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    Beef Birria Tacos

    Updated September 5, 2024 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    Loaded with juicy, chile-spiced and succulent beef birria, this easy beef birria taco recipe is a real keeper.

    5 Beef Birria tacos on a plate with a bowl of consomé

    Make A Pot Of Homemade Beef Birria And Make The Best Birria Tacos Ever!

    This easy birria tacos recipe yields the most juicy and tender tacos–so simple and so delicious that they’re impossible not to love. Once you’ve mastered the art of making beef birria at home—the rest is easy, it just takes a little time! Birria tacos are within reach when you get the hankering. Once you make these beef birria tacos at home, you’ll discover for yourself what is so special about birria tacos. Hint, it's the juicy, tender beef for us. For more beef tacos, check out our Carne Asada tacos!

    shredded beef birria, cilantro, onions, Oaxaca cheese in bowls on a counter next to a stack of corn tortillas

    Ingredients For Our Beef Birria Tacos With Consommé Recipe

    It’s sort of amazing that something so tasty can be as simple to make as birria tacos, but there are really only 5 main birria tacos ingredients! Here’s everything you’ll need to make these meaty, tender, filling tacos:

    corn tortillas dipped in beef birria consommé sauce
    corn tortilla folded in half in a skillet filled with beef birria and shredded Oaxaca cheese to make a beef birria taco
    beef birria taco cooked in a skillet
    crispy, cheesy beef birria tacos on a baking sheet

    How to Make Beef Birria Tacos

    Chuck roast, cooked low and slow, is the best beef for Birria tacos. Braising it to the point of falling apart with chiles and spices, it becomes absolute heaven on a plate (or, in this case, in a tortilla). With beef this good, you don’t need to do much to it—it stands alone as a taco filling. A sprinkle of cheese, and a little onion for sharpness and you’ll be happy as a clam. Here’s how to make our super easy version of beef birria tacos:

    1. Begin by making the Beef Birria! We make our beef birria recipe on the stove top to squeeze out every drop of flavor.

    2. Lift the meat out of the Dutch oven you cooked it in and shred it. Save all of the delicious juices that are left in the pot to use as a dipping sauce for the birria tacos.

    3. Warm the corn tortillas. You can do this in a microwave or stovetop. If you are a collector of specialty cookware, now is the time to heat up your comal.

    4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Heat a little oil or spray the pan with cooking spray. Dip each tortilla in the consommé (sauce) on both sides, place it in the hot skillet, sprinkle it with 3 tablespoons shredded cheese allowing a little to spill over onto the pan (so that it gets crispy.) Place the shredded meat (about 1/4 cup) onto one side of the tortilla along with a bit of onion and cilantro.

    5. Fold the other side of the taco over. Cook the tacos on both sides until crispy and the cheese is fully melted, 2-3 minutes per side.

    6. Serve with a small bowl of the birria sauce to use as a dip.

    5 beef birria tacos with a bowl of Birria consomé for dipping

    What To Serve With Beef Birria Tacos

    If we’re out to dinner, we usually order a boat-sized portion of guac, and you can recreate the experience at home with our Perfect Guacamole. Aguachile is another of our favorite Mexican appetizers, and we think you’ll love it too. If you’re going for an all out taco fest, we think you would love Beer-Battered Fish Tacos and Easy Chicken Tacos for one of every kind of taco filling. Don’t forget to roll out a batch of Homemade Corn Tortillas!!

    Tools You’ll Need

    More Easy Taco Recipes To Try

    a plate filled with beef birria tacos with a bowl of sauce for dipping

    How Much Do You Love These Birria Tacos?

    Beefy and cheesy, birria tacos are just the best. And this recipe makes them easy enough to have at home just about any time you want! If you make it, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

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    Beef Birria Tacos Recipe

    Updated September 5, 2024

    By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    • Serves:  8
    • Prep Time:  5 min
    • Cook Time:  45 min
    • Calories:  577
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    Description

    Loaded with juicy, chile-spiced and succulent beef birria, this easy beef birria taco recipe is a real keeper.

    Ingredients

    Method

    1. Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Alternatively, using metal tongs, toast each tortilla over the flames of a gas stove.

    2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working one at a time, dip both sides of the tortilla in the birria broth and add to the skillet, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the cheese, allowing a little to spill over onto the pan. Top one side of the tortilla with the shredded beef (about ¼ cup), onion, and cilantro. Fold the tortilla over the filling and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until the tortilla is crispy and cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Transfer each taco to a plate and cover with a kitchen towel or foil to keep warm. Alternatively you can add them to a sheet pan and place them in a 200°F oven until ready to serve.

    3. Serve tacos with a bowl of broth for dipping.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 577
    • Protein 58 g
    • Carbohydrates 27 g
    • Total Fat 1 g
    • Dietary Fiber 5 g
    • Cholesterol 127 mg
    • Sodium 1103 mg
    • Total Sugars 4 g

    Beef Birria Tacos

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Eric

      As noted in my review on the Birria, I've made a few different Birria recipes and this was the best. I did have one issue- not just with this but every quesabirria recipe I've tried. Either the shell ends up somewhat crispy, but burned, or they end up soft (in this case, we ended up eating with forks). I haven't figured out how to get the shells crispy without burning. I found one site that says the trick is only to dip the tortilla into the oil that separates from the sauce, not the sauce itself. This makes logical sense, but I don't get the impression everyone is doing this. I froze portions of the birria, and in our last batch, I didn't dip the tortillas, and used a bit more oil. This time they crisped up pretty good without burning, and of course we dipped in the sauce while eating. This worked out fine, but I wish I could figure out the secret!

      Yay! Glad you loved this recipe. I've never considered this before, but I wonder if you use just the oil (that separates from the sauce) in the skillet. So instead of dipping the tortilla in the sauce, you would put the shredded meat in a dry tortilla, use the oil in the pan to fry it up and get it crispy without burning, then dip the whole thing taco in the sauce! Let me know if you try it this way! Maybe I'll edit the recipe to reflect this method. : )

    • Jill

      My tacos were delicious, but the tortillas weren’t crunchy. We had to eat them with a fork and a knife. I used a bit of oil in the pan, but didn’t want to actually fry them. Any suggestions?

      If you don't cook them long enough in the oil they will not get crispy since they were dipped in broth first.

    • Dwight

      What is the serving Size???

      About 2 tacos.

    • Deb

      Could you do this with short ribs? (Trying to use up what’s in the freezer)

      I've never tested it, but I don't see why not!

    • Jade

      What if there isn't any consomme left after cooking? I tried this recipe once and didn't have any juices after the fact. Perhaps turn down the oven temp or reduce the cook time?

      There should definitely be liquid left. You blend the 2 cups of stock with the, large (water soaked) chilis and the can of tomatoes. This creates a lot of liquid. Then you put the meat back in and place it in the oven, but there should be a lot of sauce left in the pot after the 2.5 hours. Not sure what went wrong.

    • Deshika

      Made this today and it was a hit! I added sour cream at the end and we didn’t have any leftovers. Thank you for this recipe!

      Thanks Dashika, we are so glad you loved it!

    • Amanda

      These are amazing! Messy, but amazing.

      Thank you Amanda! Glad you loved them!

    • jenn

      These tacos were absolutely AMAZING! We eat a lot street tacos but this was such a delicious recipe to switch things up frying them in the sauce was so delicious!

      Thanks Jenn, glad you tried them and enjoyed them!