This barbecue spin on the classic Mexican tinga de res pairs shredded smoked beef rib with a rich, tangy tomato and chili sauce.
There’s something so satisfying about the combination of smoke and chilies, and this smoked beef short rib tinga makes the most of this beautiful combination. Combining a long cook over fire with a homemade pasilla chili sauce delivers a blend of rich smoked beef with earthy heat.
This recipe is a twist on tinga de res, a traditional Mexican dish of shredded beef stewed in a smoky, spicy tomato-chile sauce. In fact, tinga can be made with almost any meat (chicken is especially common), but “res” specifically means beef.
The adobo sauce is just as important as the meat. Some versions rely on chipotle, but I prefer a blend of pasilla and guajillo chiles, which give the dish a deeper, tangier heat.
Tinga de res is wonderfully versatile: pile it onto tostadas, tuck it into tortas or gorditas, roll it into burritos, or simply serve it family-style with rice for sharing. Whichever way you want to enjoy it, here’s how to make smoked beef rib tinga at home.
While many recipes call for brisket or chuck, I prefer beef short ribs for tinga. Like those cuts, they’re rich in marbling and connective tissue, which makes for beautifully tender, shreddable meat. But short ribs have a few advantages: when split into individual bones they cook more quickly, the bones themselves help keep the meat juicy, and the intramuscular fat running through the cut gives the shredded beef a silky, less stringy texture than brisket or chuck.
Quick Tips
- Split the Ribs: Breaking down the beef rib rack into individual bones will help speed up cooking. You can either do this yourself or ask your butcher to do it for you. I used split and halved ribs (where the bone piece has been split in two).
- Don’t Over-Trim: Remove only excess surface fat on the top of the ribs (your butcher should have already done most of this). You still want plenty of intramuscular fat to keep the meat juicy.
- Beat the Stall: During smoking, large cuts of beef often hit a “stall” around 160-165°F, when the internal temperature stops rising. To push through, I double-wrap the ribs in pink butcher paper with a little beef tallow. The wrap locks in heat and moisture, helping the meat power through to the 203°F mark we need for tender, shreddable beef.
Smoked Beef Short Rib Tinga
Ingredients
- 5 lbs beef short rib split and halved
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp beef tallow
Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp coarse black pepper
- 2 tbsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp onion granules
Spritz
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
Chili Sauce
- ½ white onion
- 3 dried pasilla chilies stems removed
- 2 dried guajillo chilies stems removed
- 5 bay leaves
- 2 Roma tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp caster sugar
Tinga
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 white onion finely sliced
Garnish
- coriander roughly chopped
Instructions
- Trim the beef ribs of any excess fat. We still want a layer of fat on top of the ribs for flavor, so only trim any particularly large chunks.
- In a bowl or a spare seasoning shaker, combine the black pepper, salt, garlic granules, and onion granules.
- Coat the short ribs all over with a thin layer of yellow mustard. Then, season liberally with the seasoning blend, ensuring you cover the sides as well as the top. Leave to sit at room temperature while you prepare the smoker.
- Fire up your smoker to 225-250°F (107-121°C).
- When the smoker is ready, set the ribs on the grates, fat side up and bones facing the fire. Smoke to an internal temperature of 160-165°F (71-74°C).
- After the first hour of cooking, mix apple cider vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spritz the ribs lightly on all sides, repeating every 30–40 minutes.
- When the beef has hit 160-165°F, arrange a sheet of pink butcher paper on a counter surface. Spread beef tallow on the inside of the paper and place the beef rib, fat-side down. Wrap tightly, then double-wrap with a second sheet for insulation.
- Place the wrapped ribs back on the smoker, crank up the heat to 275°F (135°C) and smoke to an internal temperature of 203°F (95°C).
- Once the beef is done, pull it from the smoker. Still wrapped, let it rest until the temperature comes down to near 145°F (62°C), about one hour.
- While the beef cooks, prepare the chili sauce. Add the onion half, dried chilies, bay leaves, and 500ml of water to a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- When cooled, strain the liquid into a bowl, setting both the broth and solids aside for blending.
- Add the softened chiles to a blender with the boiled onion, 300 ml of the reserved cooking liquid, Roma tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Blend until smooth, then strain into a bowl to remove any solids.
- Unwrap the rested beef rib and start shredding the meat using your hands or a pair of forks. Pull into rough strands and clumps, removing any large clumps of fat that you don’t want to keep.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until soft.
- Add the strained chili sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the mixture has slightly darkened in color.
- Add the shredded beef and cook, stirring regularly, for a further 10 minutes, until heated through.
- Serve the beef rib tinga topped with chopped coriander. Perfect on top of rice, or as a filling for tacos, tortas, or tostadas.
