Recipe Ancestor
← Go back
Birria Tacos
Birria Tacos

Cooking now

Birria Tacos

Online recipe · as published / commonly shared

8 servings · Prep 15 min · Cook 4 hr 20 min · Total 4 hr 35 min

We wrote this recipe in the Joy of Cooking style. Every amount, time and step comes from the source's recipe card.

Beef braised in a red chile broth, then fried in tortillas with cheese. The broth (consomé) is the dipping sauce.

Generously season the meat on all sides:

4 to 5 pounds chuck roast, cut into large 4-inch chunks

with:

½ tablespoon kosher salt

½ tablespoon black pepper

Heat in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat:

1 ½ tablespoon olive oil

Working in 2 batches, add the meat and sear on all sides until browned. Remove from the heat, return the seared meat to the pot, and set aside.

While the meat is searing, add to a medium pot:

12 guajillo chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded (about 2.5 oz)

5 ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded (about 2 oz)

5 árbol chiles, rinsed and stemmed (about 0.1 oz)

2 large Roma tomatoes

½ medium yellow onion

1 Mexican cinnamon stick*

3 bay leaves

½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Cover completely with water and bring to a boil over high heat:

water, as needed

Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles and all the other ingredients to a large blender.

Add 1 cup of the chile-soaked cooking water, along with:

2 cups beef broth

¼ cup distilled white vinegar

5 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano*

½ teaspoon ground cloves

Blend on high for a few minutes until completely smooth. Blend in 2 batches if the blender is small.

Strain the blended sauce through a fine mesh strainer into the pot with the seared meat. Discard any solids.

Stir the meat and chile sauce together and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 3 to 3 ½ hours until the meat is fall-apart tender.

Transfer the meat to a large bowl and shred with 2 forks.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. You need:

Corn tortillas (homemade or store-bought)

2 cups shredded cheese* (see Notes for best options)

Lightly dip both sides of a corn tortilla in the fat atop the red chile broth (consomé). Place in the hot skillet. Top half the tortilla with shredded cheese and shredded beef birria. Fold over to make a taco. Cook 1 minute on each side, until the cheese fully melts and the taco is crispy and browned. Repeat.

Pour some consomé into a small ramekin. Stuff each taco with fresh cilantro and white onion:

½ cup chopped cilantro

½ white onion, diced

Serve with the consomé as a dipping sauce and:

Lime wedges

Citations

Cookbook ancestor

Affiliate: buy the book

Reference: My Mexico by Diana Kennedy (1998). Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2020 edition, hardcover, ISBN 978-1477322987.

We put this together for personal use. See the citations. This is not a cookbook reprint.