Birria Tacos

Birria Tacos – or Quesabirria – are the legendary crispy red tacos stuffed with cheesy shredded beef, served with a rich consommé for dunking. This was a beast of a recipe to crack, so I’m thrilled we got there. I’m obsessed – big flavour delivered with every single bite!

Birra tacos

What’s that you say? You haven’t had Birria Tacos before? Then let me introduce you to them. This is what they look like on the outside:

This is what they look like on the inside:

And this is how you eat them:

Have I got your attention? 😂

About Birria Tacos – in words!

Though not as fun as showing you pictures, here’s a bit of background. Birria Tacos are originally a Mexican taco made with slow-cooked meat (goat or beef) soaked a rich chilli broth and stuffed into tortillas.

Quesabirria or “cheese birria” is a modern twist with cheese added to the taco, which is then crisped in the chilli-stained oil, and served with flavour-packed braising liquid (the consommé) alongside for dipping.

Often just called “birria tacos” too, they became a hot craze a few years ago. We’ve long since had a goal of creating a version with real punch, because so many we’ve tried are disappointedly bland. It took a few years, but we finally got there – and here it is!!

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Ingredients in Birria Tacos

If you don’t use dried Mexican chillies, it’s not Birria. I’m not saying it won’t be nice, it’s just not Birria! The dried chillies are the main flavouring, and also provide the signature red colour staining the tacos.

So if you can’t get the ones we use, rather than substituting with other chillies (land of the unknown!), I’d recommend you make my Mexican Shredded Beef instead which uses everyday grocery store ingredients. Assemble/crisp the tacos like Birria. See FAQ for steps!

1. The chillies

We use a mix of three types of Mexican chillies, for their different qualities and the complexity they bring when combined: Anchos for their sweet, raisin-y flavour; guajillo for their fruity tartness and earthiness; chile de arbol for their heat.

Where to buy – Fellow Sydneysiders can find dried Mexican chillies at Mexican/Latin or well-stocked international grocers like Top Ryde Growers (my local). You can also buy them online at Fireworks food (Australia), else readers can find chillies on Amazon: guajillo (AU|UK|US); ancho (AU|UK|US); chiles de arbol (AU|UK|US).

🌶️ Spiciness: Birria is a little on the spicier side! Definitely not blow-your-head-off but a good hum. If you prefer less spicy, reduce or omit the chile de arbol which is responsible for most of the heat.

2. BIRRIA ADOBO PASTE

The base of the flavour of this whole dish is an Adobo which refers to sauces and marinades in Mexican cooking usually made with dried chillis. In addition to the dried chillies listed above, here’s what you need to make this Adobo for Birria Tacos:

• Garlic and onion – Yes, five cloves of garlic seems like a lot! But the long simmering process turns them sweet and mellow. The onion meanwhile gives the sauce more thickness and body, and some wetness to create the paste. Use 1/2 a large onion or 1 small onion.

• Fresh tomato – This also provides wetness to make the paste, and I think it’s nice to use a fresh tomato rather than canned, in amongst all the big flavour explosions! Tomato also adds a bit of red colour to the sauce.

• Cumin – We’ve had many birria tacos that are quite heavy on the cumin. We love this style in its own right, but wanted a less cumin-forward flavour for our recipe. 1 tsp is the sweet spot – a little spice hum without being dominating.

• Oregano – A classic Mexican flavouring for braised meats and rubs.

3. best beef for birria + braising liquid

You need a stewing cut of beef for Birria Tacos that can be slow cooked until tender enough to shred. Chuck is my first choice, followed by short rib. Cheeks and shanks would also work.

• Beef – Use chuck (my preferred) or short rib. Short rib is richer and fattier, but once shredded and sauced, chuck is just as good, plus cheaper and easier to find.

  Go for large pieces of chuck and cut into tennis-ball size pieces if you can, rather than pre-cut thin steaks, for juicier results.

  Other good cuts: cheek or shank/osso bucco. Gravy beef and brisket are leaner but workable. Avoid lean steak/roast cuts like tenderloin, sirloin, prime rib, rib eye (scotch fillet).

• Beef stock – Use low sodium beef stock (broth), a good one if you can though this is still excellent with mass produced brands like Campbells. Homemade beef stock is of course the best if you have it (you’ll need to add extra seasoning to the consommé at the end).

  I do not recommend using powdered beef stock for this recipe, which tastes more artificial than liquid stock.

• Herbs and spices (cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves) – These warm spices are key flavourings for birria along with the chillies. Using a cinnamon stick rather than powdered really makes a difference here. It infuses with subtle flavour without overwhelming. I also use plenty of cloves because they pair so wonderfully with the beef (they sink so you won’t bite into them).

• Apple cider vinegar – A splash of acidity helps brighten things a touch. Substitute with white or red wine vinegar, or regular white vinegar. Avoid rice vinegar, sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar as they have distinctive flavours that aren’t suitable here.

4. TO ASSEMBLE BIRRIA TACOS

• Tortillas – I prefer corn tortillas as they have great flavour and crisp up better. But you can use flour tortillas too, and they do crisp up as well. Corn tortillas are quite stiff when cold. So they need to be warmed to be pliable enough for folding without breaking, which we do in the pan as we pan-fry them that classic “Birria red” colour!

  Size – The ones I use are 14.5cm / 6″ wide. Feel free to use larger or smaller. You could even make quesadilla size ones!

• Cheese – You want a good melting cheese with stretch and flavour. Our pick is Colby and Monterey Jack, but provolone or tasty cheese work too. Oaxaca is traditional but we can’t get it where we are. Mozzarella is a common choice in recipes but a bit bland – we prefer something saltier and more flavourful. That said, I’d happily use any melting cheese!

• Diced white onion – A classic taco addition with a fresh bite and crunch. White onions are milder and better raw than yellow/brown. If you prefer, soak in water to mellow the bite, swap for red or green onions, or skip entirely.

• Chopped coriander/cilantro – A little sprinkle for inside the tacos for a hit of freshness! If you’re one of those coriander haters, you can skip this, or substitute with chives if you still want little green specks inside.

• Lime wedges – Present on any good plate of tacos to cut through all the fatty richness! Just a little squeeze on the taco before or after dunking.

• Salsa (ie. Mexican chilli sauce) – Totally optional, as these tacos already pack plenty of flavour! But if you love some fresh and spicy zing, a salsa doesn’t go astray at all.

How to make Birria Tacos

Blitz the paste, sear beef then slow cook 2.5 hours until shreddable. Stuff in tortillas and pan fry until crispy!

1. Prepare the chillies

Dried chillies are tough so we need to soak to soften before blitzing into an Adobo paste.

1. Deseed the chillies by cutting them in half lengthways and tapping/scraping out the seeds. Also trim off and discard tough stems. We remove the seeds because they are spicy and also because we don’t want gritty bits in our braise. (A few random seeds left is ok, just get rid of 98% of them).

2. Cut chillies into 1 – 1.5cm / 1/2″ pieces.

3. Soften the chillies by simmering in boiling water for 10 minutes. The flesh will become pasty and the skin should be pliable, not tough and wrinkly as they were when dried.

4. Drain the chillies through a sieve, being sure to reserve 1/2 cup of the simmering water.

5. Press out excess water from chillies (no need to squeeze out by hand, just do this in the sieve).

6. Reserved water – We are going to use 1/2 cup for the Adobo paste (next steps).

2. birria adobo paste

Just add everything and blitz!

1. Blitz – Put the chillies, reserved 1/2 cup of water and all the remaining adobo paste ingredients in a jug large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until smooth – it takes about 20 to 30 seconds, moving the head around. It won’t become completely liquified but make it as smooth as you can. It should be like a chilli paste.

   Other blitzing methods – Mini food processor, NutriBullet or blender. To help it blitz, use some of the beef stock listed in the ingredients if needed, but only the minimum amount needed to make it puree. Then add the rest of the beef stock into the braising liquid as per the recipe.

3. slow cook beef

Don’t be tempted to reduce the oil in the recipe. It uses more than typical so that there’s enough of the red-stained oil floating on the surface at the end to fry the tortillas with for the signature Birria style finish!

1. Sear beef – Heat the oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat then sear half the beef aggressively to brown it well on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and brown the remaining beef.

2. Cook off adobo paste – Add the paste to the same oil and stir for 2 minutes (lower heat if it’s spitting furiously).

3. Slow cook 2.5 hours – Add the stock, vinegar, bay leaves, spices and salt. Give it a stir then add the beef. Bring it to a simmer, cover with a lid and lower the heat so it’s simmering very gently. Slow cook for 2.5 hours until the beef is easily shreddable. (Note: Beef short ribs will take between 3 – 3.5 hours).

   During this stage the braising liquid develops stacks of flavour. This delicious liquid becomes our Birria Consommé in which the tacos are dipped. Meanwhile, the oil and rendered beef fat float to the surface and gets stained the signature red colour. We separate and use this oil to pan fry the tacos.

4. Shred and season – Remove the beef from the Birria Consommé into a shallow pan and shred well using forks. Sprinkle with salt and toss.

5. Sauce it! Pour 1 cup of the Birria Consommé into a clean, large non-stick pan big enough to also use to crisp the tacos later. Heat over medium-high and simmer the Consommé for about 30 seconds. Now add all the beef in and toss until it sucks up all the liquid pooled in the base of the pan. We want the beef moist but not wet (this compromises taco crispiness). Put the beef back in the shredding pan, scraping all the juices out of the non-stick pan.

   💡Note: This is not a step we’ve seen in many other Birria recipes. But honestly, we found the beef is rather bland if you don’t soak it in some braising liquid. We have plenty of that flavourful Consommé – why skip an opportunity for free extra flavour?? We’ve taken cues from Pork Carnitas (the fry-off-in-braising liquid step catapults it into ah-mazing territory!). Also Papi’s Birria Tacos, our local favourite and the only truly great Birria taco joint we know of here in Sydney, do the same.

6. Scoop off Birria Oil – Skim off the red oil that has risen to the top of the Birria Consommé (we’ll call this the “Birria Oil”) and put it in a small bowl or container. I scoop off as much as I can also so the consommé is not overly oily. You need at least 6 tablespoons of Birria Oil to have enough to crisp the tacos. If you are short, add vegetable oil into the consommé and give it a good stir. The oil will take on red colour by mixing with the liquid. Now leave for 10 minutes to let the oil rise to the surface, and then skim.

   CRISPY / GREASY NOTE: Many recipes will tell you to dunk tortillas straight into the consommé, relying on the red oil that rises to the surface. The problem is that you’re not just coating the tortilla with oil – you’re also dragging in some of the water-based liquid so the taco won’t crisp up as well. Also, I find this makes the tacos excessively greasy. I prefer to scoop the oil off and use a controlled amount per taco.

4. make crispy, cheesy birria tacos!

OK! It’s time to make our crispy Birria tacos!!

1. Make tortillas red (and soft!) – Put 1 teaspoon of the Birria Oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat (I use the same pan I used to toss the beef). Then place a tortilla in and use it to “wipe” the skillet to mop up all the red oil so the underside of the tortilla is covered with red. The heat will also soften the corn tortillas so it’s pliable and won’t break when folded. When the tortilla is soft (only about 10 seconds), remove onto a cutting board, red-side down.

   There’s no need to flip the tortillas, we only put the red oil on one side – the outside. I do flip in the video only to show you the red side. 🙂

2. Repeat twice more, adding a little more oil each time, so you have 3 tortillas in total. We’re going to make 3 Birria Tacos at a time.

3. Stuff – Working on the cutting board, top one side of each tortilla with cheese, then beef, then sprinkle with onion and coriander.

4. Crisp it! Fold over like a quesadilla then pan-fry on medium-high heat (or medium, if your stove is strong) until crisp and the cheese is melted – about 90 seconds on each side. You won’t need to add any more oil, the oil on the surface of the tortilla should be enough.

5. Spoon some Birria Consommé into a dipping bowl for each person.

6. Serve the crispy Birria Tacos alongside the Consommé with some lime wedges and Mexican chilli sauce (salsa) if desired. If you want to add a garnish, sprinkle with a little white onion and/or coriander leaves. Finally, serve!

Practical matters: Cooking and serving hot

One of the things I grappled with Birria Tacos was the practicality of making lots in one go, and serving hot. Nobody wants to be the slave in the kitchen pan frying tacos one at a time and sliding them hot and crispy onto the plates!

What I do is to warm 3 tortillas at a time in the red oil, then assemble as many as I need (ie. stuff and fold). Then pan-fry 3 at a time (you can get 2 pans going if you want to do more), and keep cooked tacos warm in the oven.

For big crowd cooking, a BBQ with hot plates is best so you can cook lots in one go! Set up a Birria Station 😄.

And lastly, there’s the plain tortilla-assembling method. Here you assemble using plain no-red-oil tortillas which you can fold, then pan fry after in the red oil. If using corn tortillas, you’ll need to warm the tortillas to make them pliable (just microwave). This is also useful for big batch cooking. This method needs more oil than the “skillet wiping” method we use, so as an insurance policy I’d add some extra oil into the braising liquid so I get more Birria Oil out at the end.

Time to get messy!

This is how to eat Birria Tacos: Grab one, and admire that beefy, cheesy goodness and the glorious red-stained crispy shell. Now over to the Consommé … Dunk and bite, dunk and bite … (interspersed with lime and sauce squeezes)…. you get the picture!

Yeah, they are greasy and it gets messy – that’s half the fun!! Drippy, slurpy, napkin-stainingly messy, this is food so good it will invade your dreams for days to come until you go and make it!!

Enjoy! – Nagi x

** A big thanks to my brother Goh who did the heavy lifting for the development of this recipe. It was a big one, a whale we’ve been chasing for years to nail down. It wasn’t until a great Birria taco truck finally opened in Sydney that we were inspired once again to pick this up and get it across the finish line. Taco lovers around the world thank you, Goh! This is one to be proud of. 🙂 (Read about Goh’s food credentials here!)

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Watch how to make it

Life of Dozer

Exciting, important day for Mr Dozer yesterday – his presence was requested at a meeting in the Big Smoke to discuss the launch of the children’s book he’s starting in – Row, Row, Row your boat with monsters! (Announcement here, in case you missed it 🥰).

If you are picturing a quiet, calm office, everybody at their desks working earnestly – then huff, huff, huff in comes Dozer with his unmistakable excited panting sound, leaving a trail of golden fur on the grey office carpet and on the clothing of everyone who dared to wear black on that day – you’re just scratching the surface of the reality that is Dozer in an office.

There was attempts at food swiping off the coffee table, splashing slobbery water everywhere as he gulped it down (in the publishing directors’ office, no less 🤣), barking persistently if someone dared to stop patting him (we took it in turns).

As for the meeting agenda?

1. Overview of Dozer’s well-being

2. Dozer merch

3. Dozer press and media

4. Dozer availability for events

5. Dozer measurements for PR

And when was the last time you were at an office meeting when staff were on the floor instead of sitting around a boardroom table? Never? I thought so.

Yes. City office meetings with Dozer are a little different to the usual. 😂