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This Birria Tacos Instant Pot Recipe shaves off a lot of cooking time while still giving you that slow braised flavor to make the BEST birria queso tacos. Served in warm corn tortillas and dipped in a flavorful birria consommé that gives these tacos a rich, savory flavor with a vibrant red color. Top the tacos with diced onions, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, or salsa. There really is nothing like it in the whole wide world. One taste, and you’ll be hooked! If you don’t have a pressure cooker, try my original Birria Tacos recipe made right in the oven!
What are Birria Tacos?
Birria Tacos are based off of Birria, a Mexican beef stew that is slow-cooked in a flavorful savory and slightly spicy sauce. While you can enjoy this recipe just as a stew, I like to take it to the next level and turn it into crispy tacos by frying corn tortillas in a pan with Oaxaca cheese (a white, semi-hard, low-fat Mexican cheese) and the birria beef. These tacos are known for their bold, complex flavors and are often enjoyed as a comforting and satisfying meal, especially during special occasions or celebrations.
Top it with some white onion, then dip away in the leftover sauce it braised in (the consommé). Truly heaven in a crispy tortilla.
Traditional Birria Stew vs. Birria Tacos – What Is Birria Meat Made Of?
Birria is a slow cooked stew, traditionally made with goat meat (or sometimes lamb meat). While this birria tacos recipe certainly would work by substituting out the shredded beef for the goat, it is harder to find and will certainly have a different flavor. I’ve never actually seen goat meat, have you?
Most birria recipes these days call for beef chuck roast and sometimes beef short ribs (to help thicken the dipping sauce and add flavor). Feel free to use any combination of these cuts of stew meat.
Birria Tacos are simply this same stew meat fried in tortillas and turned into the best tacos ever. It’s a slightly crispy exterior with a creamy and flavorful filling. Topped with the much needed freshness of the onion and fresh lemon wedges, it’s the perfect balance between salty, spicy and flavorful.
Ingredients Needed for Instant Pot Birria Tacos
I know, I know, the list is long! It really is a labor of love, and all of these spices are necessary to have the best birria taco experience! The good news is you likely have most of the spices in one form or the other in your pantry. You should be able to find the dried chiles in your grocery store. Look for them in the international/hispanic aisles or in the produce section where dried foods are displayed. You can also find them at the farmer’s market, Mexican stores or even online. Here is everything you’ll need, plus an electric pressure cooker aka an Instant Pot:
For the Birria
- Dried guajillo chiles: Add a touch of smoky flavor with these dried peppers.
- Dried Ancho chiles + Dried Chile pasilla: These peppers bring a rich, earthy taste to the dish.
- Dried chiles de Arbol (optional): Add a kick of heat if you’re feeling adventurous.
- Chuck roast: Tender beef that melts in your mouth.
- Short ribs: Bone-in beef for added flavor and juiciness. Any bone-in beef is fine to use here.
- Whole cloves or ground cloves: Infuses the dish with warm, aromatic flavor.
- Cumin seed or ground cumin: Provides a subtle earthy taste.
- Cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon: Adds a touch of warmth and sweetness.
- Ground marjoram, dried thyme, dried oregano: A blend of herbs for depth of flavor.
- White onion: Adds sweetness and texture to the sauce.
- Garlic cloves: Enhances the savory notes of the dish.
- Jalapeño pepper: Adds a kick of heat without overwhelming.
- Tomatillos: Tangy flavor with a hint of sweetness.
- Roma tomatoes: Adds richness and depth to the sauce.
- Beef stock: Provides a savory base for the sauce.
- White distilled vinegar (optional): Helps extract collagen and nutrients from the meat.
- Dried bay leaves: Infuse the dish with subtle herbal notes.
- Pantry Staples– olive oil (for sautéing), salt, ground black pepper or black peppercorns.
for the tacos
- corn tortillas
- Oaxaca cheese
- white onion
- lime wedges
Variations:
- Swap chuck roast for beef shank or beef cheek for a different texture.
- Use adobo sauce instead of dried chiles for a shortcut version.
- Substitute Oaxaca cheese with Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese for a different cheese profile.
How to Make Birria Tacos Instant Pot Recipe
I love being able to make Barria Tacos in the Instant Pot because it can be done in a fraction of the time, without compromising on flavor! For full recipe details including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card down below. Here is step-by-step instructions for making the bet Birria Tacos in your instant pot!
1. Toast & Reconstitute Dried Chiles
Using scissors, cut open dried chiles and remove seeds and dried stems.
Dried Chiles de Arbol are small but mighty. They are very spicy peppers- they run around 15,000-30,000 Scoville Units. This is six times hotter than jalapenos or chipotle peppers. I marked them as optional in the recipe card. If you can’t handle the spice, leave them out. If you love it spicy, add more!
Add chiles to a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn. Once they start becoming fragrant, add water to cover and bring water to a boil.
Once water has boiled, turn off completely and let the chiles sit for 15-20 minutes. Discard water and reserve reconstituted chiles. It can tend to be bitter.
2. Brown the Meat
Hit the Sauté function button on your Instant Pot pressure cooker.
Pat all pieces of meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle all sides generously with salt and black pepper.
Swirl a bit of oil in the bottom of the pot and brown meat in batches, searing a few pieces at a time as not to crowd the pan. Place browned meat onto a plate and continue browning until all meat has been seared on all sides.
3. Grind Spices
Using a mortar and pestle (Molcajete) or spice grinder, grind the whole cloves, black peppercorns, cumin seed and cinnamon stick. Combine with ground marjoram, ground thyme and dried oregano. Set aside.
4. Make the Birria Sauce
Cut 3/4 of the medium white onion into large chunks. Finely dice the remaining 1/4 onion and reserve for serving.
Swirl more oil in the instant pot, still using the sauté function and add onion, jalapeńo and ground spices. Cook for a few minutes until slightly browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatillos and tomatoes. Season with salt, to taste.
Spoon pot contents and reconstituted peppers into a blender and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add in some beef broth if needed for smooth blending.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender right into the pot. I like to strain my sauce to get some of the chunks out so it’s nice and smooth, so I always blend separately and strain.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain sauce back into the instant pot, pouring the beef broth into the strainer to thin out the sauce for easier straining. Discard any bits that were strained out. Taste sauce and add salt if needed.
5. Pressure Cook the Birria
Add browned meat back to the pot with sauce. Add vinegar (optional) and bay leaves. Press “OFF” and then add the lid to the instant pot and turn to lock. Set venting valve to sealing position.
Set to “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” (depending on your IP) on high pressure for 80 minutes.
Once you’ve reached the 80 minute cooking time, allow pressure to natural release (do not touch valve) for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, switch pressure valve to the release position to allow remaining steam to vent. Remove lid.
6. Shred the Beef
Remove meat from braising liquid and shred using two forks. Remove any excess fat and gristle from meat and discard. Meat should be moist, but feel free to add in a little extra cooking liquid.
Spoon off excess fat from the top of the cooking liquid and reserve for frying tortillas. Remove and discard bay leaves. Add extra beef stock to thin out sauce, if desired. Set aside and keep warm.
7. Make Birria Tacos
Place a 8″ nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the corn tortillas with reserved fat. Place the tortilla onto a hot skillet. Top tortilla with 3-4 tablespoons of shredded oaxaca cheese and warm shredded beef birria.
Once cheese has melted completely, and tortilla is starting to get crispy, fold into a taco and remove from the pan. Continue frying tacos.
8. Serve Birria Tacos with Consommè
Top birria tacos with reserved white onion. Ladle warm beef consommè into a bowl to be used as a dipping sauce. Serve tacos on the side with lime wedges.
Making Ahead + Storing Leftover Birria Tacos
The beauty of this Birria Taco recipe is you can easily make the Birria (chuck roast or other stew portion) of this recipe days in advance and then fry up the tacos as you’d like. Freshly made birria can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Can You Freeze Birria?
Yes, you can freeze birria. Birria freezes VERY well as long as it is stored correctly. Since this is a such a labor of love, I always make extra so that I can freeze and have some ready to go when I want it. Allow birria to cool completing to room temperature before storing in a freezer safe airtight container. For the best quality, it’s generally recommended to consume it within 2-3 months.
How to Reheat Birria Meat
If you have leftover birria meat, reheat the meat and consume on the stove or in the microwave, and then fry the Birria Tacos according to the recipe card below. If you have already assembled the birria queso tacos, you can reheat the whole taco in a skillet on the stove over medium low heat, flipping to heat both sides. Alternatively, you can reheat in an air fryer. The microwave is another option, but keep in mind that they won’t be crispy.
What to Serve with Birria Tacos
Here are some of my favorite Mexican Sides. While you can fill up completely just on these tacos, having a delicious variety is great!
More Tasty Taco Recipes to Try!
Anyways, there you have the super popular and absolutely delicious Birria Tacos! It’s a delicious and easy Birria recipe made in the instant pot! Hello time saver! It’s a good one you will want to make again and again. Have a great day, friends!
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
Birria Tacos Instant Pot Recipe
Ingredients
for the birria
- 8 dried guajillo chiles
- 3 dried chile ancho
- 3 dried chile pasilla
- 3 dried chiles de Arbol* optional
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3.5 lbs chuck roast cut into large pieces
- 3 lbs short ribs (or other bone-in beef)
- 1 tsp salt + more to taste
- 1 tsp black peppercorns or 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp whole cloves about 25 cloves (or 3/4 tsp ground cloves)
- 1 tsp cumin seed or 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 inch cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground marjoram
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 medium white onion divided
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 large jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
- 2 tomatillos paper removed, roughly chopped
- 4 roma tomatoes roughly chopped
- 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar optional (helps extract collagen and nutrients)
- 4 large dried bay leaves
for the tacos
- 24 corn tortillas
- 24 oz Oaxaca cheese grated
- white onion reserved from above, diced
- lime wedges
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker (instant pot)
Instructions
toast & reconstitute dried chiles-
- Using scissors, cut open dried chiles* and remove seeds and dried stems.
- Add chiles to a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn. Once they start becoming fragrant, add water to cover and bring water to a boil.
- Once water has boiled, turn off completely and let the chiles sit for 15-20 minutes. Discard water and reserve reconstituted chiles.
brown the meat-
- Hit the Saute function button on your Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- Pat all pieces of meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle all sides generously with salt and pepper.
- Swirl a bit of oil in the bottom of the pot and brown meat in batches, searing a few pieces at a time as not to crowd the pan.
- Place browned meat onto a plate and continue browning until all meat has been seared on all sides.
grind spices-
- Using a mortar and pestle (Molcajete) or spice grinder, grind the whole cloves, black peppercorns, cumin seed and cinnamon stick. Combine with ground marjoram, ground thyme and dried oregano. Set aside.
make the sauce-
- Cut 3/4 of the medium white onion into large chunks. Finely dice the remaining 1/4 onion and reserve for serving.
- Swirl more oil in the instant pot, still using the saute function and add onion, jalapeno and ground spices. Cook for a few minutes until slightly browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatillos and tomatoes. Season with salt, to taste.
- Spoon pot contents and reconstituted peppers into a blender** and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add in some beef broth if needed for smooth blending.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, strain sauce back into the instant pot, pouring the beef broth into the strainer to thin out the sauce for easier straining. Discard any bits that were strained out. Taste sauce and add salt if needed.
pressure cook the birria-
- Add browned meat back to the pot with sauce. Add vinegar and bay leaves. Press "OFF" and then add the lid to the instant pot and turn to lock. Set venting valve to sealing position.
- Set to "Pressure Cook" on high for 80 minutes.
- Once you've reached the 80 minute cooking time, allow pressure to release naturally (do not touch valve) for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, switch pressure valve to the release position to allow remaining steam to vent. Remove lid.
shred the beef-
- Remove meat from braising liquid and shred using two forks. Remove any excess fat and gristle from meat and discard. Meat should be moist, but feel free to add in a little extra cooking liquid.
- Spoon off excess fat from the top of the cooking liquid and reserve for frying tortillas. Remove and discard bay leaves. Add extra beef stock to thin out sauce, if desired. Set aside and keep warm.
make birria tacos-
- Place a 8" nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush both sides of the corn tortillas with reserved fat. Place the tortilla onto a hot skillet. Top tortilla with 3-4 tablespoons of shredded oaxaca cheese and warm shredded beef birria.
- Once cheese has melted completely, and tortilla is starting to get crispy, fold into a taco and remove from the pan. Continue frying tacos.
serve birria tacos with consommè-
- Top birria tacos with reserved white onion. Ladle warm beef consommè into a bowl to be used as a dipping sauce. Serve tacos on the side with lime wedges.
