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Beef Birria is a dark, rich beef stew with meltingly tender pieces of meat coated in an almost sticky chilli adobo. It’ll enslave you!
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Table of contents
- What is Birria?
- Is Birria easy to Make at Home?
- What meat to use for Birria?
- What Chillies to use?
- How to eat Birria?
- What to do with Leftover Birria
- More Latin American Recipes
What is Birria?
As mentioned above, it’s a beef stew. It hails from Mexico, from the state of Jalisco. Traditionally, it was made with goat or mutton, but these days, beef is the more commonly used meats.
Birria is served with generous toppings or sides of onions, fresh coriander leaves, lime juice, radishes and even some salsa.
Is Birria easy to Make at Home?
Yes, it is, but because the meat is traditionally marinated overnight in the homemade chilli adobo (sauce), it may be considered time consuming by some.
In these days, of 15-minute minute meals and instant pots, anything longer than an hour seems to be time consuming!
I don’t own an instant pot and have no desire to get one, but if you do, than Birria can be made in an instant pot too. All you have to do is follow the instructions for cooking beef stew.
And likewise, you can also make birria in a slow cooker.
These are the steps involved:
- Prepare the chilli adobo (sauce), takes about 30 minutes, including soaking time of 20 minutes.
- Brown the meat.
- Pour the adobo all over the meat and leave to marinate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
- Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, a clove and peppercorns, then cook in the oven for 4 hours.
What meat to use for Birria?
You can use beef or lamb, or goat, as was traditional. Whatever you get, make sure that it’s on the bone. This should be the case for any (slow cooked) stew or curry that you are making.
Any cut of beef for slow cooking will be great in this. I am a huge fan of ribs and shanks.
The bone lends depth to your gravy or curry, something that cannot be replicated when you are using boneless meat.
Once the Birria is done cooking, take the meat out and shred it. If you are serving it with tacos, keep your meat aside to top them with.
What Chillies to use?
You can use whatever dried Mexican chillies you can get your hands on. Depending on what you use, your Birria can turn out deliciously mild, spicy or smoky.
I am not a fan of spicy Birria, as I prefer to add the spice when I’m eating, so I tend to go for the mild chillies. Here, in this recipe, I’m using anchos and cascabels, both available to me from Ocado, the guys who deliver my groceries.
I have so many chipotle recipes on LinsFood, because I just love chipotle chillies. However, I long ago decided that I wasn’t a massive fan of smoky in Birria. So I don’t use them, but if you do want to, by all means, give a go.
How to eat Birria?
Honestly, eat Birria or serve Birria any which way you like!
- as a consommé (light soup) with the meat shredded and added in. This can even be served with rice
- top tacos with it, then drizzle some sauce over, with cheese, onions, lime juice and salsa
- to fill tamales, with some birria consommé on the side to dip into
- add to noodles (apparently, birria ramen is a social media thing)
- top pizza with it, with a liberal dose of the chilli adobo
So really, any which way you want! Just be sure to have lots of onions (red or brown), lots of coriander leaves (cilantro) and lime juice. I also love adding some fresh mango to the mix when serving with tortillas.
What to do with Leftover Birria
When I make birria, it lasts 3 days (in the fridge). Oh yes, it’s great the next day, and birria can also be frozen.
On the first day, I serve birria with rice, with the usual accompaniments, along with some fresh green chillies.
On the second day, we have it for lunch or dinner, as a topping for tacos, with a liberal dose of cheese. Well, these days, I’m the only one who has it, because the kids went vegetarian some years ago!
Then on the third day, it becomes pizza topping, sandwich filling, stir fry ingredient and my personal favourite, dropped into noodles, like the aforementioned birria ramen.
Fancy cooking up some Birria along with me?
Let’s get our aprons on!
More Latin American Recipes
If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating!Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Beef Birria Recipe (Birria de Res)
Beef Birria recipe, a dark, rich Mexican beef stew cooked in a mild chilli adobo, eaten with tacos, rice or any which way you like!
5 from 12 votes
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Course: Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: beef, birria, stew
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Marinade Time: 1 day day
Total Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 478kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor
Equipment
oven (can also be cooked on the stovetop)
medium or large frying pan
bowls as required
ladles and spoons
blender or chopper
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef ribs
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 2 cloves
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- water to top up before cooking
Birria Chilli Adobo (Birria Sauce)
- 6 ancho chillies
- 6 cascabel chillies
- boiling water, enough to cover the chillies
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano or regular
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ clear vinegar
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
To Serve
- 1 large brown or red onion sliced thinly
- 1 small handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 3 limes cut into wedges
- 6 radishes sliced
Instructions
DAY 1
Make the Birria Chilli Adobo
PREP THE CHILLIES FIRST. Cut the anchos into 2-3 pieces.
Heat a medium sized frying pan on medium-low heat and dry roast the chillies for 2-3 minutes. Don't burn them, as your birria will end up bitter. Toss your chillies every now and then to brown evenly.
Drop them into a roomy bowl and pour a generous amount of boiling water all over. Cover with a plate and leave to soak for 20 minutes.
PREP THE DRY SPICES & GARLIC. While the chillies are soaking, dry fry the cumin seeds, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and sesame seeds in the same frying pan on medium-low heat for 3 minutes, tossing frequently.
Tip out onto a plate or add straight to your spice mill (or blender). I like to grind the dried spices and bay leaves in a spice mill into a powder before adding to the blender to make the birria adobo. But if you don't have a spice mill, or can't be bothered, add straight to your blender.
Finally, dry fry the garlic cloves in the same pan. We want to char it slightly. Do this for 2 minutes, until you get brown spots on the garlic. Tip into the blender (NOT the spice mill).
MAKE THE ADOBO. Drain the chillies, reserving the soaking liquid (you'll only need a little. Place the chillies in your blender. Follow this with everything else: the dried spices, bay leaves (whether you ground them earlier or not), garlic, salt, clear vinegar, balsamic vinegar.
Blend everything until you get a fairly smooth paste. Add some of the soaking liquid if you need it.
Brown and Marinate the Meat
Season the beef ribs with salt and pepper. Then brown them in a large frying pan on medium-high heat, in a single layer. Don't overcrowd. Do this for 2-3 minutes each side. You'll find this will render some of the fat on the ribs, which will add flavour to our birria. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish or dutch oven. Repeat with the rest of the ribs.
Now pour the chilli adobo all over the browned ribs (or whatever meat you are using), and stir with a wooden spoon to coat all the ribs. Cover, and place in the fridge to marinate overnight. Or 2 hours at the very least.
The Next Day (Day 2)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Fan 160°C).
Top the adobo-covered beef with everything else: quartered onion, garlic and bay leaves.
Add water along the inner side of the saucepan until the liquid comes up to about 1 inch above the meat. Don't "rinse" and wash away the adobo off the meat.
Place your casserole dish containing the marinating beef into the oven and cook for 4 hours. Make sure that your dish is covered, with a lid or foil. I covered my copper pan with foil as the lid is glass.
I usually take the lid off for the last hour, to allow the sauce to thicken, as I like it thick when eaten with rice. I shall leave this up to you. And if you want the sauce much lighter, you can always add some water.
When done, top with some freshly ground black pepper, stir in 1 Tbsp of lime juice and check the seasoning. Add more salt if you think it needs it. Leave to rest, covered for 10 minutes before serving. Serve as described in the post above.
On the Stove Top
Instead of placing in the oven, you can cook your birria on the stove top. Bring it to a boil then lower the heat right down, cover and cook for 2½-3 hours, until the meat is soft and falling of the ribs.
Nutrition
Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 1869mg | Fiber: 22g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 18623IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 8mg
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