Birria Tacos (Tacos de Birria, Quesabirria, or Quesatacos)

🧂 Ingredients

• 3 lbs goat meat

  (or stew meat, see notes below)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ½ tablespoon black pepper

  (freshly ground)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

  (extra virgin)
• 4 dried ancho chiles
• 4 dried guajillo chiles
• 1 dried chipotle pepper

  (or 7 ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
• 1 large onion

  (white or yellow, chopped)
• 4 red tomatoes

  (diced, or use 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes)
• 4 tablespoon garlic

  (finely mined or crushed)
• 8-10 whole peppercorns
• 3-4 whole cloves
• 3 whole bay leaves
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano

  (Mexican oregano is best)
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 6 cups beef broth

  (or chicken stock)
• water

  (enough to cover the chiles and meat)
• 14 corn tortillas

  (I prefer white corn tortillas)
• 2 cups quesadilla cheese

  (or monterey jack, pepper jack, or other great melting cheese)
• queso fresco

  (optional garnish)
• fresh cilantro

  (optional garnish, chopped)
• white onion

  (optional garnish, chopped)
• 1-2 whole limes

  (optional garnish)

Instructions

• 1 Cube the goat meat (or mix of meats) if not already done, place in a
  medium-sized mixing bowl, then season with salt, pepper, and cumin.
• 2 Tear the chiles by hand (or cut open with scissors) and remove the seeds. Start
  the olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
• 3 Cook the dried chiles in the oil, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes then
  remove from heat. (while heating the chiles) Place a small saucepan with water
  (enough for the chiles) on another burner and bring it to a boil.
• 4 Transfer the chiles (save the oil in the stock pot) into the saucepan once the
  water is boiling and let them cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes or until
  softened.
• 5 Bring the stock pot with the oil back to medium-high heat and saute the onion
  and tomatoes until they begin to darken from a light orange color. Add in the
  canned chipotle peppers (if not using dried), minced or crushed garlic,
  peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, salt, thyme, oregano, marjoram,
  ground cumin, and ground ginger.
• 6 Reduce the heat to medium (or lower for a simmer) and continue cooking the
  onion, tomatoes, and seasoning at a simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat
  and allow to cool slightly.
• 7 To a blender, add the chiles *with water that they were boiled and softened in*,
  the cooked tomatoes (remove the bay leaves) and onion with seasoning, plus apple
  cider vinegar, and about 2 cups of beef broth - enough to blend the mixture,
  without filling your blender to the max line!
• 8 Blend until smooth. Your mixture may be pretty thick still, but that's OK!
  Strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. *Use some of your
  beef broth to get the last bits of sauce out of the blender.
• 9 Next - you can either transfer the sauce into the bowl with the seasoned meat
  and cover it with cling film to marinate overnight. OR you can move on to
  cooking the birria. I prefer to marinate the meat between 8-12 hours for best
  results when cooking on the stove top or in the oven (using a Dutch oven). If
  using an Instant Pot/Pressure cooker or Crock Pot/slow cooker, the marinating
  step can be skipped.
• 10 Place the marinated meat into a large stockpot with any remaining beef broth,
  plus additional water if needed to cover the meat completely. Cook at medium
  heat with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for about 2 ½ to 3 hours. Once the
  meat is fall-off-the-bone tender it is ready to serve as a stew or shred for
  making tacos.
• 11 Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the marinated meat into a large Dutch
  oven with any remaining beef broth, plus additional water if needed to cover the
  meat completely. Cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the meat is tender and easily
  shredded.
• 12 Add the meat and marinade sauce to the inner pot of your pressure cooker, plus
  any remaining broth and additional water needed to cover the meat completely.
  Set the manual cook time on high for 45 minutes. Allow the cook time to elapse,
  then let the pressure vent (NPR) for 5 minutes before doing a quick release to
  finish venting the remaining steam and pressure.
• 13 Place the marinated meat into your crockpot or slow cooker with any remaining
  beef broth, plus additional water if needed to cover the meat completely. Heat
  on low for 8-10 hours, or until the meat is tender and easy to shred.
• 14 Serve as a stew (leaving the meat chunks as-is, or remove the chunks and shred
  the meat then return to the stew). Top with chopped onion, cilantro, a lime
  wedge or two on the side, and corn tortillas for scooping.
• 15 Serve as tacos with the birria meat filling, topped with chopped onion and
  cilantro, salsa, and a wedge of lime.
• 16 To serve as quesatacos, separate the shredded meat from the sauce. Dip the corn
  tortillas into the broth then fry in a large skillet, comal, or cast iron
  skillet over medium heat. Fill the tacos with shredded meat and shredded cheese
  on one side and fold in half. Cook the tacos for 30 seconds to a minute on the
  first side, then flip and cook an additional 30 seconds to a minute on the
  second side. Remove from the pan and repeat until all of your tacos are cooked
  for serving.
• 17 Serve the tacos with more of the broth, topped with queso fresco, chopped onion
  and cilantro, and a wedge of lime on the side.

Nutrition Info