Description
Traditional Mexican Birria is a flavorful, slow-simmered meat stew originating from Jalisco, Mexico, typically made with beef, goat, or lamb. The meat is marinated in a rich, smoky, and aromatic chile sauce made from dried guajillo, ancho, and pasilla chiles along with spices. It is seared and then simmered until tender, resulting in a savory dish perfect for serving in bowls or as birria tacos with broth for dipping.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Meat:
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast (or goat/lamb, cut into chunks)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
For the Marinade:
- 4 dried guajillo chiles (stemmed and seeded)
- 2 dried ancho chiles (stemmed and seeded)
- 1 dried pasilla chile (optional)
- 4 cups hot water
- 1 small onion (quartered)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
For Serving (Optional):
- Warm corn tortillas
- Chopped onion
- Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Birria broth for dipping
Instructions
- Toast Chiles: Toast the dried guajillo, ancho, and pasilla chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1–2 minutes until they become fragrant, being careful not to burn them.
- Soak Chiles: Place the toasted chiles in hot water and soak them for 15 minutes until they soften.
- Make Marinade: In a blender, combine the soaked chiles, quartered onion, garlic cloves, cumin, oregano, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, thyme, apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Blend the mixture until smooth to form the flavorful chile marinade.
- Season Meat: Season the beef chuck roast chunks with salt and black pepper evenly on all sides.
- Sear Meat: Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the meat pieces until they are browned on all sides, which helps to lock in flavor.
- Simmer Meat: Pour the blended chile marinade over the seared meat. Add the bay leaves and enough of the remaining soaking liquid or water to nearly cover the meat. Cover the pot and simmer gently on low heat for 3 to 4 hours until the meat becomes fall-apart tender. Alternatively, you can cook it in a slow cooker on low for about 8 hours.
- Finish and Serve: Remove the bay leaves from the pot. Using forks, shred the cooked meat finely. Serve the birria in bowls with some of the rich broth or use the meat as a filling for tacos, serving the broth on the side for dipping, enhancing the authentic birria taco experience.
Notes
- For richer flavor, marinate the meat in the chile sauce overnight before cooking.
- Birria is traditionally made with goat, but beef is a common and accessible substitute.
