This Birria Taco recipe features shredded beef braised in the most luscious pepper sauce and then stuffed into tortillas alongside gooey, melted cheese. While these tacos are more time intensive (though mostly hands-off) than a quick ground beef taco, the flavor more than makes up for it!
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This recipe is…
If you’ve never had birria tacos, it’s time to get cooking! This recipe starts with making a homemade pepper sauce (it’s wonderfully flavorful and so worth it to go homemade here), searing a chuck roast, then braising the meat in the sauce. While this recipe is more time consuming than our typical recipes, the steps are still really simple.
If you’re looking for more delicious taco recipes, you are in the right place. Try our crispy black bean tacos, blackened fish tacos, and shredded chicken tacos next!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s extremely flavorful – with flavors from fresh tomatoes, fresh oregano, dried peppers, cinnamon, peppercorns, garlic, and onion, the homemade pepper sauce that the beef roasts in (and then, later, the tortillas are coated in) is loaded with flavor.
- It’s special – this recipe isn’t hard at all, but it is more time intensive than most of our taco recipes. That being said, it may not be your go-to weeknight dinner taco recipe, but I can guarantee that you’ll pull it out for many a special occasions.
Birria Taco Recipe Ingredients
This ingredient list may look long, but it’s actually quite simple. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Dried peppers – this recipe calls for two of each of dried guajillo peppers, chiles de arbol, and ancho chili peppers. If you can’t find two of each dried pepper variety, feel free to use more of one to make up for it!
- Fresh oregano – we also call for fresh oregano here, but if you don’t have it or can’t find it, go with dried oregano instead.
- Monterey jack cheese – Monterey jack cheese melts beautifully, and, because of its mild flavor, really allows the homemade pepper sauce to shine.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use a different kind of tortilla – feel free to use flour or grain-free tortillas here. Because you dip them in the pepper sauce, any tortilla you use should be pliable enough to fold without breaking.
How to Make Birria Tacos
Though slightly more time intensive, this recipe is incredibly easy to make! Follow along below for the full how-to.
Step 1: Add the dried peppers, garlic, onion, bay leaf, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, peppercorn, salt, and oregano to a large, heavy bottomed pot. Cover with water (about 6-8 cups, but it’ll depend on the size of your pot), then simmer the mixture until soft, about 45 minutes.
Step 2: When the sauce has about 15 minutes left to simmer, add the butter to a heavy bottomed pot on the stovetop over high heat. Cut the chuck roast into 4-5 even pieces, season liberally with the other teaspoon of salt, then sear the meat for 4-5 minutes, flip, and sear on the opposite side for 4-5 minutes. Once seared, set the pot aside. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Step 3: Drain the water from the simmering pepper sauce ingredients, remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick, then blend the rest of the ingredients, plus the apple cider vinegar until smooth. Can add up to a cup of broth, if needed to blend.
Step 4: Pour the pepper sauce over the meat. Fasten a lid on the pot and bake at 325°F for 2 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Remove the pot from the oven, and raise the oven temperature to 375°F.
Step 5: Pull the meat out of the pot and use two forks to shred it.
Step 6: Dip the tortillas into remaining pepper sauce, making sure to fully coat both sides. If there isn’t enough sauce in the pot (or it’s too thick), stir in 1/2-1 cup of broth to thin it out.
Step 7: Place the dipped tortillas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then add a tablespoon of shredded cheese to one half of each tortilla, followed by a 1/4 cup of shredded beef, and then top with another tablespoon of shredded cheese. Fold the tortillas in half, spray them with avocado oil, and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.
Step 8: After 10 minutes, flip tacos, spray the other side with avocado oil, then bake for 5 more minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh onion, fresh cilantro, a side of pepper sauce for dipping, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Keep in mind that these are not your typical crispy tacos. If you prefer a crispier version, we recommend pan frying them instead of baking. To do this, heat a skillet over medium/high heat, add a 1/4-inch of avocado oil into skillet, and then, once hot, add the folded tacos to the oil and cook 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Feel free to make the shredded beef and pepper sauce up to 3 days in advance. Simply store the shredded beef in an airtight container and the homemade pepper sauce in a jar in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the tacos.
How to Serve
Serve your tacos topped with fresh onion, fresh cilantro, and leftover homemade pepper sauce for dipping. If you’re looking for a side, black beans, pinto beans, or refried beans would be a great choice!
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover tacos in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you’d like to freeze the tacos for longer storage, go for it! Simply store them in a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
To reheat your stored birria tacos from the fridge or the freezer, either pop them in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until warmed through or place them on a sheet pan and heat them in the oven at 375°F for 10-12 minutes. If you want to try making your leftover tacos nice and crispy, reheat them in the air fryer at 380°F for 4-5 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe calls for beef chuck roast because it becomes super tender and shreds so easily.
These tacos are red because the tortillas are dipped in the stewed pepper sauce before baking.
More Favorite Taco Recipes
If you tried this Birria Taco Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Birria Taco Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 2 yellow onions, cut in half
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 dried guajillo chili peppers
- 2 dried chiles de arbol
- 2 dried ancho chili peppers
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- ½ tablespoon peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 pounds beef chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 12 corn tortillas
- 16 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- Avocado oil spray
- Fresh onion, chopped, for serving, optional
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, for serving, optional
Instructions
- Add the dried peppers, garlic, onion, bay leaf, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, peppercorn, salt, and oregano to a large, heavy bottomed pot. Cover with water (about 6-8 cups, but it'll depend on the size of your pot). Simmer the mixture until soft, about 45 minutes.
- When the sauce has about 15 minutes left to simmer, add the butter to a heavy bottomed pot on the stovetop over high heat. Cut the chuck roast into 4-5 even pieces, season liberally with the other teaspoon of salt, then sear the meat for 4-5 minutes, flip, and sear on the opposite side for 4-5 minutes. Once seared, set the pot aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Drain the water from the simmering pepper sauce ingredients, remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick, then blend the rest of the ingredients, plus the apple cider vinegar until smooth. If it's too thick, you can add up to a cup of broth until it's blendable.
- Pour the pepper sauce over the meat. Fasten a lid on the pot and bake at 325°F for 2 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Remove the pot from the oven, and raise the oven temperature to 375°F.
- Pull the meat out of the pot and use two forks to shred it.
- Dip the tortillas into remaining pepper sauce, making sure to fully coat both sides. If there isn't enough sauce in the pot (or it's too thick), stir in ½-1 cup of broth to thin it out.
- Place the dipped tortillas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then add a tablespoon of shredded cheese to one half of each tortilla, followed by a 1/4 cup of shredded beef, and then top with another tablespoon of shredded cheese. Fold the tortillas in half, spray them with avocado oil, and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, flip tacos, spray the other side with avocado oil, then bake for 5 more minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh onion, fresh cilantro, a side of pepper sauce for dipping, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Keep in mind that these are not your typical crispy tacos. If you prefer a crispier version, we recommend pan frying them instead of baking. To do this, heat a skillet over medium/high heat, add a 1/4-inch of avocado oil into skillet, and then, once hot, add the folded tacos to the oil and cook 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Feel free to make the shredded beef and pepper sauce up to 3 days in advance. Simply store the shredded beef in an airtight container and the homemade pepper sauce in a jar in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the tacos.
IT says to add apple cider vinegar to the pepper sauce prior to blending, but its not listed in the ingredients an I dont know the amount, unless im missing it somewhere…by the way i LOVE our recipes, I use them weekly!
Follow up to comment below, 2 hours is absolutely not long enough to cook a 3-4lb beef roast even if cut into fourths per the recipe. It needs at least 3-4 hours to cook.
The recipe says add apple cider vinegar but that isn’t in the ingredients list. Also, it says to split the 2 teaspoons of salt but never says that to do with 1 of the teaspoons. I’m assuming it should go in the sauce.