Description
Mexican birria de res is a hearty slow-cooked beef stew in a rich chile consommé that you can serve in bowls or use as the filling for crispy birria tacos.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 3-inch chunks
- 10 guajillo chiles
- 5 ancho chilies
- 3 arbol chilies
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1 white onion, quartered
- 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 bay leaves
- Optional: chopped onion, cilantro, and lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Slice the stems off the guajillo, ancho, and arbol chilies, shake out the seeds, and rinse them to remove any dust.
- Add the cleaned chilies to a medium pot, cover completely with water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the chilies have softened.
- Add the Roma tomatoes, quartered onion, and unpeeled garlic cloves to a sheet pan and broil for 4 to 6 minutes, until lightly charred.
- Transfer the softened chilies and 1 cup of their cooking liquid to a high-powered blender.
- Peel the garlic cloves and add them to the blender along with the broiled tomatoes, onion, beef broth, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, Mexican oregano, ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Blend on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until the birria sauce is completely smooth.
- Place the beef chuck roast chunks in the slow cooker.
- Pour the blended birria sauce over the beef and add the bay leaves, then use tongs to gently mix everything together.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is very tender and shreds easily with a fork.
- Discard the bay leaves, transfer the beef to a cutting board, and shred it with two forks.
- Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir it into the cooking liquid to form a rich consommé.
- Serve the birria in bowls with plenty of consommé and garnish with chopped onion, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges, or use the meat and consommé to make birria tacos.
Notes
- Serve the birria as a stew in bowls or use the meat as a filling for birria tacos, quesadillas, or burrito bowls.
- Always garnish with chopped onion, cilantro, and fresh lime to balance the rich chile consommé.
- Store leftovers in the fridge covered with enough consommé to keep the meat juicy when reheated.
- Use leftover consommé as a dipping sauce for birria tacos or freeze it for another batch of slow cooker birria.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 480
- Sugar: 4
- Sodium: 730
- Fat: 28
- Saturated Fat: 12
- Unsaturated Fat: 14
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 10
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 42
- Cholesterol: 135