These smoked birria tacos bring together tender smoked beef chuck roast and gooey melted cheese in crispy corn tortillas, served alongside a spicy consommé for dipping.
Birria is a traditional Mexican dish where meat is braised in a rich, spiced beef stock with an adobo of dried chilies. It has its roots in Jalisco, in the West of Mexico, where it served as a variation of Mexican barbacoa. The original recipes were made with goat, but iterations with beef or lamb have become more common.
Traditionally, birria is a sort of slow-cooked stew (or consommé), but the shredded meat at the heart of it is so incredibly delicious that it’s become popular to use it as a taco filling, hence: birria tacos.
And what a filling it is. Using smoked shredded chuck roast as our meat, we braise it in spices and broth before adding it to fried corn tortillas full of gooey cheese and serving it alongside our stewed consommé to act as a dip. Crispy, meaty, and gooey, it’s unlike any taco you’ve ever had.
Quick Tips
- It is really easy to burn the chilies in the oil at the start of this recipe, so keep the heat low. The goal is just to soften them slightly and infuse the oil with their flavor, so we don’t need a high heat.
- The dried chilies used in this recipe are essential for authentic flavor, and can’t easily be substituted with other types, so do make the effort to track them down, whether in shops or online (I got mine online).
- With the chili oil base and slow-cooked chuck roast, the consommé can get a bit oily. If you’re seeing a lot of oil on the surface, add a handful of ice cubes to the broth. After a few seconds, remove the ice cubes with the frozen fatty oil stuck to it.
Smoked Beef Birria Tacos
These smoked birria tacos bring together tender smoked beef chuck roast and gooey melted cheese in crispy corn tortillas, served alongside a spicy consommé for dipping.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chuck roast
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 12 tortillas de maiz
- ½ cup queso fresco crumbled
- 1 white onion finely diced
Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
Spritz
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
Consommé
- 2 dried guajillo chilies
- 2 dried pasilla chilies
- 2 dried ancho chilies
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups beef stock
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 tsp table salt
- 2 tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 white onion roughly chopped
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp crushed ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Garnish
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander roughly chopped
- 2 limes cut into wedges
Instructions
Smoking the Beef
- Prepare the meat by trimming off any excess fat, then cut into smaller 2-inch chunks. Pat the meat dry with paper towels.
- Add the dry rub ingredients to a small bowl. Combine well.
- Add a thin layer of yellow mustard to the beef, covering all sides. Then, season the beef with the dry rub, covering evenly and liberally. Place the seasoned chuck roast in your refrigerator until ready to smoke.
- Fire up your smoker to 225-250°F (107-120°C). For charcoal grills, use a 2-zone setup by placing the lit coals on one side and adding 1-2 wood chunks on top.
- Once the smoker is at temperature, place the beef on your smoker’s grates and leave to cook to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). After 1 hour, spritz the meat with a 1:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar and water. Repeat this every 45-60 minutes until the beef hits our target internal temperature, about 3-4 hours.
Making the Consommé
- Trim the stems off the guajillo, pasilla, and ancho chilies. Slice each chili open and remove the seeds.
- In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the dried chilies and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently and preventing them from burning.
- Slowly add the beef stock into the pan, taking care with the hot oil. Add the bay leaves and increase the heat to medium and let the liquid simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- To a blender, add the onions, garlic, tomatoes, dry spices, and apple cider vinegar. Carefully pour the beef stock and chili liquid into the blender. Blend until smooth.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer or sieve over the Dutch oven, and pour the blended consommé into it. Use a whisk to help move the mixture through the sieve. Discard the remains in the strainer. Cover the finished consommé until ready to use.
- When the chuck roast reaches 165°F (74°C), remove it from the smoker and submerge it in the consommé. Cover the Dutch oven, return it to the smoker, and cook at 250-275°F (120-135°C) until the beef reaches 203°F (95°C) and is fork-tender and easy to shred.
- Shred the beef with forks or your hands, then return it to the Dutch oven to soak up the braise.
Assembling the Tacos
- Heat each corn tortilla in a little bit of oil in a pan or skillet over medium-high heat, about 20-30 seconds per side. Place on paper towels as they’re done.
- Return a heated tortilla to the pan, brush on some consommé, then add pulled beef, cheese, onions, and cilantro. Let the cheese melt, and then fold the tortilla so it seals shut.
- Remove the tortilla and place on dry paper towels to cool. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
- Serve some of just the consommé (with no beef) into a small serving bowl. Serve the tacos topped with extra chopped onions, fresh cilantro, and crumbled queso fresco. Enjoy right away!
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