Birria Tacos
Make tender, richly seasoned birria tacos with slow-cooked beef, smoky chiles, melted cheese, and a crisp griddled finish for a deeply savory Mexican-inspired dinner.
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 3 hours 30 minutes
Total: 4 hours
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast cut into large chunks
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for searing
- 4 dried guajillo chiles guajillo chiles stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried ancho chiles ancho chiles stemmed and seeded
- 1 large yellow onion quartered
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 cups beef stock plus more as needed
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes 14.5 ounces
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- 12 small corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded Oaxaca or mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro for serving
- 2 limes cut into wedges
Instructions
Instructions
- Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet for 30 seconds per side, then cover with hot water and soak for 15 minutes.
- Blend the softened chiles with onion, garlic, tomatoes, beef stock, cumin, oregano, and salt until smooth.
- Pat the beef dry and sear it in oil in a Dutch oven in batches until browned on all sides.
- Pour the chile sauce over the beef, cover, and braise at 325°F for about 3 hours, turning once, until fork-tender.
- Transfer the beef to a bowl and shred it. Skim the red fat from the braising liquid and reserve both the fat and consommé.
- Dip each tortilla in the reserved fat, fill with beef and cheese, and griddle until crisp and golden on both sides.
- Serve the tacos with hot consommé for dipping, plus cilantro and lime wedges.