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Birria Tacos
Birria tacos! The most amazing, decadent, delicious dish; basically ever. Thiss short rib inspired birria tacos recipe are crispy, cheesy and meaty – they boast SO much flavor.
Basically, these birria tacos recipe is EVERYTHING you need in your life!
First: Short rib & beef chuck are seared and braised with a blended sauce filled with onions, garlic, tomatoes, aromatics, guajillo chiles and chipotle peppers.
Second: It’s braised until the meat is tender and stuffed in tortillas with oaxaca cheese (talk about cheese melt central).
Third: It’s served and dipped with the consomé from the braise for ultimate dipping.
What Are Birria Tacos?
Birria is a popular Mexican stew (from Jalisco!). Traditionally, Birria uses goat meat and/or lamb. It’s since been renditioned into tacos, which is then dipped and served with that rich consomé broth creating with the braise as well!
The consomé is a rich, thick broth made from the stewed meat. First, it is dipped and crisped in the skillet with cheese for the ultimate crunchy, cheesy, goodness. Second, then dipped with even more of the braising liquid, it’s quite literally the best bite, filled with so much flavor! Third, topped with all the fixing’s like onions and cilantro for more crunch.
There are a few ways Birria can be prepared:
- Birria de res: This is the preparation to have it on its own as a stew. Serve with meat and broth in a bowl (discarding the large onions, and other items non-edible), and top with onion, cilantro and lime juice.
- Quesabirria Tacos: which is what we’re doing for this recipe! This is generally melted with Oaxaca cheese, dipped in the consomé and pan fried with the juices, as well as serving with a side portion of the braising liquid as well!
- In addition to the above, another method are Vampiros: For this method, you can use the birria meat between 2 crispy/toasted/fried corn tortillas with melted cheese. It’s similar to a quesadilla and a tostada together!
Everything you need for your birria tacos recipe
Ingredients for your meat:
- Beef short rib
- Beef chuck
- Salt and black pepper
- Water or broth: You can use whatever broth (or water) you prefer, a beef or chicken broth will work, but water can work as well.
- Avocado oil
*We’re using short rib and chuck here, but you can also use beef chuck roast and/or beef shank!
For your Braise:
- Guajillo chili peppers, ancho chiles can work as well! Or both.
- White onion
- Garlic cloves
- Roma tomatoes
- Black peppercorns
- Dried oregano (Mexican oregano is best, but dried or fresh oregano is fine as well!)
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Ground cloves
- Chipotle peppers
- Cinnamon stick
- Bay leaves
- Vinegar
- Water
- Salt
This braise is filled with so much flavor, and for good reason!
For your tacos:
- Cilantro
- White onion
- Lime wedges/juice
- Corn tortillas
- Oaxacan cheese
Lastly, we’re assembling our tacos with cilantro, white onions, lemon juice, melty, gooey-ooey Oaxacan cheese on corn tortillas. We’re melting and then dipping the tortillas on a skillet, but you can also just add your braising meat mixture in a warmed corn tortilla and eat it from there (without dipping in your consomme, I highly suggest serving a dipping of it on the side though!
Step To Make These Birria Tacos
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees
Sear Your Meat
First, pat your meat dry, and season on all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside and let come to room temp, 30 ish minutes.
In a deep pot, pan or dutch oven, heat neutral oil and sear your meat on all sides. Do it in batches if your dutch oven doesn’t fit all the pieces. Set aside as needed.
Make Your Sauce
While you are searing your meat, in a separate pot: add in guajillo chiles, white onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppercorns, oregano, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, chipotle peppers in adobo, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Season with salt. Fill with water and bring to a boil on medium heat.
Once your mixture is boiling, bring to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove your bay leaf. Strain out the water and add in the boiled mixture to a high speed blender. Add in water, salt to taste and vinegar. Blend until completely smooth. If you don’t have a high speed blender, feel free to strain out any excess that did not blend smoothly.
Time To Braise
On medium low heat, add back in your seared meat to the same pot. And pour over the blended marinade. Add 1.5 cup water to cover completely and mix well. A fun tip here is to add water in the blender, and blend that up to get any excess marinade to pour into your braise.
Next, bump up the heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Then cover and transfer to your oven. Braise for 3.5-4 hours, checking every hour and mixing the braise around. You will know it’s ready when it falls of the bone and has the ability to shred easily and is not tough. Remove from oven. Remove the meat from the consomé and shred with two forks. Keep the liquid in the pot.
To Assemble Your Tacos
In a bowl, add in chopped cilantro, onions, lime juice and salt, mix well and set aside. Next, shred your cheese.
Take your corn tortilla and dunk it in the consomé from the meat, heat up on a skillet on medium-high heat and on one side add your meat and then your cheese. Finish with a little of your cilantro mixture, fold the other side and cook on all sides, flipping halfway until your cheese is melted. Repeat this step and pour the consomé to a bowl for dunking and serve with your tacos!
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
What is consomé?
Consomé is a type of broth/soup made from a deep flavored stock. It’s created from the beef braise here and finished off with a little bit of chopped cilantro and finely minced onions.
You’ll dip, pan fry and serve with this braising liquid. It is deep in flavor, filled with so many different ingredients and truly a masterpiece!
What if I don’t have Oaxacan cheese?
Sub for shredded mozzarella. You want a low moisture mozzarella, perfect for shredding! You can find Oaxacan cheese at many local grocery stores, your local Mexican market, or on Amazon.
What meat is birria tacos made of?
Traditionally, birria is made with goat meat. The word “birria” refers to the stew, but since it’s popularity, you can find birria in all different forms, like in a taco or quesadilla. For this recipe, we’re using inspiration from the goat meat and using beef, but you can also use lamb!
How do you prepare your birria taco?
- you can serve it as it’s stew on its own
- we’re crispied and melting it with cheese and onions/cilantro for the perfect crunchy bite!
Where can I find dried peppers?
You can find guajilo peppers directly on Spice Tribe, at your local market, local Mexican market (sometimes I find them at my local Thai market as well!). However, they are also available on Amazon.
Are Birria Tacos spicy?
YES! Birria is quite spicy with all the dried peppers.
In conclusion, these tacos are NOT to be missed!
Looking for more taco ideas? Check out the Below Recipes!
- Braised Lamb Tacos with Charred Tomato Salsa
- Braised Short Rib Tacos with Apple Slaw
- Mushroom Al Pastor Tacos
- Shredded Mushroom Tacos with Tzatziki Dressing
If you do make this birria tacos recipe recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and through social media so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!
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Birria Tacos
Ingredients
For Your Meat
- 1.7 pounds beef short rib
- 1.4 pounds beef chunk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 cup water or broth
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or neutral oil for searing your beef
For Your Braise
- 3-4 guajillo chiles ends trimmed and de-seeded
- 1 white onion peeled and halves
- 6 garlic cloves peeled
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leave (removed before blending)
- 4 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 cup water or broth
- salt to taste
For Your Tacos
- 1/2 cup cilantro minced
- 1/2 cup white onion minced
- juice from 1 lime
- corn tortillas to serve and assemble
- 3 ounces Oaxacan chees shredded (or mozzarella)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees
- SEAR YOUR MEAT. Pat your meat dry, and season on all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside and let come to room temp, 30 ish minutes.
- In a deep pot or dutch oven, heat neutral oil and sear your meat on all sides. Do it in batches if your dutch oven doesn’t fit all the pieces. Set aside as needed.
- MAKE YOUR SAUCE. While you are searing your meat, in a separate pot: add in guajillo chiles, white onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppercorns, oregano, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, chipotle peppers in adobo, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Season with salt. Fill with water and bring to a boil.
- Once your mixture is boiling, bring to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove your bay leaf. Strain out the water and add in the strained mixture to a high speed blender. Add in 1 cup water, salt to taste and vinegar. Blend until completely smooth. If you don’t have a high speed blender, feel free to strain out any excess that did not blend smoothly.
- TIME TO BRAISE. On medium low heat, add back in your seared meat to the same pot. And pour over the blended marinade. Add 1.5 cup water to cover completely and mix well. A fun tip here is to add water in the blender, and blend that up to get any excess marinade to pour into your braise.
- Next, bump up the heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Then cover and transfer to your oven. Braise for 3.5-4 hours, checking every hour and mixing the braise around. You will know it’s ready when it falls of the bone and has the ability to shred easily and is not tough. Remove from oven. Remove the meat from the consomé and shred with two forks. Keep the liquid in the pot.
- ASSEMBLE. In a bowl, add in chopped cilantro, onions, lime juice and salt, mix well and set aside. Next, shred your cheese.
- Take your corn tortilla and dunk it in the consomé from the meat, heat up on a skillet and on one side add your meat and then your cheese. Finish with a little of your cilantro mixture, close the other side and cook on all sides, flipping halfway until your cheese is melted. Repeat this step and pour the consomé to a bowl for dunking and serve with your tacos!
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This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try! I’m a little confused about the amount of water to use. Do you reuse all of the water from the first boil, and add to the blender? Then also add more plain tap water to it the second time? Just want to be sure I get it right. Thank you!
Hi Erika! You will drain the water from the first boil, and use that mixture (all the steamed goodies), in the blender until it’s creamy and blended throughout, with about 1 cup of water or broth. From there, you’ll add the sauce in the pot with an additional 1.5 cups water! Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂