Description
Authentic Mexican birria tacos, Jalisco-style, made with braised beef roasted in a fragrant 3-chile sauce with a delicious spice mix.
Ingredients
- 6 dried guajillo chile peppers, seeded
- 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 dried chile de arbol peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 4 pounds beef chuck roast
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground cumin
- 1 pinch ground thyme
- 1 pinch dried marjoram
- 1 pinch dried oregano
- 18 corn tortillas
- 1 large white onion, finely chopped
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Start the sauce: Add guajillo
- arbol
- and ancho chile peppers to the boiling water; boil for 5 minutes. Remove pot from the heat and allow peppers to soak until cool. Drain
- reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
- Meanwhile
- sear the meat: Rinse beef and pat dry with paper towels. Cut beef into chunks if desired
- and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on all sides
- about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- While the beef is searing
- continue the sauce: Line a heavy cast-iron grill pan or griddle with aluminum foil and place over high heat. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer on top. Grill until tomato skin is burned on all sides and begins to peel
- 3 to 5 minutes.
- Place cooled chile peppers into a blender. Add vinegar
- garlic
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- cloves
- cinnamon
- cumin
- thyme
- marjoram
- oregano
- and salt in a blender. Pour in the reserved 1/4 cup of chile water and blend until smooth.
- Strain chile sauce through a mesh strainer and pour over browned meat in the Dutch oven
- turning the roast so it is completely covered with sauce; cover with a lid.
- Bake in the preheated oven
- basting meat every 45 minutes with sauce
- until birria begins to fall apart
- 3 to 4 hours. Remove the lid and bake
- uncovered
- until birria is crispy on top
- about 20 minutes. Remove from oven
- cover with 2 layers of aluminum foil
- and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes.
- Remove meat to a cutting board and strain off any fat from the sauce. Shred meat with two forks
- then return meat to the pot and stir with the sauce to combine.
- Assemble and heat tacos: Fill each tortilla with birria and top with Mexican cheese
- chopped onion
- and cilantro. Warm tortillas on a griddle
- flipping until both sides are crispy and cheese is melted.
- Serve with extra sauce on the side for dipping.
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 3 hrs 40 mins
Total Time: 4 hrs 25 mins
Servings: 6