Authentic Birria Tacos Recipe

If you’ve never had birria tacos before, get ready to fall in love with one of the most flavorful, comforting dishes to come out of Mexican cuisine. These crispy, cheesy tacos are stuffed with slow-cooked, tender beef and served with a rich, deeply spiced consommé for dipping. Every bite is a perfect balance of smoky, savory, and just the right amount of heat.

With a little patience and some simple techniques, you can bring authentic quesabirria tacos to your own kitchen. Let’s dive in!

Birria tacos originate from the Mexican state of Jalisco and are traditionally made with goat meat. However, beef birria has become wildly popular, especially for tacos. The meat is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth with chilies and spices, then shredded and stuffed into tortillas along with melty Oaxaca cheese. The tacos are fried until golden brown and crispy, then served with the rich consommé for dipping.

For the Birria:

• 3 pounds chuck roast
• 8 dried guajillo chilies
• 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
• 1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and smashed
• 1 white onion, quartered
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 1 tsp whole coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
• 4-5 whole cloves
• 4 cups beef broth
• 4 cups water
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

For the Consommé:

• Reserved cooking liquid from the Birria
• ½ white onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime

For Assembling Tacos:

• 12 corn tortillas
• 12 oz grated Oaxaca cheese
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• ½ white onion, finely chopped
• Lime wedges

1. Prepare Your Ingredients

• Remove the seeds from 8 guajillo chilies. If you want a deeper, smokier flavor, you can toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes on each side until fragrant before removing the seeds.

• Peel and chop one of the onions.
• Cut the top off a whole garlic bulb and remove some of the outer skin. Alternatively, you can peel the cloves and lightly smash them to release more flavor.
• Cut your beef into large pieces.
• Grind together cumin, coriander, peppercorns, cloves, and oregano until it’s a fine powder.

2. Cook the Birria

• In a large pot, put the beef, guajillo chilies, chopped onion, garlic, bay leaves, the ground spice mix, some salt, beef broth, and water. Cook this on high heat for about 30 minutes.

• In a blender, put the quartered Roma tomatoes.
• Remove the guajillo chilies, onion, garlic (after peeling), and about half a cup of the broth. Blend these with the tomatoes until it’s smooth.
• Strain this blended sauce and add it back to the broth in the pot. Continue cooking for 3 hours on low-medium heat, with the lid slightly covering the pot and stirring every 30 minutes.

3. Shred the Meat

• When the meat is very tender, take it out of the pot and let it cool a bit. Shred it using two forks.

5. Prep the tacos

• Finely chop the remaining onion.
• Cut the limes into eight pieces.
• Chop half of the cilantro finely and remove the stems from the other half. Set this cilantro aside.
• Shred your cheese.

• Remove the oil that’s floating on top of the broth with a spoon and put it on a plate.
• Dip your tortillas in this oil (make sure there’s enough fat on them to get that signature crispness!).

• Add cheese and beef to each tortilla.

• In a pan with a bit of oil, cook the tacos on medium heat. After about a minute, fold them in half.
• Cook the folded tacos for another minute on each side until they’re golden brown. Repeat for all the tacos.

4. Prep the Consommé

Take about a cup of the broth and mix it with the finely chopped cilantro and diced onions in a bowl to create a flavorful dipping sauce for your tacos.

5. Serve the tacos

• Garnish your tacos with chopped cilantro, diced onions, and lime wedges.
• Serve with small bowls of consommé for dipping.
• Add optional toppings like diced radishes, salsa, or sour cream to customize your tacos!