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Birria Tacos
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4.34 from 3 votes

Birria tacos

Recipe video above. Birria Tacos - or Quesabirria - the legendary crispy red tacos stuffed with cheesy shredded beef dunked in rich consommé. This was a beast of a recipe to crack, so I’m thrilled we finally got there. These deliver big flavour with every single bite, the consommé is rich and full bodied with beefy chilli flavour, and wow the tacos are crisp!
Important: Birria is very reliant on chillies for flavour. So if you don't have scales for the chillies, deseed, chop, then measure using cups. Don't rely on "4 anchos", they can vary so much in size.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Course: Mains
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: birria, birria recipe, birria tacos, birria tacos recipe, Quesabirria
Servings: 22 - 25 tacos
Author: Nagi

Ingredients

Birria adobo (paste):

  • 25 g (0.9 oz) guajillo chillies, dried (~4 pieces, heaped 3/4 cup once chopped) (Note 1)
  • 45 g (1.6 oz) ancho chillies, dried (~2-3 pieces, 1 cup once chopped) (Note 1)
  • 6 g (0.2 oz) chillies de arbol, dried (~6 pieces, 2 tbsp once chopped) (Note 1)
  • 5 garlic cloves , peeled
  • 1 small onion , roughly sliced (~tennis ball size)
  • 1 medium tomato (180g), roughly sliced
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Birria braising:

  • 5 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola oil) (Note 2)
  • 1.3 kg/2.6 lb chuck beef , cut into 6 large pieces (or boneless beef short ribs - 1.8kg/3.6 lb bone-in) (Note 3)
  • 2 cups beef stock / broth , low sodium
  • 10 cloves (or 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
  • 1 cinnamon stick (substitute 1/4 tsp powder, but it's not quite the same)
  • 3 bay leaves , preferably fresh else dried
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or regular white vinegar, red or white wine vinegar)
  • 2 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +30% for flakes)

Beef seasoning:

  • 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

Birria Tacos:

  • 20 - 25 corn tortillas (14.5cm/6" wide) (Note 4)
  • 1 white onion , diced (Note 5)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped coriander / cilantro leaves
  • 3 1/2 cups (350g) shredded Colby, Monterey Jack or Oaxaca cheese (if you can get it) (Note 6)
  • Lime wedges , optional
  • Your favorite salsa or hot sauce , optional
Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

  • Deseed and chop chillies, simmer 10 min. Strain, blitz with Adobo ingredients + 1/2 cup chilli water. Sear beef, cook off adobo paste, slow-cook beef 2 1/2 hrs (lid on). Remove meat, shred, skim fat off braising liquid ("Birria Oil"). Toss beef in skillet with 1 cup braising liquid (aka Consomme). Heat 1 tsp Birria oil over low heat, wipe pan with tortilla, remove, repeat x2 with 1/2 tsp oil each. Top tortilla with cheese, beef, onion, coriander, fold over, pan fry until crisp. Serve with Birria Consomme for dunking!

FULL RECIPE:

    Prepare chillis:

    • Use gloves if you're sensitive to working with chilli!
    • Deseed - Trim and discard stems. Cut lengthwise, remove and discard the seeds. Roughly chop into 1 - 1.5cm / 1/4" pieces.
    • Simmer - Put chillis in a large saucepan of boiling water. Simmer rapidly for 10 minutes to soften, until flesh is mushy (skin stays intact but softens).
    • Reserve 1/2 cup of chilli-simmering water. Drain chilli in a sieve, lightly press out residual liquid.

    Shredded beef:

    • Birria Adobo (paste) - Place cooked chillies, reserved 1/2 cup chilli water and remaining Adobo ingredients in a tall jug large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz for 20 seconds until as smooth as possible (it's not completely smooth, see video). You can also do this in a small food processor, NutriBullet or blender (Note 7).
    • Sear beef - Heat the oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat (I use my 24cm / 9.6" dutch oven). Add half the beef and sear each side aggressively until it's dark golden brown (about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes each side). Remove to a bowl and repeat with remaining beef.
    • Cook off Adobo - Add the paste to same pan and stir for 2 minutes in oil (lower heat if spitting aggressively).
    • Slow cook 2 1/2 hours - Add all Birria braising ingredients, stir, then add the beef. Bring to a boil then lower heat until it's simmering very gently (small gentle bubbles every now and then). Cover with a lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours, or until beef shreds easily (short ribs take 3 - 3.5 hrs). (Note 8 for slow cooker)
    • Shred - Remove the beef to a clean pan and shred well. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and toss meat to distribute.
    • Birria oil - Skim off as much of the red oil floating on braising liquid surface as possible (ideally 6 tbsp+) and place in a separate bowl (this is the "Birria Oil"). Precious stuff!
    • Soak beef - Pour 1 cup of the braising liquid ("Birria Consommé") into a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Let it simmer for 15 seconds, then add all the beef and toss in the sauce until it's all absorbed by the beef, there should be almost none pooled in the pan. Move beef back into the shredding pan, scraping the non-stick pan clean.

    MAKE CRISPY CHEESY BIRRIA TACOS!

    • Red tortillas - Heat 1 teaspoon Birria Oil in the same non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Put a tortilla in and "wipe" around to make the underside red. Once the tortilla is soft (no need to flip) - about 10 seconds - remove to a work surface red side down. Repeat twice more, heating 1/2 teaspoon Birria Oil for each tortilla.
    • Stuff - Spread cheese on half of each tortilla, top with beef, then onion and coriander/cilantro.
    • Crisp! Fold over then pan-fry 3 Birria Tacos at a time (in the same pan) over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side, until golden-red and crispy.
    • Serve - Remove and serve while hot with the Birria Consommé for dunking!

    Notes

    Yield - Makes 22 - 25 tacos (900g shredded beef once sauced), depending on how generously you stuff with beef! It is quite rich some for normal people, 3 tacos might be enough though if you've got big eaters around, I could see them inhaling 6 to 8!
    1. Chillis - Weight is before deseeding. This birria is on the spicier side, which is how it's supposed to be!
    Spiciness - If you prefer less spicy, reduce or omit the chile de arbol which is responsible for most of the heat. See Ingredients section for where I get my chillies.
    Seeds are removed - this is where the main spiciness is, and also to avoid seeds floating in the sauce (visual).
    Can't get these chillis? Use Mexican Shredded Beef instead and make it Birria-style, see FAQ for directions.
    2. Oil quantity - You need a decent amount, so there’s enough to skim off for frying the tortillas and giving them their signature red colour. Any neutral oil can be used here as long as it's good for frying.
    3. Best beef cut – Some recipes suggest short ribs, but in my opinion chuck is juicy enough once shredded and mixed with the braising liquid. Short ribs are pricier, fattier, and fiddly to shred (need to pick through fat globs and gristle). Don't combine chuck and short ribs, they are done at different times (yes you can over slow-cook things to the point of mushy).
    4. Corn tortillas cook up crispier than flour, and have more flavour too. :) Corn is also traditional! Mine are 14.5cm/6" wide. Flour tortillas do also work (and crisp up).
    5. White onion - substitute with red onion, green onion. For milder flavour, soak in water for 30 minutes to reduce oniony-ness.
    6. Cheese - Any melting cheese works here though mozzarella is a bit bland (I'd toss with a pinch of salt).
    7. Adobo paste blitzing - If needed, use the minimum amount of the beef stock required to properly blitz using NutriBullet or blender. Proceed with recipe as written, adding the remaining beef stock when called for in the recipe.
    8. Slow cooker - Follow recipe up to the point the liquid is simmered, bring it to a simmer on the stove and scrape the base of the pot well (to thoroughly deglaze). Transfer all liquid into a slow cooker, add beef. Slow cook 8 hours on low.
    I don't recommend pressure cooking or instant pot as getting flavour in the consommé is so vital for this recipe and you can't cheat time!
    9. Batch cooking - keep cooked ones warm in a 100°C/200°F oven on a rack set over a tray, but you don't want to hold longer than ~ 10 minutes else they just aren't as fresh. You can also assemble lots (ie stuff and fold) then pan fry.
    Leftovers - Best to pan fry fresh so they're crispy. Excellent for prepare ahead - keep the beef (tossed in the sauce), red oil and Consommé separate, prep chopped coriander and onion. Then cook on demand! Keeps 4 days in the fridge, freezer 3 months.
    Nutrition per Birria Taco.