Easy Birria Tacos

4.50 from 12 votes

Fatty, crispy tortillas hold succulent, juicy and tender beef making these Birria Tacos a must-try! Dip in the flavorful sauce before chowing down on these addictive tacos.

Prep Time20

Cook Time4 30

Total Time4 50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex

Keyword: beef tacos, birria, birria tacos, tacos, tortillas

Servings: servings

Calories: 576kcal

Equipment

Instant Precision Dutch Oven or oven-safe casserole dish or Dutch oven

Ingredients

24 corn tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 pound chuck roast or other fatty, cheap cut of beef
1 onion roughly choped
3 stalks celery roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic smashed
2 cups beef broth or water
1 tablespoon dried cumin
1/2 tabelspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 dried chipotle chili
3 dried guajilla chilis
2 dried pasilla chilis
3 dried ancho chilis
3 dried arbol chiliis

For the birria tacos

1 cup cotija cheese
1/2 cup diced sweet onion optional
lime wedges optional
chopped cilantro optional

Instructions

For the beef:

Toss the onion, celery, garlic, and beef with some oil and pan-sear the vegetables and beef until they are dark and caramelized. You could also char the vegetables over your stove-top gas flame. Char is good in this recipe - but not burned.
Remove the stems from the chilis and toast them in a dry skillet or over an open flame. They will blister and puff up. This is good!
Put the beef, vegetables, chilis, vinegar, broth, cumin, and oregano into a Dutch oven. I used the Instant Precision Dutch Oven to make these birria tacos, but any oven-safe casserole dish or pot will work.
Set the Instant Precision Dutch Oven to braise for 4 hours. Turn the beef over about halfway through the cooking time, and peek into the pot periodically to add water if needed. You don't want the liquid to evaporate but to stay at a fairly consistent level.
If you're doing these beef tacos in the oven, set the oven to 350-F and cover the casserole dish tightly with a snug lid or foil. Braise at 350-F for about 4 hours. Flip it over halfway and make sure the liuqid doesn't evaporate, adding more water as needed.
When the beef easily shreds, it is done. Set the beef aside to cool and strain the chilis and vegetables from the broth. Discard the solids but keep all that delicious broth.
When you can easily handle the meat, shred it, discarding any clumps of fat or gristle.

To make the dipping broth:

Strain the broth through a fine-meshed strainer and simmer it in a saucepan on the stove for 10-15 minutes to concentrate the flavors. Adjust the seasoning by adding salt if needed.
Set the birria broth aside to cool. You want the fat to rise to the top.

To assemble the birria tacos:

Dunk a corn tortilla into the fat at the top of the birria broth, then fill it with a quarter cup of shredded beef. Add a sprinkle of cheese and pop the whole thing into a skillet to toast up.
Fold the taco over once it has started to get crispy and hot, then cook it for a minute or 2 on each side until it is brown and crispy.
Serve the tacos with birria jus and dunk before biting! Enjoy!

Notes

Chef Jenn's Tips

Cook your birria tacos on a Blackstone griddle outside where you can cook a bunch at once, or set up a station inside. Dip, fill, fry, and serve. If you get a good process set up you can make these fairly quickly.
You can make the meat the day before. In fact, I prefer to make the meat the day before. This makes the meat easier to handle. Plus, the broth has a chance to chill in the fridge and the delicious fat will rise to the top making dunking the tortillas in the fat easier.
Use corn tortillas for this recipe. Flour tortillas will absorb too much liquid.

Nutrition