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    Birria Tacos

    Updated May 23, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

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

    A plate of birria tacos filled with beef, onion, cilantro and cheese served alongside a bowl of consommé sauce for dipping

    The Best Birria Tacos Ever

    Our easy birria taco recipe yields the most juicy and tender tacos! Gooey with Mexican cheese, beefy and so delicious, they’re impossible not to love. Once you’ve mastered the art of making Birria at home, the rest is easy, it just takes a little time. Chuck roast, cooked low and slow with chiles and spices is the key to a perfect birria taco, but you can make the birria beef days (or even months) ahead of time. With beef this good, you don’t need to do much to it! A sprinkle of shredded cheese, and a little onion for sharpness and you’ll be happy as a clam. For more beefy braised goodness, check out our Slow Cooker Curry Ramen and for more delicious beef tacos, check out our Carne Asada and Carne Asada Tacos!

    ingredients for birria tacos laid out in bowls: beef birria, cilantro, onions, Oaxaca cheese and corn tortillas

    Key Ingredients For Birria Tacos

    It’s sort of amazing that something so tasty can be as simple to make as birria tacos, but there are really only 5 key ingredients in birria tacos. 

    • Birria Beef: Full of chiles and spices, birria beef is a stewy braised beef taco filling that always satisfies.
    • Corn tortillas: Homemade Tortillas are terrific if you’ve got a little project in you, but it’s also fine to just buy these.
    • Oaxaca cheese: Made in Oaxaca, Mexico, this delicious, simple cheese is similar to mozzarella cheese, and it melts beautifully into these tacos.
    • Onion: All that beef and cheese need a little something to keep it from being overwhelmingly rich, and onion’s sharpness is just the ticket.
    • Cilantro: As ever, if you hate cilantro, it’s OK to skip it. But we adore the way that fresh cilantro lifts these birria tacos to the next level. 
    corn tortillas being dipped in beef birria consommé sauce
    A birria taco being fried in a skillet, with crispy edges forming on the tortilla and rich, red consommé seeping out
    A birria taco being fried in a skillet, with crispy edges forming on the tortilla and rich, red consommé seeping out
    crispy, cheesy beef birria tacos on a baking sheet

    How to Make Birria Tacos

    1. Make the Birria beef! We make our beef birria recipe on the stove top to  squeeze out every drop of flavor. Hot tip: You can do this ahead of time! The birria beef keeps in the fridge for at least 3-4 days and freezes well for up to three months. Just reheat it when you’re ready to make birria tacos. NOTE: Save the delicious juices that are left in the pot you made the birria beef in to use as a dipping sauce for the birria tacos. 
    2. Warm the tortillas. You can do this in a microwave or stovetop. If you are a collector of specialty Mexican cookware, now is the time to heat up your comal. 
    3. Dip each tortilla in the birria cooking liquid. 
    4. Lay the tortilla in a hot skillet, sprinkle it with cheese. TIP: Let some of the cheese spill over onto the pan so that it gets crispy around the edges as it melts! 
    5. Top the cheese with birria beef, onion and cilantro.
    6. Fold the taco & cook until it is crispy and the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes per side. 
    7. Serve! With a bowl of the birria sauce for dipping. 
    A plate of birria tacos filled with beef, onion, cilantro and cheese served alongside a bowl of consommé sauce for dipping

    What To Serve With Beef Birria Tacos

    • If we’re out to dinner, we usually order a boat-sized portion of guacamole to go with our birria tacos, 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. It is light, so it makes a nice counterpart to the richness of birria tacos.  
    • 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. 
    A plate of birria tacos filled with beef, onion, cilantro and cheese served alongside a bowl of consommé sauce for dipping

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    Birria Tacos Recipe

    Updated May 23, 2025

    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, cheesy 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. 

      corn tortillas being dipped in beef birria consommé sauce

    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 meat (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. 

      A birria taco being fried in a skillet, with crispy edges forming on the tortilla and rich, red consommé seeping out

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

      A plate of birria tacos filled with beef, onion, cilantro and cheese served alongside a bowl of consommé sauce 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

    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.

    • TJ

      YUM

      Thanks!

    • 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!