Easy Birria Tacos Recipe (2024)

August 11, 2020 | Last Updated on January 8, 2023 by Patricia Valbrun

Easy Birria Tacos Recipe is the perfect comfort food to serve your family and friends on your next movie night or dinner! It's simple yet so tasty and delicious that they will surely be back for more.

If you’re looking for the best easy birria tacos recipe instant pot, this post will come in handy for those times when you want to eat something tasty.

What is Birria?

Birria is a traditional slow-cooked Mexican dish commonly made with goat meat. Nowadays, this dish is usually made with beef, veal, lamb, or pork meat.

This savory, sweet and spicy dish is usually eaten as a stew or as a taco filling like our recipe today.

Birria Ingredients

Here you have the complete birria tacos ingredients list for cooking the best birria tacos you’ll ever taste. Keep an eye out for some recommendations I made after trying this recipe a few times.

● Beef Angus – to highlight the whole dish, I decided to use Beef Angus. This is one of the tastiest beef and is very tender which makes it more suitable for this recipe
● Epis – In this recipe, we’ve included Epis, a Haitian Seasoning. You can use this in a lot of recipes so keeping a jar of it in your fridge will probably come in handy.
● Guajillo Pods – make your birria tacos taste as authentic as it can be by using traditional Mexican spices. Guajillo is sun-dried peppers and is the second-most commonly used dried chili in Mexican cuisine after poblanos. You can find these in the Mexican aisle of any grocery store. If you’re worried about the spiciness, Guajillo has a mild to medium level of spiciness so it’s very tolerable.
● Chile de Arbol – this is another Mexican chili pepper and is much spicier than Guajillo. If you don’t tolerate spicy food well, you can reduce the amount of this in your recipe.
● Oregano – if you’re staying true to this Mexican dish, instead of using the regular oregano use Mexican oregano. Unlike the regular oregano which has a minty undertone, Mexican oregano has a more citrusy flavor and compliments the spices better, resulting in an ultimate birria tacos recipe.

Step By Step: How to Make The Best Birria Tacos

Birria tacos are very easy to make and only involve a few steps that include marinating the meat, cooking it, making the sauce and assembling your tacos.

MARINATE - Using lemon and vinegar, wash and dry the meat. With your epis seasoning, marinate the meat for 2-24 hours in the fridge.

BOIL - In a large pot, brown the beef on both sides. Add the onion, garlic cloves, along with the bell pepper with cloves. Quick tip: you can stick in cloves inside the pepper.

Cover with water, chicken stock or you can just use chicken bouillon a drop of vinegar for tenderness and bring it to a boil.

After bringing it to a boil, cover, and simmer on medium heat until meat is tender for about 2 hours. While boiling, skim off the top and throughout

CHILE SAUCE - Remove all the seeds from inside the Chile pods. In a small pot, add water until just covered and bring to a boil.

Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the Chile pods are soft and tender. Strain the chilies reserving 1 cup of the boiling liquid then blend until you get a smooth consistency.

BEEF - Once the beef is tender discard the onion and garlic cloves then strain the beef and SAVE THE LIQUID (any leftovers you can blend and add it back into the sauce).

I do this so I can shred the beef easier. After that, add the beef back to the water and pour in your blended pepper mixture then mix well and continue to cook for another hour.

TACOS - Now that the Birria de res is done we can start building tacos! Preheat flattop or skillet to medium-high heat.

Dip tortillas into the left-over liquid, place onto the skillet and top with cheese mixture. Let the cheese melt a little.

Top it off with the beef from the beef, cilantro, and white or red onions. Fold in half and continue to cook each side until crispy.

And your Birria Tacos are ready! Eat these tacos on their own or if you want to go the extra mile, you can serve them with tortilla chips or any of your favorite Mexican side dishes.

Making Chili Sauce For Birria Tacos

Making the chili sauce for birria tacos is super simple and only requires very few steps and ingredients. Here’s the brief rundown.

Remove all the seeds from inside the Chile pods.

Combine all the chilis in a small pot then add just enough water to cover and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the Chile pods are soft and tender.

Strain the chilies and make sure to reserve 1 cup of the boiling liquid. Put the chilies in the blender along with a cup of boiling liquid, blend starting on low to high and add your spices, blend until you get a smooth consistency.

And you’ve successfully done your easy birria tacos chili sauce that will take your birria tacos to the next level.

Cooking Birria

There are many ways to cook this recipe, traditionally this is slow-cooked. However, if you don't have much time and still want to get the same result, you can use an instant pot.

Alternatively, you can also use a dutch oven (make sure to preheat it) or your good 'ol stovetop. Whichever works for you, they will surely be delectable!

Taking Your Birria Tacos To The Next Level

Not many people might be aware of this, but if you want to experience the ultimate birria tacos flavor, then you have to dip your tortillas into the stew and then fry them using fat (or butter, or oil).

This will allow that crispy golden brown exterior in the tortilla to be fully appreciated by you and your guests. Simply dip the tortillas into the stew and use another skillet with hot oil to quickly fry them for a few minutes on each side.

Once they’re done, place the tortillas in a plate or container with some paper towels to drain the excess oil and you’re ready to assemble your birria tacos.

Cooking Birria Tacos In A Slow Cooker vs Dutch Oven

As I just mentioned, you can make this recipe in an instant pot or a dutch oven if you’d like.

For the dutch oven, you’ll need a fairly large one for this recipe, and simply follow the instructions mentioned and when the moment to close the instant pot arrives, you’ll make a change. Cover your dutch oven and set it in a low setting over your stove for as long as possible.

As for the slow cooker method, you simply put all the ingredients in it and set your stove to the lowest heat possible for around 6-8 hours. Yes, it is a long time but the final flavour will be exquisite. Since you’re slow-cooking the meat, it will end up super soft and tender, excellent for tacos.

Best Way to Storing Birria

If you cooked a large batch of Birria, you can put them in a container and freeze them to use them for later. Reheat them and you're ready for another taco night!

Aside from using it as a taco filling, you can also pair it with rice and eat it as it is. As for the tortilla, you can easily reheat them on a pan or in an oven.

You might also like:

Pollo Guisado (Puerto Rico Chicken Stew)

Southern Shrimp

Honey Garlic Salmon

Sweet and Sticky Drumsticks

How did you like this recipe? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Looking for anotherpastarecipe? Try thisSalmon Rasta Pastarecipe next!