This is how you make Birria Tacos with Mexican dried Peppers

Birria Tacos are a traditional Mexican dish, originally from the state of Jalisco. Birria means “Excellent savory dish, full of culture and tradition” — and that already gives you a little hint of how amazing these tacos taste. Traditionally made with goat meat, but nowadays also with beef, veal, lamb or pork. In our Birria Taco Recipe, we go for beef, so officially our recipe is called Birria Tacos de Res.

Slow-cooked beef, a spiced consommé, melted cheddar and crispy fried tortillas: comfort food doesn’t get much better than this.

The most important ingredients in this dish are the beef, but also good quality corn tortillas and the right peppers. Check out what you need and how to make the most delicious Birria Tacos yourself right here.

 

Ingredients Birria Taco Recipe

Here’s what you need for 10 tacos:

For the Birria

• 1 kg beef, for example chuck roast or brisket
• Birria peppers (Ancho, Guajillo and Arbol peppers)
• 2 sweet onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 head of garlic, about 8 cloves
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
• 6 bay leaves
• 200 ml white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• Sunflower oil for frying
• 2.5 litres beef broth
• Salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander
• Grated cheddar
• Corn Tortillas (or make your own with the ingredients below)
• Raijmakers Heetmakers Jalapeño, Gin & Lime Hot Sauce

For the homemade tortillas

• 250 grams masa harina (corn flour)
• 300 ml lukewarm water
• A pinch of salt
• 1 ziplock bag
• Tortilla warmer

Method

Making the salsa

1. Remove the stems from the Birria peppers.
2. Place the peppers in hot water and let them soak until they are soft. Keep the water the peppers soaked in. You’ll use this pepper liquid later for the salsa and the broth.
3. Put the softened peppers in a blender. Add a splash of the pepper liquid, the tomatoes, the sweet onion and the garlic, along with the spices: the black pepper, Mexican oregano, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.
4. Blend everything into a smooth sauce.
5. Add a little extra pepper liquid, salt and white vinegar. Blend the salsa one more time until you have a beautiful, smooth sauce.

 

Preparing the meat

1. Heat a generous splash of sunflower oil in a large pan.
2. Cut the beef into large chunks.
3. Season the meat generously with salt.
4. Sear the meat in the hot oil on all sides. Fry the meat in batches — don’t put it all in the pan at once. This prevents the meat from steaming instead of browning. Fry until a nice brown crust forms all around.
5. Remove the meat from the pan and set it aside temporarily.
6. Prepare 2.5 litres of beef broth.
7. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, salsa and seared beef to the broth.
8. Let the stew simmer gently for about 3 hours with the lid on the pan. Stir carefully every now and then, then put the lid back on.
9. After about 3 hours, check whether the meat is tender enough to pull apart easily.

 

Making your own tortillas (optional)

You can also use store-bought tortillas for this recipe. Homemade tortillas tend to break more easily when you fry them and fold them in half. But definitely worth a try!

1. Put the masa harina and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
2. Add the lukewarm water little by little.
3. Knead the dough with your hands as you go. Keep going until the dough feels like firm sand-clay dough.
4. Shape the dough into a ball.
5. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
6. Cut the dough ball in half.
7. Roll both halves into a log shape.
8. Cut each log into five equal pieces.
9. Roll each piece of dough into a nice ball. You now have ten dough balls.
10. Cut open a ziplock bag so you get one long sheet of plastic.
11. Place a dough ball on one half of the bag.
12. Fold the other half of the bag over the top.
13. Press the dough ball flat with a pan until you have a thin tortilla.
14. Cook the tortilla dry in a pan, or use a tiny bit of oil.
15. After cooking, let the tortillas steam in a tortilla warmer if you like, so they stay soft and pliable.

 

Making the Birria tacos

1. Finely chop the onion and coriander.
2. Scoop the beef fat from the pan and set it aside. You’ll use this fat to fry the tortillas.
3. Remove the meat, bay leaves and cinnamon stick from the broth.
4. Add a little extra water to the broth if needed to thin it out slightly.
5. Season the broth with salt to taste if needed.
6. Pull the beef apart with two forks, or chop it up.
7. Place the meat in a bowl and add some of the spiced broth to the meat. Mix the meat and broth together well so the meat stays nice and juicy.
8. Heat a pan.
9. Briefly dip each tortilla into the reserved beef fat.
10. Fry the tortilla in the pan.
11. Flip the tortilla over.
12. Spread the grated cheddar over the entire tortilla.
13. Place some of the pulled Birria meat on one half of the tortilla.
14. Add jalapeño hot sauce to taste.
15. Fold the tortilla in half.
16. Fry the taco on both sides until the tortilla is nice and crispy and the cheese is fully melted.

 

Serving with consommé

1. Ladle the broth into small bowls. Add the finely chopped onion and coriander.
2. Serve the tacos immediately with the warm consommé.

 

And just like that, your Birria Tacos are ready! Dip every crispy taco into the spiced broth and enjoy the incredible combination of crunchy tortilla, melted cheddar, tender beef and spicy jalapeño hot sauce. You might want to keep those napkins close by. Enjoy!