Birria Tacos – A Stunning Mess

If you are looking for a flavorful dinner idea, try this birria taco recipe! Birria, also called Birria de res, is a traditional stew from Mexico made of meats such as beef, lamb and goat, as well as spices and dried chilies. This taco recipe has birria meat with melty cheese and then is served with some of the stew the meat was cooked in, also called consommé. In some ways ,these birria tacos remind me of a French dip sandwich in that it’s a hearty, meaty dish that you dip into a broth. It’s so good! You have to try these.

Related: Next up, use the meat in this recipe to make birria pizza or quesabirria, which is essentially a quesadilla with birria meat added.

My goal with this beef birria taco recipe was to keep it inspired by the traditional Mexican dish, but also to make it simple and more accessible to a Midwestern home cook, like myself. For example, I don’t usually have time to go to multiple grocery stores when I grocery shop for the week, so I was aiming to get all the ingredients for this meal from one grocery store and this made the ingredients list a bit more simple. But fear not, as these tacos are still full of flavor and delicious while also being easy to make in a slow cooker (I tend to call it a crock pot).

Ingredients

• Chuck roast
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Diced tomatoes
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Brown sugar
• Oregano
• Cloves
• Cayenne
• Lime
• Beef stock
• Bay leaves
• Cinnamon stick
• Tortillas – I like corn tortillas for this recipe
• Butter or oil for cooking the tortillas
• Mozzarella cheese
• Cilantro

Instructions

Pat the meat dry and liberally season with salt. Sear the meat on both sides. Then add it to your slow cooker.

In a blender or large food processor, add half the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, diced tomatoes, cumin, paprika, pepper, brown sugar, oregano, cloves, cayenne, lime juice and 1 cup of beef stock. Blend in to a thick sauce. Pour this sauce over the meat in a slow cooker. Add another cup of beef stock, so the meat is covered. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Reserve the stew but remove the meat to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Yes, it should be so tender you can easily shred with forks.

Dice the remaining half an onion as well as the cilantro.

Dip the tortillas on one side in the stew, aiming for the fat on top. Then pan fry with a little butter or oil. Add the shredded beef and cheese to the tortilla and fold over on one side. Pan fry until the cheese is melted.

Serve with the onion and cilantro and extra lime wedges so you can squeeze a little fresh lime juice over the tacos before eating.

Tips & Substitutions

• If you are able to find dried chilies such as ancho chiles or guajillo chiles, these make great additions that will elevate and make this recipe more authentic. But I could not find any at the grocery store I usually shop at, so I didn’t include them here.
• Use Mexican oregano and cinnamon sticks if you are able.
• While I used chuck roast, you could use other cuts of beef or even lamb for this recipe.
• I like white onion for this recipe, but yellow or red onion will work as well.
• Instead of mozzarella cheese, you could use Oaxaca cheese for a more authentic recipe.
• If you and your family prefer flour tortillas, you are welcome to use those instead or corn. You may want to simply warm them before filling, instead of the pan fried method.
• I like to cook this for 8 hours on low, but if needed you can cook the birria meat for 4 hours on high. It’s also best to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature if you are unsure.

Why do my corn tortillas stick?

Cooking the tortillas is probably the “hardest” part of this birria taco recipe. I think of it like pancakes, the first one is just a test! I use a nonstick pan with a little butter over high heat.

I add the dipped tortilla and use tongs to gently move the tortilla over the pan with melted hot butter, just aiming to keep it from immediately sticking.

I then use a spatula to fold it over once I’ve added the meat and cheese. I find that using tongs to do the folding is more likely to tear the tortilla. Once it has cooked an additional minute or two, I use the spatula to flip it.

Once done, I transfer the taco to a plate lined with paper towels. They will still be a little soft at this point, but harden more as they cool.

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