Birria Tacos is the new way to eat tacos. These tacos are made with slow-cooked shredded beef stewed in a mild red sauce made from guajillo and pasilla chilies, topped with delicious and melty Oaxaca cheese, and topped with your favorite taco toppings!
Beef Birria Tacos is one of the newest foodie trends that have exploded on social media in the past few years. I first noticed them on TikTok and immediately put them on my to-make list. They looked mouth-watering. There is something about seeing a crispy fried corn tortilla loaded with juicy beef and melty cheese that is simply irresistible.
Now I know that you come to my blog for quick and straightforward dinners that you can quickly put together. But, I have to get you to go out of your shell now and then. This Beef Birria Taco recipe does take time to make, but it is well worth the time and effort.
Beef Birria Tacos Ingredients
For most of the ingredients in this recipe, I will admit I had to go to a specialty world market. Fortunately, I live near a local grocer called Jungle Jims International Market, which is one part an international food market, and the other part is your average domestic grocery store. So everything I needed for regular meals and this recipe were in one space. For a second, I thought against making this recipe because of the unusual ingredients. Still, after tasting these tacos, I can tell you that I will DEFINITELY be making these tacos again. So don’t let the ingredient list make you nervous.
Dried Guajillo Chilies: These dried chilies are pretty common and inexpensive. I purchased a package of ten dried chilies, and they were about $2.99. These chilies have a smokey flavor, but they are mild n spice. So they look scarier than they are when it comes to spice. But these chilies are what gives the sauce its beautiful deep red color.
Dried Pasilla Chilies: These chilies are also mild and give the color of the sauce. These chilies are considered standard in Mexican cooking and are long and black. A pack of these chilies also was pretty inexpensive, costing $2.99.
Cumin Seeds: These babies will be in some future dishes. The smell of these seeds is so potent, and it is almost as if I had never smelled cumin before. The flavor of these seeds is essential and gives the beef birria sauce a great depth of flavor.
Oaxaca Cheese: This cheese is super soft, salty, and melts perfectly! However, if you cannot locate this cheese, you can use a different melted cheese, such as queso cheese.
These are just a few uncommon ingredients you may not have in your home that you’ll need for this recipe.
Tips on how to make birria tacos
Although the recipe can give intimidating vibes, it’s very harmless. Here are some tips I want to make sure you are away of as you are making this recipe:
You can use tomato paste if you do not have tomatoes: I completely forgot to buy tomatoes when I made this recipe, but I did have a small can of tomato paste. Hence, I used about two tablespoons of tomato paste in its place.
Do not skip any steps: Each step is essential. Every effort is vital to this recipe. Even straining the sauce is important. It is going to help make sure the sauce is smooth.
Do sit the beef in the sauce for at least 2 hours: Marinating the beef in the sauce will help tenderize the meat and give the meat an amazing flavor.
You can make the birria as crispy beef tacos or eat it with a side of rice and top off with some pico de gallo, cilantro, shredded cheese, and sliced avocado. You can also spoon some of the consomme on top of the beef for extra goodness.
Commonly Asked Questions
In the case of this recipe, I used a chuck roast, but you can also use short ribs if you want to get fancy.
I let the beef chuck roast in the oven for 3-4 hours and when it was done, the meat just fell apart. It was easy to shred and super juicy. That is how I know the birria is done.
You can! In fact, I wish I had a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process. I would look up the manufacturer’s instructions on the cooking time for a beef chuck roast.
Similar Recipes
If you like this beef birria tacos recipe, then you would enjoy the recipes below:
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Beef Birria Tacos
- Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 20 tacos 1x
Description
Beef Birria Tacos are made from small, thin, crunchy corn tortillas that are folded and filled with succulent beef birria. Check out this mouth-watering beef birria taco recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 dried guajillo chiles, stems removed
- 2 dried pasilla chiles, stems removed
- 4 c. of steaming hot water
- 1 medium white onion, halved and divided
- 2 heaping tbsp. Tomato Paste or 1 Roma Tomato, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp. Chicken bouillonon paste
- 8 whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp. Dried thyme
- 1 tsp. Dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. Cumin seeds
- 3 lbs. Boneless Chuck Roast
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 c. cold water
- 20 corn tortilla
- 16 oz. Oaxaca cheese, shredded
- Optional Toppings: chopped red onion, pico de gallo, chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, sliced radishes, and lime wedges.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine chiles and steaming hot water to a bowl. Allow the chiles to rehydrate by sitting in the water for, at least, 30 minutes. While soaking, liberally season the chuck roast on both sides with kosher salt and coarse black pepper. Let sit at room temperature.
- In a blender, blend half of the white onion, the tomato or tomato paste, garlic, bouillon, peppercorns, thyme, oregano, cumin seeds, the soaked chiles, and its liquid on high until completely combined about 2 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer.
- Place the beef chuck roast in a dutch oven, and add the remaining half of the onion, bay leaves, strained sauce, and two cups of cold water to the dutch oven. Stir to combine. Place in the refrigerator and sit for, at least, 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees. Place the dutch oven in the preheated oven for 3 hours. The meat should begin falling apart and is tender. Remove the beef from the pot and shred with two forks. Place the pot on medium and continue simmering the sauce for 30 minutes, until reduced by half.
- In a separate heavy-duty cast iron skillet, turn to medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick oil spray. Take one of the corn tortillas and dip it into the broth/ red sauce. Place on top of the skillet and allow to cook on one side for 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle some of the cheese and allow it to melt. Once the cheese begins to melt, add a forkful of the beef. Fold the tortilla into a taco and flip on the other side for 3-5 minutes to become crisp. Serve with desired toppings.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Mexican, Tex Mex
These look amazing. I want to make this beef for all the things. I bet it’s amazing on anything. I’d love to just eat a bowl of it with some rice and beans. Thanks for the recipe!
These beef birria tacos are marinated and slow-roasted for that amazing birria flavor everyone loves.
These are such good tacos! The dried chiles for the birria really adds the best depth of flavor. Perfect recipe for Taco Tuesday!
Wow I bet these are so flavorful! They look so tasty… getting the ingredients to try this weekend!
I just printed out this recipe and I can’t wait to try it. I’m adding them to our Cinco de Mayo menu. The tacos look absolutely amazing!
This was my first time making Birria Tacos at home and I am shocked by how easy they are to make. Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. I will for sure make them again
Right?! Super easy!
My mouth is watering as I am reading through your post! I am so excited to make these at our next taco night! They sound so delicious! Thanks for the share!
I made this yesterday in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. I did add a few chile de arbol to spice it up a bit but otherwise followed this recipe to a T. It was probably the most flavorful meals that I’ve ever had – definitely well worth the time and effort. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. lol. I can’t wait until I get to sink my teeth into these tacos again.
Thank you so much Jessica! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
So good! I’ve never made tacos this way before and they were great!
Made these beef birrio tacos for Cinco de Mayo and just had to comment to tell you how much everyone loved them! They disappeared real quick! Will be making them again in a few weeks!
Awesome Tristin! I am so glad you enjoyed them!