This birria recipe is an iconic meat stew from the Mexican state of Jalisco of lamb, goat or beef cooked low and slow in a seasoned chili sauce. Serve it in a bowl or as birria tacos.
Mexican Birria Recipe
We're cooking up a flavorful Mexican meat stew in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen, my friends. It's called Birria, and you're going to want to make this right away.
Mike's Recipe Highlights
- The combination of dried ancho and guajillo chilies gives this recipe an unforgettable flavor, and the chiles de arbol add just the right amount of spicy heat.
- You can make this recipe with beef or lamb, and the slow cooking process results in meat that is fall-apart-tender, which everyone loves.
What is Birria?
Birria is a classic Mexican meat stew or soup made with slowly braised meat - usually lamb, goat, or beef - with chilies and spices. It is one of the most iconic Mexican dishes, originally from Jalisco, Mexico, though has spread throughout Mexican and the United States because of its addictive flavor.
Birria was traditionally made with goat, as local Mexicans were given an overabundance of goats by the Conquistadors during the Conquest of Mexico.
The name, "birria", means "worthless" or "without value", a pejorative term given by the Spanish who found eating goat beneath them.
Today, however, beef is more commonly used, as it is easier to obtain and is less lean, though it is delicious with any of these cuts of meat or what you can commonly find in grocery stores.
Authentic birria is usually served a couple different ways - as a soup or stew, or as birria tacos. The soup/stew version is more classic and often served at family events or large gatherings.
This way, the meat is shredded and served into bowls with the braising liquid, or birria consome.
As tacos, the meat is shredded and served over warmed corn tortillas dipped in the braising liquid, with the consome in a small bowl on the side.
There are different ways to make it, with different cuts of meat and variations to the chilies and seasonings. This is my preferred version adapted from a couple of my favorite Mexican cookbooks and some experimentation.
It's a beef birria recipe (birria de res).
As a spicy food lover, I think you will love this recipe. It will smell amazing in the house with the meat cooking, enough to drive you wild with hunger.
Let's talk about how to make birria, shall we?
Featured Reader Comment
From Christina: "I wanted to make this for Christmas so I tested it and had my Latina friend from Mexico try it and quote '"'The most authentic Birria I've had in a long time'. So I doubled the meat and there is barely anything left. Absolutely DELICIOUS!"
Birria Ingredients - Birria Consome and Birria de Res
NOTE: The full ingredients list with measurements and recipe steps are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Dried Peppers. Use ancho peppers and guajillo peppers. I also use a few chiles de arbol for a bit of extra spice and heat.
- Olive Oil. For cooking.
- Vegetables. Fresh tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves. You can also toss in some fresh peppers, if desired.
- Seasonings. Mexican oregano, sea salt, cinnamon stick, cumin, ginger, black pepper. You can use others, like bay leaves.
- Vinegar. I prefer apple cider vinegar for this recipe.
- Beef Stock. Or beef broth.
- Meat. Use lamb, goat or beef. Lamb shoulder or lamb belly are hugely popular options. For beef, use brisket, beef chuck roast or beef shank.
How to Make Birria - the Recipe Method
Heat a cast iron pan to medium-high heat dry toast the dried chilies 1-2 minutes per side, until the skins darken. This helps loosen the oils and develops flavor.
Add the toasted peppers in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Steep for 20 minutes to soften.
Heat the oil in the same pan to medium heat and cook the onion and tomatoes 5 minutes to soften, then the garlic for 1 minute, stirring.
Add the cooked onion, tomatoes and garlic to a food processor along with the softened chilies and add to the food processor, but reserve the soaking liquid.
Add the seasonings with the vinegar and 1 cup beef stock then process until smooth. It should be fairly thick. You can strain if you’d like for a smoother sauce.
See the RECIPE NOTES below.
Cut the meat into large chunks and add to a large bowl. Pour the birria sauce over them and rub it into the meat.
Cover and marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 2 hours minimum. Overnight is better.
Add the meat with all of the marinade, the chopped roasted tomatoes and remaining 3 cups beef stock or broth to a large pot or Dutch oven.
This broth will not only braise the meat, but will later become your birria consome.
Cover and cook at medium heat for 3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender and easy to shred.
Add more beef stock or some of the reserved soaking liquid if needed for a soupier birria.
I removed the meat to make it easier to shred.
Then added the shredded meat back to the pot to simmer a bit more before serving.
Serve the braised birria stew meat into bowls as a soup, or shred the meat and serve it up onto warm corn tortillas as birria tacos, with the reserved liquid birria consome from the pot as a side soup/broth.
Adjust for salt and pepper. Garnish with onion, fresh cilantro, chili flakes, squeeze of lime.
Boom! Done! Your Mexican birria is ready to serve. This meat is so incredibly tender and flavorful.
Serving Birria
How are you going to enjoy yours? As a soup or stew in a bowl? Or as birria tacos? Quesabirria tacos? Try this birria ramen recipe! Or my birria quesadillas recipe! Or birria nachos! Birria pizza!
Go make some delicious red tacos!
Recipe Tips & Notes
Meat Options. You can make birria with many different cuts of meat. Use lamb meat, goat meat or beef. Lamb shoulder or lamb belly are hugely popular options.
For the cut of beef, use brisket, chuck roast or beef shank. Short ribs are great, too. You can realistically make this with any cut of meat, but the best are the tougher cuts that require low and slow cooking.
You'll get more flavor with bone-in meats.
Strain the Pepper Puree. For a much smoother sauce, strain it through a fine sieve to remove any lingering bits if needed.
Also, some people find the skins of anchos and guajillos to be slightly bitter, and straining can reduce this.
This recipe can easily be adapted for your slow cooker or Instant pot.
Storage and Leftovers
Store any leftover birria in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days. You can easily reheat it gently on the stovetop to enjoy again.
Birria is great for freezing. You can freeze it for up to 6 months in vacuum sealed containers.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this Mexican birria recipe with consome. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you and how you served yours. Keep it spicy!
Cookbook Recommendations
If you love traditional Mexican cooking, I love these cookbooks with recipes from all over Mexico. Definitely recommended.
- Mexico: The Cookbook (affiliate link, my friends!)
- Made in Mexico: The Cookbook, by Danny Mena (affiliate link, my friends!)
Try Some of My Other Popular Mexican Recipes
Try Some of My Other Popular Soup and Stew Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Mexican Birria Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ancho peppers stems and seeds removed
- 5 guajillo peppers stems and seeds removed
- 2-3 chiles de arbol optional, for spicier
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large white onion chopped
- 3 large tomatoes chopped
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tablespoon sea salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 large roasted tomatoes chopped
- 4 cups beef stock separated
- 3.5 pound lamb shoulder or you can use beef shank or chuck roast
Instructions
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add the dried peppers. Dry toast them in the hot pan 1-2 minutes per side, until the skins darken.
- Remove from heat and add the toasted peppers to a large bowl. Cover with hot water and steep 20 minutes, or until softened.
- While the peppers are rehydrating, heat the olive oil in the same pan to medium heat.
- Add the onion and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes to soften.
- Add the garlic and cook another 1 minute, stirring.
- Add the cooked onion, tomatoes and garlic to a food processor.
- Remove the softened chilies and add to the food processor, but reserve the soaking liquid.
- Add the seasonings to the food processor along with the vinegar and 1 cup beef stock. Process until smooth. It should be fairly thick. You can strain if you’d like for a smoother sauce. See the RECIPE NOTES below.
- Cut the lamb (or beef) into large chunks and add to a large bowl.
- Pour the birria sauce over them and rub it into the meat. Cover and marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 2 hours minimum. Overnight is better.
- When you’re ready to cook, add the meat with all of the marinade, the chopped roasted tomatoes and remaining 3 cups beef broth to a large pot. Cover and cook at medium heat for 3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender and easy to shred. Add more beef stock or some of the reserved soaking liquid if needed for a soupier birria.
- Serve the braised birria into bowls as a soup, or shred the meat and serve it up onto tortillas as birria tacos, with the reserved liquid consome from the pot as a side soup/broth.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Brad L Kirby says
My mother in-law is from Jalisco Mexico and she always cooked pork riblets which is ribs sawed in half and Costco does that now. She would cook in a homemade tomatillo sauce and it was always amazing. It gave me the idea to use riblets with this recipe, I just put the marinade on the riblets and put it in the fridge overnight. Can't wait to cook tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
Mike Hultquist says
Yes!! Riblets! Doing that next time for sure. Thanks, Brad.
Ben says
Hi, great recipe as always! if I batch made the chilli paste how many table spoons of the paste do you think the recipe would require? Many thanks
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Ben! Thanks! I would use about 1 cup of the past for this, but make a note and adjust for next time.
Sandie says
I live in Missouri, so the peppers are hard to find. Got the ancho but stuck on the other two. Are there Any other peppers you can sub in?
Mike Hultquist says
Sandie, you can use all ancho if you need to, or add in guajillo powder as a sub. Other dried pods you can use are pasilla or cascabel, or non Mexican pods, like New Mexican chilies or California pods. I hope this helps.
Maria says
Can this be cooked in a pressure cooker? And if so what time length?
Mike Hultquist says
Yes, Maria. You'd need a good 60 minutes or more, possibly 75.
I Espinoza says
What do you consider a large onion/small onion in cup measurement, also garlic cloves can vary, what would you use in that case?
I appreciate the clarity
Thank you
I see many of your recipes in looking forward to making
Mike Hultquist says
It's about 1 cup onion, though you can easily add more if desired. Garlic is hard because you can add/subtract at will, really to taste. I LOVE garlic, so always include more.
Gris says
I missed the step to take the seeds out of the chilies. Will the sauce still be okay as far as taste?
Mike Hultquist says
Gris, yes, you'll be fine. The seeds are edible. They just tend to float around in the sauce. Some people find them a bit bitter, but overall, you'll get great flavor.
Ruth says
For how many people does this recipe feeds?
Mike Hultquist says
Ruth, this will serve 6-8 people. Let me know how you enjoy it.
Simon says
Hi Mike, made this and it was great! Had it as a soup (not shredded). Question regarding the leftovers (as only 2 of us ate it) - a lot of fat has solidified on the surface after cooling in the fridge. When freezing or reheating the leftovers, do you skim this solid fat off and remove it, or do you prefer to keep it in there?
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Simon. I recommend keeping that in there. It's a lot of the fat content, so it has a lot of flavor. You can skim it away to save the calories and overall fat if you'd like. Still tasty without it, but it will melt back in when you reheat it. Let me know how it goes.
James says
marinade is made and ready for the slow cooker tomorrow - probably the sixth time this winter we have made this.
it is [expletive] awesome. reminds me of home and childhood. thank you thank you thank you
we roast some potatoes and zucchini with onions, bell peppers, seasoned with achiote, ancho, oregano, etc., and toss it in at mealtime for a one bowl tastegasm.
i love you
Mike Hultquist says
Boom! Nice. Glad you enjoy it, James. I really LOVE birria. One of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!!
Victor Calautti says
Hey there I have a question on dried chilies. What are the five main chilies I should have in my pantry?
Mike Hultquist says
Hey, Victor. That's a hard question to answer, as I love so many, but if we're talking Mexican cuisine, I'd go with ancho, guajillo, chile de arbol, chipotle, and pasilla.
George Vinnicombe says
Yum Yum gotta try this
Mike Hultquist says
SO GOOD, George!
Lorie says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I had leftover consumme (approx 4 cups) and decided to freeze it to use later. Do you have any recipes that I could incorporate this broth? I’m leaning towards chili but I’m definitely open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!
Mike Hultquist says
Lorie, yes, you can use that broth for making most of my chili recipes, or for incorporating into many different soups and stews. Works great for adding a Mexican flair to those types of dishes.
Chili Recipes: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/chili/
Soups/Stews: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/soups-salads-stews/