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Birria Tacos Recipe
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If you haven’t tried Birria Tacos yet, get ready to LIVE! These slow-braised, flavorful beef birria tacos are served with a rich consommé for dipping, making them one of the best tacos you’ll ever have. Whether you’re making them for Taco Tuesdays or a special occasion, this birria recipe is a must-try.
What Are Birria Tacos?
Birria Tacos are based off of Birria, a Mexican 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 and the birria beef.
Top it with some white onion and fresh cilantro, then dip away in the cooking leftover consomé it braised. Truly heaven in a crispy tortilla.
Ingredients Needed For Birria Tacos
There is a reason this recipe is super popular right now….it’s a delicious, decadent taco that is flavor-city. Building that flavor takes time and the right Birria Tacos ingredients, but it is SO worth it. These delicious tacos do not disappoint. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Dried guajillo chiles – These add smoky flavor and mild heat. Ancho chiles can be used as a substitute.
- Chiles de Arbol (optional) – For those who like extra heat, these will spice things up.
- Olive oil – used for searing the meat and adding extra flavor.
- Beef chuck roast & short ribs – A mix of these cuts makes the birria meat tender and flavorful.
- White onion – Adds depth to the broth and makes a great topping.
- Garlic cloves – Essential for that rich, savory flavor.
- Jalapeño peppers – Adds a mild kick.
- Smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, cumin, cinnamon, ground clove – These spices bring out the best in the beef.
- Beef stock – The base of the flavorful broth.
- White distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar – Helps tenderize the meat and pull out collagen and nutrients from the bones.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes – Adds richness and depth to the adobo sauce.
- Bay leaves – Infuse the birria stew with extra flavor.
- Corn tortillas – The best way to enjoy these crispy tacos.
- Oaxaca cheese – Melty cheese makes these quesabirria tacos irresistible.
- Fresh cilantro, diced white onion, lime wedges – For serving and adding fresh flavor.
Variations
Want to switch things up? Here are a few great options:
- Use goat meat if you can find it, this is the traditional birria meat to use.
- Try flour tortillas if you prefer softer taco shells.
- Make it in a slow cooker instead of a large Dutch oven.
- Use an Instant Pot for a faster cooking method with high pressure. Here’s my Instant Pot Birria Tacos recipe.
- Add chipotle peppers for extra smoky flavor.
- Use regular oregano if you can’t find Mexican oregano.
- Add ground clove to the sauce for an absolute flavor delight.
What Peppers to Use for Beef Birria
- Dried Guajillo Peppers – these are sweeter peppers and are added for flavor and not spice. You can find it in a Mexican grocery store or online. If you can’t find Guajillo peppers, try dried ancho chiles. But be warned that ancho chiles do have a little more heat than the Guajillos.
- Dried Chiles de Arbol – chili peppers are added for flavor, but mainly for heat. A little goes a long way! These dried Mexican peppers are about 6 times spicier than jalapeños. I marked these as optional on the Birria Tacos recipe card.
- Jalapeños – I love the flavor of cooked jalapeño, plus it adds a little heat to the overall beef Birria Tacos. I remove the ribs and seeds for the least amount of heat.
How to Make Birria Tacos
Slow and steady wins the race…or, in this case enjoys the best Birria Tacos. For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements see the printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here’s how to make homemade beef Birria Tacos from scratch:
1. Toast & Reconstitute Dried Chile Peppers
Cut open dried guajillo chiles and chiles de Arbol (if using; see notes above) using scissors and remove seeds and dried stems. Add to a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, careful not to burn.
Pro Tip: Dried Chiles de Arbol 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. but feel free to make this as spicy as you’d like.
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. This water can be bitter, so I prefer to discard it.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Brown the Birria Tacos Meat
In a large dutch oven pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Pat all pieces of meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle all sides with salt and black pepper. 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.
3. Make the Sauce
Cut 3/4 of the white onion into large chunks. Finely dice the remaining 1/4 onion and reserve for serving. Crush the garlic cloves. De-seed the jalapeño peppers and chop roughly.
In the same hot pot, reduce heat to medium and add in onion, jalapeño and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 2 minutes to brown slightly and get a little color. Add in a cinnamon stick, smoked paprika, oregano and cumin. Stir and cook for another minute. Deglaze pan with beef stock and vinegar. Remove from heat.
Spoon pot contents into a blender or a food processor. Add in reconstituted peppers and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. Blend until smooth. Taste sauce and add salt if necessary.
4. Braise Birria
Add browned meat back to the dutch oven and pour sauce overtop. Add bay leaves. Bake in preheated oven, covered for 3-3.75 hours or until meat is very tender.
5. Shred the Birria for Tacos
Remove meat from braising liquid and shred using two forks. Remove any bones (if using bone-in meat), excess fat and gristle and discard. Remove bay leaves and discard. The shredded 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 tacos. Add extra beef stock to thin out sauce, if desired. Set the shredded meat aside and keep warm.
6. Make Birria Tacos
Place 8″ nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush both sides of the corn tortilla with reserved fat. Make the tortilla warmer by placing it on a hot skillet. Top tortilla with 3-4 tablespoons of shredded Oaxaca cheese and warm shredded birria.
Once you get melty cheese and when the tortilla is starting to get crispy, fold into a taco and remove from the pan. Continue to pan-fry tacos. The house smells amazing at this point!
7. Serve Birria Tacos with Consommé (Cooking Beef Broth)
Top birria tacos with reserved white onion and cilantro. Ladle warm beef broth into a bowl as a dipping sauce and serve tacos on the side with lime wedges. I find that these tacos by themselves are fine, but are so much more delicious with the fresh hit of the onion, cilantro and the squeeze of fresh lime juice. The acid and freshness really goes a long way.
What Cheese to Use for Birria Tacos
I would recommend using a good Mexican melting cheese like Oaxaca or Queso Asadero. Mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese is a great substitute, but honestly you can use what you have. As long as it melts and is mild in flavor, it should do the trick in these tacos.
Storage + Make Ahead Directions
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 and in the fridge 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 Birra Tacos
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.
Can you make this in an Instant Pot?
Yes! Brown the meat using the sauté function, then pressure cook on high pressure for 60 minutes with a natural pressure release. Check out my Birria Tacos Instant Pot Recipe for full details.
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 Taco Recipes to Try!
These homemade birria tacos are a great recipe to try next time you’re craving authentic Mexican food. Whether it’s your first time making them or you’re a pro, they’re always a crowd-pleaser! The printable recipe card is below. 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 Recipe
These Birria Tacos are a slow braised beef that is cooked then shredded and fried in corn tortillas with cheese. These flavors will blow your mind!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Birria
- 3 dried guajillo chiles (or 2-3 ancho chiles, if they're easier to get in your local grocery store)
- 1-2 dried chiles de Arbol optional; see notes below
- 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3.5 pounds chuck roast cut into large pieces
- 3 pounds short ribs bone-in
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 medium white onion
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
- 14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 large bay leaves
for the tacos
- 24 corn tortillas
- 16 oz Oaxaca cheese grated
- chopped cilantro, white onion, lime wedges for serving
Instructions
toast & reconstitute dried chiles-
- Cut open dried guajillo chiles and chiles de Arbol (if using; see notes below) using scissors and remove seeds and dried stems. Add to a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
brown the meat-
- In a large dutch oven pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Pat all pieces of meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper.
- 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.
make the sauce-
- Cut 3/4 of the white onion into large chunks. Finely dice the remaining 1/4 onion and reserve for serving. Crush the garlic. De-seed the jalapeno peppers and chop roughly.
- In the same hot pot, reduce heat to medium and add in onion, jalapeno and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 2 minutes to brown slightly and get a little color.
- Add in cinnamon, ground clove, smoked paprika, oregano and cumin. Stir and cook for another minute.
- Add beef stock to the pot and scrape bottom with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan. Add the apple vinegar. Remove from heat.
- Spoon pot contents into a blender. Add in reconstituted peppers and can of fire roasted tomatoes. Blend until smooth. Taste sauce and season with salt if needed.
braise the birria-
- Add browned meat back to the dutch oven and pour sauce overtop. Add bay leaves. Bake covered 3-3.75 hours or until meat is very tender.
shred the birria for tacos-
- Remove meat from braising liquid and shred using two forks. Remove bones (if using bone-in meat), excess fat, and gristle 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 tacos. Remove and discard bay leaves. Add extra beef stock to thin out the consommé, if desired. Set aside and keep warm.
make birria tacos-
- Place a 8" nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush both sides of the corn tortilla with reserved fat. Place the tortilla onto a hot skillet. Top tortilla with 3-4 tablespoons of shredded oaxaca cheese and warm shredded 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 consommé-
- Top birria tacos with reserved white onion and cilantro. Ladle warm consommé into a bowl (for dipping) and serve tacos on the side with lime wedges.
Video
Notes
Dried Chiles de Arbol are very spicy peppers- they run around 15,000-30,000 Scoville Units. This is six times hotter than jalapeños or chipotle peppers. I marked them as optional.
Nutrition
Calories: 341kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 27gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 338mgPotassium: 491mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 263IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 3mg
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My family loved this recipe. I know you are supposed to wait till you try a recipe first before you add/change anything. However, I tasted while cooking and added a healthy tablespoon of tomato paste. I also used 4 roma tomatoes, because I did not have fire roasted. I added cinnamon sticks to the sauce during the cook phase, because I saw comments that the cinnamon flavor was strong.
I took them out before the meat cooked in the sauce. I made homemade tortillas, because we love the taste of homemade, not corn. They held up in the pan.
One question, I hydrated and followed the directions for the chiles. They were soft. After I blended, very well, in the food processor, the skins of one type of Chile’s (guajilla?)skin was hard flecks in the sauce. Had to fish them out. Why?
Sure there are some steps but the process is very easy and delicious! Don’t sleep on this recipe, it’s flavorful, rich and complex flavors really are worth the “hassle”
This is sooo delicious. Tasted like authentic Birria Tacos. My family was so impressed! Thank you
I loved this recipe! but I also used the 123 method using a product called insta-birria by el sabor products. If you look them up on google they should pop up. Their flavor is out of this world! its easy and simple. just add water, sauce and meat. I loved both recipes but insta-birria had a flavor that just blew my mind. so flavourful. I love my birria.
I have had this recipe saved for awhile. Decided to make them today. Holy moley these are good!
Do you use both the roast and short ribs, for a total of 6.5 lbs of meat or use either the roast or short ribs.
6.5 lbs total. You can mix and match these meats as well.
Have you tested this recipe in a slowcooker?
I have not, but they will turn out great that way as well I’m sure.
Sounds so good but a little too much work for me. I’ve been wanting to try them though!! Looks yummy!!
It’s definitely a labor of love, but oh so worth it!!