This super flavorful Beef Biria recipe is the result of a fabulous sauce made with dried chilies. Although it may not be easy to source all the chiles – if you can it’s worth it. The beef stews/braises in that sauce until it’s super tender and easy to pull apart soaking in all the amazing smoky flavors of the sauce. Enjoy beef birria with warm tortillas or rice or make birria tacos/quesabirria tacos, or quesadillas or this tasty pulled beef is great over nachos or fries.
What is Birria?
Birria is a meat stew or sometimes a soup (depending on how it is made) made from goat, beef, lamb, mutton, or chicken. The meat is cooked in a Mexican style adobo sauce made of vinegar, dried chiles, garlic, tomatoes, herbs and spices. Birria is a dish from Mexico specifically the Mexican state of Jalisco. This version is made with beef chuck roast but other recipes may be made with short ribs, or even a mixture of oxtail and beef shanks.
Beef Birria Recipe Ingredients
- BEEF: Beef chuck roast or blade roast is what I use – the best cut for slow braising as it becomes tender and juicier the longer you cook it.
- DRIED CHILES: I used a combination of: chiles de arbol, guajillo chiles, and ancho chiles. Most traditional recipe use a combination of these three chiles – feel free to adjust amounts to taste. The overall dish is more smoky with a little heat. If you want more heat increase the amount of guajillo chiles you add, for less heat reduce the amount.
- VINEGAR: I like to use apple cider vinegar but regular white vinegar works too
- SPICES: I use a combination of whole dried spices and ground spices, but you can do either or. I used a whole cinnamon stick (use Mexican cinnamon if possible) black peppercorns and bay leaves. For ground spices I used ground cumin, dried oregano (use Mexican oregano if possible) and ground clove.
- TOMATOES: I like to use ripe roma tomatoes but any variety will work
- ONION & GARLIC: I use ½ a white onion peeled and left whole and 3 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole – if you prefer more garlic feel free to add more
- BROTH/STOCK: I like to use beef broth/ beef stock but you can easily use chicken broth.
- ALTERNATE ADD INS: I don’t add any canned chipotle peppers but some recipe call for adding them with adobo sauce. Some recipes also add in ginger and coriander seed as well. Feel free to adjust flavors as desired.
How To Make Beef Birria
- Make Adobo Sauce/Chile Sauce: Place the whole ingredients (onion, garlic, tomatoes, cinnamon, peppercorns) and dried chiles in a small pot, cover with water and simmer 10-15 min then transfer all the chiles and rest of the whole ingredients to a blender and blend with some of the cooking liquid
- Season & Sear Beef: Season beef with salt and pepper then sear in a hot dutch over or heavy bottom pan
- Braise Beef With Sauce: Pour sauce over beef then braise until fall apart tender
- Shred Beef: Remove beef from braising liquid and shred, serve with sauce on the side or place back in sauce and serve as a stew
- Serve: As a stew with diced onions, Cilantro and lime wedges or make birria tacos
Beef Birria Storage, Make Ahead, & Freezing
- STORAGE: Shredded beef can be stored in the sauce or kept seperate in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat stovetop or in the microwave.
- MAKE AHEAD: Of course this whole dish can be made 1-2 days ahead – like any stew the flavors just keep getting better as they sit. Store chilled in an airtight container. Reheat and serve. The adobo sauce can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 1 week or longer. You can freeze it for up to 6 months. Simply pour over seared beef when ready to use it.
- FREEZING: Shredded beef can be stored in the sauce or kept seperate in airtight freezer containers for up to 3-6 months. Thaw in fridge and reheat stovetop or in the microwave.
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