Beef Birria Tacos (Bachelor Week)

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xray

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Mar 11, 2015
4,747
3,268
Northeast PA
Went out with a bang for Bachelor Week 2019. The last big meal I had planned was Beef Birria Tacos. These are traditionally made with goat meat. I don't have a goat, so beef it is. I recently saw an article about taco food trucks and one of the tacos featured was birria tacos de res with consomme (broth). So I decided to recreate it. This recipe is from a collection of recipes on the net. This came out pretty freakin' good! and it wasn't really all that hard to make.

Warning: Pic heavy

Beef Birria Tacos

Ingredients:
Beef chuck roast (this was 3.5lbs)
Soup bone/shank (found this reduced for sale paid $2. A cut with a bone is recommended when making the broth)

For the marinade:
6 dried Guajillo chiles
4 dried Ancho chiles
5 dried Arbol chiles
4 dried New Mexico chiles
5 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 of a white onion
3 cups of hot water
3T apple cider vinegar
1T kosher salt
3 beef bouillon cubes
15 black pepper corns
15 dried allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1t dried oregano
1/2t cumin seed
1/4t thyme
1/4t ground ginger
1/4t ground marjoram
Piece of a cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper

To finish the broth:
Water
3 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 of white onion
5 Roma tomatoes, roasted and skins removed
1/2c. stock (beef, vegetable or chicken)
1t dried oregano
Salt to taste

First, season your meat with salt and pepper and set aside. I cut my chuck roast into thirds:
IMG_3434.jpg


Toast your whole spices (peppercorns, cumin, allspice, cloves, cinnamon) in a pan until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove and gather remaining spices:
IMG_3435.jpg


Here's the dried chiles being used today. Place them on a cookie sheet into a 350F oven and toast for 8 minutes turning once. Once done remove stems and de-seed:
IMG_3429.jpg


Once dried chiles are toasted and cleaned, put in a bowl and add 3 cups of hot water and 3T of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10-20 minutes until chiles are soft. I threw my 1T of salt in at this point:
IMG_3433.jpg


While chiles are soaking. Lightly fry 5 whole garlic cloves and 1/2 of a white onion roughly chopped in 1T of oil. These will be blended so no need to finely dice. Once finished, add your onions, garlic, spices and chiles along with the soaking water into a blender. Blend until smooth:
IMG_3436.jpg


Place meat in a large bowl and add sauce to coat. Refrigerate, covered overnight:
IMG_3437.jpg


The next day, add blended sauce and meat into a large stockpot. Add 1/2 of a white onion, 3 garlic cloves and 4 bay leaves. Add water to cover meat (I used 8 cups). Cover stockpot with a lid and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add more water if necessary. Turn down heat to low and simmer. Plan for about 3-4 hours. Simmer until meat is tender:
IMG_3438.jpg


Once meat is tender, remove and shred when able. Pick out pieces of fat. Cover with foil and keep warm:
IMG_3443.jpg


Remove broth from heat and strain through a colander. Return strained broth to stockpot and skim off surface fat. Meanwhile, halve 5 roma tomatoes and broil/roast/grill until skins are charred. Remove skins and blend with 1/2 cup of vegetable, beef or chicken stock: I used "Better than bouillon" Vegetable.
IMG_3442.jpg


Add tomato mixture to broth and heat on low. Add 1t dried oregano and more salt and "better than bouillon" to taste. Taste for saltiness. I used 1/2T of salt and a spoonful of the bouillon base. Season to your desired preferences.

Assembling the Tacos.

The fixins: chopped white onion and cilantro:
IMG_3444.jpg


Add some of the broth to a plate, and quickly dip corn tortillas into the plate to coat. Fry tortillas in a hot pain until somewhat crispy:
IMG_3445.jpg


Fold over tortillas so they hold their shape. I did this because I will be using the broth to dip the birria tacos in:
IMG_3447.jpg


TIME TO EAT! FINISHED PICS

Tacos were garnished with queso fresco, cilantro and onion and chile de arbol sauce, squeeze lime juice over tacos if desired. Garnish consomme(broth) with onion and cilantro. Note:
This could be eaten as a soup, just add the beef.
IMG_3448.jpg

IMG_3449.jpg


Ah, here's the reason why I bothered to get out of bed today. Delicious!
IMG_3457.jpg


Well, I must say what a fitting end to Bachelor Week! These were damn tasty!! I'll eat some leftovers as a soup tomorrow and then I will freeze the broth and beef to enjoy Birria Tacos at a later time...most notably when the wife returns.

I must say, it's been a pretty epic week. Thanks for looking!

Joe

It's back to the grind on Saturday. Here's the previous threads from Bachelor Week:

Hasselback Potato Gratin w/ Tuna Patties
Guajillo Shrimp Tacos w/ Chile de Arbol sauce
Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp w/ next day Grit Cakes
 
Man that looks amazing! Im a big taco fan! Those are 100% legit! Nice job!
 
Wow, great post! The recipe and finished Tacos look amazing. I love the flavor of Goat and can see why its suggested here...JJ
 
Great food, wonderful post and terrific pictures. Other than that, this doesn't have much going for it. Big like!
 
Joe That looks Awesome!! Way to much work for this ole pile of bones. Points
Richie
 
Wow! Those tacos look amazing. I don't think I could find all those peppers around here but I'm sure I could make something work. I cant believe this isn't riding the carousel along with your other posts! Nice job and fitting end to the bachelor week!
 
You just won't find anything that looks this good at a Mexican Joint. Bet it tasted better than it looks!

Thanks Hawg! Yeah this definitely stands up to the Mexican flair we get around here. Not too many good options here.

Man that looks amazing! Im a big taco fan! Those are 100% legit! Nice job!

Thank you sowsage, these turned out pretty tasty. Dipping them in the consomme really takes them over the top. I like making tacos because they come together pretty quickly. Most of the work for this was done in the beginning making the sauce. Other than that, it's just waiting on it to do its thing on the stove.

WOW! Perfect bachelor week grub. LIKE!

Thank you! Being off really let me take time in the kitchen to make some good food.
 
Wow, great post! The recipe and finished Tacos look amazing. I love the flavor of Goat and can see why its suggested here...JJ

Thank you JJ for the kind words, there is no higher praise than you liking something I've made.

Great food, wonderful post and terrific pictures. Other than that, this doesn't have much going for it. Big like!

Thanks for the like Disco, I really appreciate it!
 
Joe That looks Awesome!! Way to much work for this ole pile of bones. Points
Richie

Thank you Richie!! I appreciate it. I guess it all comes down to how much work you're willing to put into a dish. Most of the work was making the sauce. Everything after that was just waiting.

Awesome post!
It would take me a week to round up all those spices!
Al

Thanks Al! I had pretty much all of the spices on hand. A good way to use up some of the ones I don't use all that much. I just bought the allspice earlier this week to make some Boilo.
 
Wow! Those tacos look amazing. I don't think I could find all those peppers around here but I'm sure I could make something work. I cant believe this isn't riding the carousel along with your other posts! Nice job and fitting end to the bachelor week!

Thanks for the kind words, John! I appreciate it.

The dried chiles are pretty plentiful around here. I use the Badia brand that come in the bag. A bag cost $2.99. What you see is pretty much all the varieties I have access to. My local Wegmans has some lesser known ones around here like Moritas and Japones.

I bought a big bag of anchos off of amazon. They have lasted me almost 2 years. I keep all my dried chiles in the freezer and pull out what I need. They still toast and reconstitue well.

Thanks again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chef jimmyj
Gorgeous Joe...just gorgeous. That's one of the most beautiful presentations I've seen here and IMHO very carousel worthy!! I have all the spices needed and the peppers are readily available at Wal Mart believe it or not. One day soon, when we have a nasty, cold day here in Central Texas I am going to be making these. It is bookmarked and readily available based on the weather forecast. This just looks like it may take more than an hour or two in an evening to toss together :emoji_laughing:

Wow! Those tacos look amazing. I don't think I could find all those peppers around here but I'm sure I could make something work.

John...if you can't find the peppers, shoot me a PM. They are 15 minutes from here and I am through that part of town almost every day. I can stop and grab them for you. Since they are dried they'd ship just fine.

Sharing the love,
Robert
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmokinVOLfan
Just some info. I have purchased Whole Dried Chiles from the site below for a few years now. Most of the Chiles I have purchased were fresh, aromatic and leathery, not crumbly and dried out...JJ
 
  • Like
Reactions: xray
Leftover consomme and beef, topped with chopped cilantro, onion and also chopped cabbage. Served with warm folded corn tortillas. Very filling! I couldn't finish this bowl.
IMG_3482.jpg
 
Went out with a bang for Bachelor Week 2019. The last big meal I had planned was Beef Birria Tacos. These are traditionally made with goat meat. I don't have a goat, so beef it is. I recently saw an article about taco food trucks and one of the tacos featured was birria tacos de res with consomme (broth). So I decided to recreate it. This recipe is from a collection of recipes on the net. This came out pretty freakin' good! and it wasn't really all that hard to make.

Warning: Pic heavy

Beef Birria Tacos

Ingredients:
Beef chuck roast (this was 3.5lbs)
Soup bone/shank (found this reduced for sale paid $2. A cut with a bone is recommended when making the broth)

For the marinade:
6 dried Guajillo chiles
4 dried Ancho chiles
5 dried Arbol chiles
4 dried New Mexico chiles
5 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 of a white onion
3 cups of hot water
3T apple cider vinegar
1T kosher salt
3 beef bouillon cubes
15 black pepper corns
15 dried allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1t dried oregano
1/2t cumin seed
1/4t thyme
1/4t ground ginger
1/4t ground marjoram
Piece of a cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper

To finish the broth:
Water
3 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 of white onion
5 Roma tomatoes, roasted and skins removed
1/2c. stock (beef, vegetable or chicken)
1t dried oregano
Salt to taste

First, season your meat with salt and pepper and set aside. I cut my chuck roast into thirds:
View attachment 411638

Toast your whole spices (peppercorns, cumin, allspice, cloves, cinnamon) in a pan until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove and gather remaining spices:
View attachment 411639

Here's the dried chiles being used today. Place them on a cookie sheet into a 350F oven and toast for 8 minutes turning once. Once done remove stems and de-seed:
View attachment 411635

Once dried chiles are toasted and cleaned, put in a bowl and add 3 cups of hot water and 3T of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10-20 minutes until chiles are soft. I threw my 1T of salt in at this point:
View attachment 411637

While chiles are soaking. Lightly fry 5 whole garlic cloves and 1/2 of a white onion roughly chopped in 1T of oil. These will be blended so no need to finely dice. Once finished, add your onions, garlic, spices and chiles along with the soaking water into a blender. Blend until smooth:
View attachment 411640

Place meat in a large bowl and add sauce to coat. Refrigerate, covered overnight:
View attachment 411641

The next day, add blended sauce and meat into a large stockpot. Add 1/2 of a white onion, 3 garlic cloves and 4 bay leaves. Add water to cover meat (I used 8 cups). Cover stockpot with a lid and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add more water if necessary. Turn down heat to low and simmer. Plan for about 3-4 hours. Simmer until meat is tender:
View attachment 411650

Once meat is tender, remove and shred when able. Pick out pieces of fat. Cover with foil and keep warm:
View attachment 411642

Remove broth from heat and strain through a colander. Return strained broth to stockpot and skim off surface fat. Meanwhile, halve 5 roma tomatoes and broil/roast/grill until skins are charred. Remove skins and blend with 1/2 cup of vegetable, beef or chicken stock: I used "Better than bouillon" Vegetable.
View attachment 411651

Add tomato mixture to broth and heat on low. Add 1t dried oregano and more salt and "better than bouillon" to taste. Taste for saltiness. I used 1/2T of salt and a spoonful of the bouillon base. Season to your desired preferences.

Assembling the Tacos.

The fixins: chopped white onion and cilantro:
View attachment 411643

Add some of the broth to a plate, and quickly dip corn tortillas into the plate to coat. Fry tortillas in a hot pain until somewhat crispy:
View attachment 411644

Fold over tortillas so they hold their shape. I did this because I will be using the broth to dip the birria tacos in:
View attachment 411645

TIME TO EAT! FINISHED PICS

Tacos were garnished with queso fresco, cilantro and onion and chile de arbol sauce, squeeze lime juice over tacos if desired. Garnish consomme(broth) with onion and cilantro. Note:
This could be eaten as a soup, just add the beef.
View attachment 411646
View attachment 411647

Ah, here's the reason why I bothered to get out of bed today. Delicious!
View attachment 411648

Well, I must say what a fitting end to Bachelor Week! These were damn tasty!! I'll eat some leftovers as a soup tomorrow and then I will freeze the broth and beef to enjoy Birria Tacos at a later time...most notably when the wife returns.

I must say, it's been a pretty epic week. Thanks for looking!

Joe

It's back to the grind on Saturday. Here's the previous threads from Bachelor Week:

Hasselback Potato Gratin w/ Tuna Patties
Guajillo Shrimp Tacos w/ Chile de Arbol sauce
Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp w/ next day Grit Cakes
Dang Joe,
you've been banging the great eats out, home runs all the the way.
The tacos look fantastic!
Like!

Your recipe is a good one as it includes certain herbs and spices that without which it would just be thin chile or guisado.

I find your end method interesting, as I've always had Birria as a thin stew or thick soup with the cubed or shredded meat in the sauce even when served in tacos.
 
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