Birria Taco Recipe
This Birria Taco recipe features shredded beef braised in the most luscious pepper sauce and then stuffed into tortillas alongside gooey, melted cheese.
Servings: 4 Servings
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!
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.