 Birria Recipe 

lbs stew meat (beef, lamb

salt

pepper

——

broth

4 dried guajillo chile (see notes)

Pasilla chilies (optional)

——-

olive oil

onion,

garlic cloves, roughly chopped

tomatoes

vinegar (white

tablespoon dried Oregano(or thyme)

allspice

orange zest

optional: (not traditional) 1-2 canned chipotle peppers

honey, or sugar

small cinnamon stick (or see notes)

(or see notes)

coriander seeds

cumin seeds

8-10 peppercorns

Read all the way through before starting. 🙂

Season meat with salt and pepper and set aside.

Break dry chilies apart, remove stems and most seeds, and toast them in a dry large skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant and slightly darkened (do not burn- or they get bitter!). Place toasted chiles in a small pot with the chicken broth, bring to a simmer, cover, and let stand 20 minutes covered, turning the heat off, until softened.

In the same warm skillet, toast any whole spices you are using-cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin, coriander, peppercorns&#8211; until it smells amazing- 1-2 minutes, turn the heat off, set aside.

Heat oil in Instant pot on SAUTE setting, (or large Dutch oven over medium heat) and add onion and garlic, stirring and sauteing until fragrant, tender and golden. Add tomatoes and their juices,, simmer 2-3 minutes until tomatoes are breaking down, then add vinegar, oregano, the toasted cinnamon stick, (or ground cinnamon) bay leaves and allspice. Stir and scrape up any browned bits (important, to prevent burn error) using a wood spoon. Turn heat off.

Place the softened chilies and broth to the blender along with the toasted spices plus roughly one cup of the tomato mixture from the Instant Pot (leave the rest of the tomatoes in the instant pot).  Place a towel over the blender lid, and hold it firmly down (to prevent a blender explosion!), starting on low, and increasing to high, blending until smooth. Turn blender off.  (At this point you could add the canned chipotle peppers if using. 1-3 peppers will suffice, or for milder, just use the adobo sauce out of the can.) Blend again till very smooth.

Pour this flavorful sauce back into the instant pot  or Dutch oven and stir. Add the salted meat and stir to coat well. Feel free to add a piece of orange zest if you like.

INSTANT POT

Set instant pot to 45 minutes on high pressure. Let it naturally release. Shred the meat using two forks. You can skim the fat if you like, or use it for dipping tortillas, before frying them (traditional).

Dutch Oven: If using a dutch oven,  cover tightly, and either simmer on the stove over medium-low heat, 3 hours or bake in a 350F oven, 3 hours.  Check at hour 2, for dryness, adding a little more broth if you think necessary.

SLOW COOKER

You could also place this in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

Season

After the meat is shredded and mixed back into the cooking liquid, stir in the honey. Taste, adjusting the salt, honey or vinegar to your liking. Sometimes I&#8217;ll add a little more ground cinnamon or cumin to taste.

Serving Options:  BOWL OF STEW: 

you could serve this as a hearty stew (feel free to thin this out with a little more broth if you prefer) in a bowl, topped with cilantro, radish, cucumber, chopped onion or pickled onion, cotija cheese or sour cream and lime. (Fresh chopped things add good texture.)

TACOS

You can use Birria as a taco filling. Often you&#8217;ll see (Food truck versions) the tortillas dipped into the rich broth, before being fried in a skillet, covered in melty cheese (Oaxacan string cheese) then filled with the Birria and all the fixings&#8217;.  Decadent, but amazing!

I have been craving Birria tacos since I first had them from a truck in Jackson Heights, Queens this February. These are killer! Definitely do the multiple kinds of chiles. I needed a some extra water to add to my dutch oven to make it more like a broth, added the stems from my cilantro (tied in twine for easy removal), and seared an oxtail in my dutch oven to add to the rest of the beef for extra collagen. An excellent recipe though, my wife and I both loved it.

Fabulous recipe! I have now made it 3 times in 2 weeks and it is such a hit. The family keeps asking for it again.

I'm not sure what we did wrong here, but the meat was extremely tough (as if it had seized up), it was quite greasy and grossly lacking in flavor. We followed the recipe exactly as written. This is the first and only recipe we have made of yours that we were unhappy with.

Made this last night, didn't have the right chillies so used what  I had and added bit of smoked paprika.  It was delicious.

This is my first time making this I forgot to put sugar in it I'm cooking it in my instant pot hope everything come out good

I’ve been craving this for a while as I see posts of Birria tacos on social media.    Finally  made it with beef today.   Excellent recipe, so delicious.
As the recipe says, read instructions thoroughly first.

Been craving birria for a while.  Finally made it today and it was delicious!   As the recipe says, read through the instructions first.

i made this recipe about a month ago and it was delicious! initially, i didn't think 3lbs of protein was much, but it was plenty for 4 people and enough for my husband and i for the next couple of days. easy recipe to follow; it was my first time making tacos without a package mix! the only change i would make for my own taste preference is less cinnamon. next time, i'll use half a stick. for those making this recipe for the first time, add the cinnamon stick directly into the instant pot and remove after cooking.
there is a taco truck near me that makes fantastic birria tacos (cars lined down the street waiting to order) and my husband said, this recipe has more flavor/spices. thanks for a great recipe!

Read through and memorize this recipe because you will need no other! Going on a scavenger hunt to find the right chiles was so worth it. The aromatics, the spices, the dry roasted chiles all play their part in this rich, deep, flavorful sauce. Tried my first birria taco at a food truck and now I can have it whenever I want! Thank you, Sylvia, for bringing these birria tacos into my home!

This was fabulous!  Can't believe my husband I had never heard of birria before this - Used venison stew meat and some sort of sweet pepper that we smoked ourselves instead of the pasilla chile; otherwise followed recipe precisely and served over the lime cilantro rice.  WOW!  New fall/winter recipe to add to our repertoire - thank you!

I should wait to rate this, but I can tell it's going to be incredible. I first had Birria at a Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio. Unfortunately now closed. But I would order the Lamb Birria EVERY time I went. Rather than tacos, they served it over rice with chopped raw onion and cilantro. I will give you an update after I make it, but thanks for posting this!

I have a huge family so 3lbs will probably feed like 3 of us haha but wanted to see if I tripled it, should I add less of certain things or just triple all the ingredients like you would in baking. 

Looking forward to making this for tomorrow! :)

At what point do you add the orange zest?

Great recipe, full of flavour. I will add additional chilli’s next time as I do like lots of spice. But this is was perfect for the whole family.

Amazing and easy! This is my go to recipe. I make it almost weekly. I have used different cuts of meat and comes out perfect every time! Thanks for the awesome recipe.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/QeAc562f.mp4

A video on how to make Birria, an authentic flavorful Mexican Stew made with beef, lamb or goat, that can be cooked in an Instant Pot, Dutch Oven or Slow Cooker. Serve as a stew- in a big bowl or make Birria Tacos – the best! 

how to make Birria Video

Get your life, baby! These beef birria tacos are everything and then some. The meat is so tender, it's falling apart like a bad relationship. The cooking method was loosely adapted from Food &amp; Wine.

Beef Birria Quesa Tacos With Consome

chuck

beef short ribs

Flaky kosher salt (Diamond Crystals brand)

canola oil

Guajillo chilis, stemmed and seeded

New Mexico chilis,

Ancho chilis, stemmed and seeded

Pasilla chilis, stemmed and seeded

chile de árbol,

large onions, chopped in half (3 onion halves)

carrot,

2-inch chunks fresh ginger, peeled

flaky kosher salt (Diamond Crystals brand)

black pepper

cinnamon

dried Mexican oregano

coriander

smoked paprika

cumin

cayenne pepper

red pepper flakes

brown sugar, divided

14.5 ounces can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

chipotle peppers, with 2 tablespoons adobo sauce

white distilled vinegar

Worcestershire sauce

apple cider vinegar

Water

lime

sea salt

Corn tortillas

Monterey jack cheese, shredded by hand (SEE NOTE)

Lime wedges

jalapenos (optional)

Canola oil

Birria fat

Beef Birria Quesa Tacos with Consome

Place the short ribs and chuck roast into a large glass bowl. Season all sides of every piece of meat generously and evenly with flaky kosher salt. Set aside.

Pour a tablespoon of canola oil into a 12-inch cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet over medium-low heat. Add the dried and de-seeded peppers and toss to make sure they’re all coated thinly in the oil. Continue to move them around and toast them for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until fragrant and just starting to release their natural oils. They will blister and blacken in SOME spots, and that’s fine. Do NOT let them burn or blacken all over! They will become very bitter if so. If your heat is too high, turn it down.

Transfer the toasted peppers to a medium saucepan. Place the 3 onion halves, chopped carrots, chunks of ginger, and garlic cloves on top of the peppers and pour in 6 1/2 cups of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Allow the entire mixture to boil uncovered until the peppers are softened and the carrot is partially tender — about 10-15 minutes.

Drain the pepper/onion mixture and toss out the bitter water — we don’t need it. Transfer the pepper/onion mixture to a high-powered blender, along with the white distilled vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, black pepper, cinnamon, whole cloves, bay leaves, dried Mexican oregano, dried thyme, ground coriander, granulated garlic, granulated onion, smoked paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, the can of fire-roasted tomatoes, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, and 2 and a half cups of cold water.

Blend until completely smooth. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you may have to strain this mixture after you puree it to remove any large unblended chunks. 

For the pepper mixture

Place the salted meat into the pot of your pressure cooker, and pour all of the pepper mixture over the meat. Toss to coat. Add 8 cups of water. Set the pressure to High and cook for 50 minutes. Allow the meat to rest for 30 minutes before releasing the steam. 

Remove the tender cooked meat from the pot into a large bowl. Shred the meat to your desired consistency. I used two forks to break the meat apart, then used kitchen shears to make some pieces smaller. You can hack it with a cleaver if you choose. 

Cook the meat

Carefully transfer the consome to a large pot, and reduce 2/3 of the way down over high heat, about 25 minutes. This will thicken the consome just slightly and also deepen its flavor. Once it’s reduced to your desired consistency, taste it! Add the apple cider vinegar and remaining tablespoon of brown sugar to balance it out if needed. If you need to add more salt, feel free to do so.

You will have a lot of consome — check the notes below for suggestions on what to do with it.

Skim some of the fat from the top with a spoon into a small bowl. You will use this to fry the tortillas when you’re ready to make the tacos. Add some of the consome to the meat to make it juicy and moist. 

Reduce the consome

Mix the onions and cilantro together and squeeze the juice of half a lime all over along with a small pinch of salt. Toss until evenly combined.

Pour some of the consome into small bowls for each person eating, and add some of the onion/cilantro mixture to the consome bowl. 

Cilantro Garnish

Amazing!!!!!! When I tell you I’m in love! IM IN LOVE! Please keep creating! Took me forever to make cuz I wasn’t full prepared but so worth it! Thanks Resha!

Everything is right about this recipe! If you came up with this yourself, you are a GODDESS among humans. I haven't even finished my plate, but I am absolutely delighted with how this turned out and and enamored with this flavor blast and will be making this for many years to come. I followed the recipe pretty exactly (used a random mixture of peppers I was able to hunt down at the farmers market) and used a combo of sharp cheddar and provolone, spinach, cilantro, red onion, kidney beans, and sour cream for the toppings. Whoever is still reading this: you've gotta make this or you haven't fulfilled your life's potential. TYTYTY!!!

Perhaps the greatest Mexican taco there is, the classic Birria Meat stew filled corn taco. And its real easy to do, even in the snow! Ya have to check this out..!

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