Mexican Chile-Garlic Beef Birria

About This Recipe

Birria originated in Jalisco as a goat stew served at weddings and celebrations, and while beef has become a common substitute outside its home region — especially in the birria tacos popularized across the US — the technique remains the same: a heavy blend of dried chiles, garlic, and warm spices simmered low and slow with the meat until it's tender enough to pull apart with a fork. The chile-garlic paste is the backbone of the dish, built from guajillo and ancho chiles toasted and blended with a generous amount of garlic, cinnamon, and cumin. Browning the beef well before braising develops a fond that deepens the final broth, and the meat needs a genuinely long braise — a couple of hours at minimum — for the connective tissue to fully break down into tender, shreddable meat. The braising liquid itself becomes the consommé that birria is often served with alongside, spooned over the meat or served on the side for dipping. While this braise can be eaten as a simple stew with rice, it's also the base for birria tacos: shredded meat folded into tortillas dipped in the reserved fat from the broth, then pan-fried until crisp, and served alongside the remaining consommé for dipping.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1.5 kgbeef chuck, cut into large chunks
• 6 wholedried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 wholedried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 wholetomatoes
• 10 clovegarlic
• 1 wholeonion, quartered
• 1 piececinnamon stick
• 1 tspground cumin
• 4 wholecloves
• 3 wholebay leaves
• 2 tbspapple cider vinegar
• 1.5 Lbeef stock
• 2 tspsalt
• 2 tbspoil
• 0.25 cupcilantro, chopped
• 1 wholeonion, finely diced, for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast and soak the chiles

   Toast guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Soak in hot water 15-20 minutes to soften.

2. 2

   Blend the sauce

   Blend soaked chiles, tomatoes, garlic, quartered onion, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, vinegar, and 1 cup of the stock until smooth.

3. 3

   Brown the beef

   Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches, 3-4 minutes per side. Set aside.

4. 4

   Combine and braise

   Return beef to the pot, add the chile sauce, remaining stock, bay leaves, and salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook on low heat for 2-2.5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is fork-tender.

5. 5

   Shred and skim

   Remove the beef and shred with two forks. Skim excess fat from the surface of the broth (reserve some for frying tortillas if making tacos).

6. 6

   Serve

   Serve the shredded beef in bowls with the broth ladled over, or use it to make birria tacos, garnished with diced onion and cilantro.

Variations

• •

  Use goat meat for a more traditional Jalisco-style birria.

• •

  Make birria tacos by dipping tortillas in the reserved fat, filling with shredded meat and cheese, and pan-frying until crisp.

• •

  Add a chipotle in adobo to the chile sauce for extra smokiness.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days in an airtight container; the flavor improves overnight. Freezes well up to 3 months — thaw in the fridge before reheating gently on the stove.

Frequently Asked Questions