Best Birria Tacos

I bet you’ve seen red-stained birria tacos popping up all over your social feeds and at your local Mexican hot spots, but did you know birria is actually a gloriously rich stew that has been consumed at big celebrations and cookouts throughout Mexico, particularly in Jalisco, for generations? Though traditionally made with goat meat, many birria recipes (including this one!) use beef instead, following the same method of braising for hours with dried chiles, garlic, and spices to produce tender meat and a flavorful consomé (broth).

When developing my at-home recipe, I turned to José Moreno, head chef and co-owner of New York’s premier birria truck, Birria-Landia. Though making birria is no simple weeknight dinner, Moreno gave me all his top tips and tricks for making the best birria tacos at home to wow all your friends and family. Read on below the recipe to discover more about how to make the tacos yourself and to find out what makes them oh so good.

What Is A Birria Taco?

A birria taco is a type of quesataco—part taco, part quesadilla. Stained red with the fat from the birria, the taco is topped with Oaxaca cheese and seared in a skillet until almost crispy, creating what is essentially a mini quesadilla, ready to be dunked into bowls of birria consomé. Half the joy of eating birria is absolutely drowning tortillas, tacos, or whatever into the flavorful broth, so no matter your serving method, do not forget the generous side of consomé.

How To Make Birria Tacos

INGREDIENTS

• The Chiles: Dried chiles are the essence of any birria. Earthy, tangy, floral guajillos are the principal chile in the mix, with moritas included for heat and smoky complexity, and pasillas for their rich flavors of chocolate and raisins.
• The Beef: José’s famous birria derives a lot of rich, beefy flavor from bones and marrow, so I opted for a combination of bone-in cuts (oxtails, short ribs, or beef shank) and meaty braising cuts (brisket or chuck roast) that can be shredded for taco filling.
• The Spices: Cloves, cinnamon, cumin, and oregano bring sweet, warm, and earthy flavor to the chile paste.
• The Cheese: Mozzarella works great here, but if you can find Oaxaca cheese, you’re in for a treat. It’s a fantastic Mexican cheese that is a bit like a hybrid of mozzarella and string cheese.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First let’s toast some chiles to unlock their full flavor potential. Working in batches, toast the chiles in a dry large pot, turning often with tongs, until fragrant and darkened. Don’t overdo it, though, or you’ll introduce a little too much bitterness to the consomé. As you work, transfer the toasted chiles to a heatproof bowl.

Now let’s rehydrate the chiles to prep them for the blender. Pour boiling water over the chiles and weigh them down will a plate or bowl to submerge. Let sit until softened and pliable, about 20 minutes.

While the chiles are soaking, season the beef generously with salt and pepper and sear on all sides in the same pot until deeply browned. This step is as much about the deeply caramelized browned bits in the bottom of the pot as it is about the beef—you want those browned bits and all their nutty, toasty flavors in the birria!

Once the chiles are rehydrated, they’re ready to be pureed. Remove any stems and transfer the chiles to a blender along with 1 1/2 cups of their soaking liquid (that stuff has, by now, become a sort of chile tea, and we wouldn't want to waste it!). Add the tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, and spices and blend until thick but pourable, adding more soaking liquid if needed.

Now we're ready to braise. Return the meat to the pot, pour the chile puree over, and then pour in enough water just to cover the meat. Add the onion and a big pinch of salt and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, transfer to a 350º oven, and braise until the meat is fork-tender and slips easily off the bone, 4 to 4 1/2 hours. If you can shred the meat with tongs, you know it’s ready.

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

Taste the consomé and add more salt and/or pepper if needed. The consomé should be a silky, rich broth; if it has reduced too much, thin it with water or, preferably, chicken or beef stock.

Let’s make some tacos! Birria tacos are halfway to a hardshell taco but with a twist: The tacos are fried in the chile oil from the consomé! The general idea is to dip a tortilla in the consomé to coat it in the intensely savory, brick-red fat that floats on the surface. The tortilla is then placed in a large cast-iron skillet or griddle, topped with cheese, and fried until starting to crisp. Shredded beef, onion, and cilantro are added before the tortilla is folded over cooked until crisp on both sides and the cheese is melted. Sound good? Wait, there’s more! As a crowning innovation, the tacos are served, French dip–style, with small bowls of the consomé alongside for dipping!

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• What chiles make the best birria: José uses a mix of dried chiles to provide the flavor backbone of the dish, while also achieving the dark red color that birria is known for; however, despite being packed with chiles, José says a classic birria shouldn’t be spicy. You can see that through his choice of the central chile in his birria: "The base of my birria is guajillos. You cannot make birria without guajillos." Guajillos are one of the most popular and commonly used chiles in Mexican cuisine and provide an earthy, sweet flavor that plays well with other flavors and types of chiles. José supplements the mild flavor of guajillos with some moritas (jalapeños that have been smoked and dried). They add a bit of smokiness and heat that really adds to the birria's complexity.

• What are the best cuts of beef for birria: As with many broth-focused dishes like pho, tonkotsu ramen, or beef demi-glace, José’s famous birria derives a lot of its flavor from beef bones and marrow. His preferred bone-in cut is beef shank that he buys from a specialty wholesale butcher, but when he was starting out and cooking in smaller batches, he used beef short ribs. Short ribs are one of the best things to braise and are, luckily, easy to come by. To supplement these bony cuts and add some more meat to the dish, José recommends cuts like top round or brisket, which are well suited for hours of braising and result in a juicy, shreddable taco filling.

Make Ahead

The birria can be made 5 days ahead. Store the shredded beef and the consomé in separate airtight containers and refrigerate.