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These Birria Tacos tuck tender shredded beef and melty cheese into crisp, pan-fried corn tortillas. Serve each quesabirria taco with warm consommé for dipping. It’s flavorful, comforting, and feels special.
Crispy Birria Tacos with Consommé for Dipping
There are few things I love more than these crispy Birria Tacos. The beef is cooked in the most flavorful broth and is so tender and juicy. We cook it until golden brown and crispy on the outside and the cheese is melted. It’s easy to make birria tacos at home, but it does take time, so to make it easier on myself I like to cook the beef a few days ahead. Don’t forget to keep every drop of the consommé for dipping your quesabirria tacos!
And any leftover meat you have could be used for birria ramen!
Try more of my Mexican-inspired recipes, like Green Enchilada Sauce, Crispy Potato Tacos, Tostadas, Mexican Pizza, and Cheese Enchiladas.
How to make Birria Tacos:
Prepare the Beef and Broth: Make the homemade broth by simmering the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and spices then add water and simmer longer. Blend until smooth. Cook the beef with the bay leaves in the broth until tender then shred the meat.
Assemble Tacos: Heat a large skillet over medium heat then lightly coat with oil. Dip a corn tortilla into the birria sauce then let the excess drip off. Quickly add the shredded beef, cheese, chopped onion, and cilantro. Fold in half and fry on each side until browned and crispy. Remove to a plate then sprinkle with chopped white onion and cilantro. Serve with a side of warm consommé for dipping. (If the consomme has thickened, you can thin it out with some beef broth).
A Note About Spice Level:
All of the dried chiles used in this recipe provide flavor to the broth but they wont make the tacos very spicy! If you want a very mild spice, omit the arbol chiles.
Birria Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
Birria Beef:
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 lb beef chuck roast, , fat trimmed
- 4 bone-in beef short ribs
- 8 dried guajillo chile peppers*
- 3 dried pasilla chile peppers*
- 2-3 dried arbol chile peppers*
- 5 Roma tomatoes, , quartered (about 1.5lbs)
- 1 white onion, , roughly chopped
- 1 head garlic, (10-12 cloves)
- 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 Tablespoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seed
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 inch piece Mexican cinnamon stick*, or ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
- 5 cups water, , divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
For the Tacos:
- 15 corn tortillas, , white or yellow
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese, , or use mozzarella or Monterey jack
- 1/2 of a white onion, , diced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, , chopped
- 2 limes, cut into small wedges
Instructions
- Cut chuck roast into a few large pieces and season with salt and pepper. Optional: Sear meat on all sides in a little olive oil.2 Tablespoon olive oil, 3 lb beef chuck roast, 4 bone-in beef short ribs
- Prep chiles: rinse (use gloves if desired) and use scissors to open and remove stem and seeds. (For extra spice, leave arbol chiles whole).8 dried guajillo chile peppers*, 3 dried pasilla chile peppers*, 2-3 dried arbol chile peppers*
- Birria broth: Add tomatoes and onion to a large stock pot (at least 5.5qt pot or bigger) over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, stirring. Add whole garlic cloves, ginger, chile peppers, and all of the spices except the bay leaf. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add vinegar and 4 cups water. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes, uncovered.5 Roma tomatoes, 1 white onion, 1 head garlic, 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns, 1 Tablespoon whole cumin seeds, 1 Tablespoon dried oregano, 1 Tablespoon dried thyme, ½ teaspoon whole coriander seed, 4 whole cloves, 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger, 1 inch piece Mexican cinnamon stick*, 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 5 cups water, 2 bay leaves
- Blend: Add mixture to a blender and blend as smooth as possible. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer, back into the pot. Add remaining 1 cup of water to the blender and swirl it around to clean excess sauce from the blender, then add it to the pot.
- Simmer beef: Add 1 Tablespoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil. Add short ribs, chuck roast and 2 bay leaves. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 ½ hours. Check beef to make sure it’s tender, then remove to a plate and shred. Discard bones and bay leaves.1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- Assemble Tacos: Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with a small amount of oil. Dip a corn tortilla into the birria sauce, letting excess sauce drip off, and lay tortilla on hot pan. Quickly top some shredded meat, cheese, chopped onion and cilantro. Fold tortilla over, in half. Fry for several minutes, until crispy and browned on the bottom. Flip and cook until crispy and browned on the other side. Remove to a plate, for serving.15 corn tortillas, 2 ½ cups shredded Oaxaca cheese
- Serve: Sprinkle remaining chopped white onion and cilantro on top of prepared tacos. Serve quesabirria tacos with a cup of warm consommé broth, for dipping. We also like to serve with the hot salsa recipe in the notes below.½ of a white onion, 1 bunch fresh cilantro, 2 limes
- *Save any leftover sauce by freezing for up to 3 months, and reheating to cook another roast inside.
Notes
- 2 chiles pasilla
- 5 arbol chiles
- 10 tomatillo
- 3 cloves garlic
- Small piece onion
- Salt and pepper
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe May 2022. Updated October 2024 and October 2026.
This was amazing. Everyone loved it. I did leave out the thyme, cinnamon stick and cloves because my family doesn’t really like them.
I made this Birria recipe and it turned out AMAZING! We love Birria with Ramen noodles, (our go to dish at our favorite local Mexican restaurant) so I did the same. Will definitely be making this again and again!
Hi! Making this tomorrow and I’m confused on the recipe. Initially you add 4 cups of water to the sauce and simmer, then you say to add 4 cups of water to the blender and pour that into the sauce. Is it 4 or 8 cups total? If only 4, could you change the wording in the recipe to clear up the confusion, please? Some comments say the 8 cups diluted it quite heavily.
thank you!
Hi Misty! We just updated the recipe to more exact!
Should not have added the 2nd 4 cups of water. It was way too much and diluted it way too much. Pretty disappointing after spending all that time prepping and cooking.
Hmm, it’s really just 4 cups total. the second step is just swirling water in the blender to rinse out the extra sauce, not adding more liquid. Sorry that wasn’t clear! You can simmer it down to concentrate the flavor if needed.
Could you please clarify? Because there are definitly debate about 4vs8 cups of water in the other comments. The insturction specifically says “Add 4 cups of water to the blender and swirl it around to clean excess sauce from the blender, then add it to the pot.“
just updated the recipe to be more clear!!