Birria tacos topped the charts as a food trend and became a taco truck staple after capturing the hearts and tastebuds of many.
Try your hand at making these saucy, savory, rich bundles of soupy joy. Enjoy the base recipe as a hearty soup, dish them out into tacos, or enjoy them with melted cheese on top for a “queso birria” spin on this incredible dish.
Ingredients for the birria de res:
2-3 lbs. beef chuck roast (cut into chunks)
1 tablespoon Field Day® organic olive oil
½ tablespoon salt (or to taste), plus more to season meat
8 dried Soli Gourmet guajillo chilies
6 dried Soli Gourmet ancho chilies
4 organic roma tomatoes
½ organic white onion
6 organic cloves garlic
1 4-inch cinnamon stick (from our bulk section)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (from our bulk section)
½ tsp organic lime zest
3 bay leaves (from our bulk section)
½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to season meat
1 teaspoon ground cumin (from our bulk section)
½ teaspoon Simply Organic® ground cloves
2 cups Field Day® beef broth
Water as needed
Ingredients for the tacos:
La Tortilla Factory™ corn tortillas
½ cup organic cilantro
½ organic white onion
Organic Limes
Instructions:
First, rehydrate your chilies. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add your dried peppers and remove the pot from heat. Allow it to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.
While your peppers are soaking, you can cube your chuck roast. Once cubed, season generously with salt and pepper.
When your peppers are done soaking, cut the stems off. Cut them lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Set them aside.
In a large oven-safe pot or dutch oven, heat your olive oil. If you don’t have an oven-safe pot, we have instructions for boiling the birria later on the recipe.
Sear your meat in the pot until browned. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pot. Once you’ve seared all the meat, return it to the pot and set it aside.
In another medium pot, add both your chilies, tomatoes, ½ onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and pepper. Cover with water and bring to a rolling boil. Then bring the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer the solid contents of the medium pot to a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid, your white vinegar, beef broth, oregano, garlic, cumin, cloves, and lime zest. Blend until smooth. You may need to blend in batches if your blender or food processor isn’t large enough.
Strain the blended mixture through a sieve, directly into the pot with your seared meat. Toss any solids left in the sieve. Stir to incorporate everything.
Preheat your oven to 300°F, if you will be finishing your birria in the oven.
Put your pot of meat and broth on the stove and bring it to a boil.
If you are finishing your birria in the oven, cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender.
If you are finishing your birria on the stove, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for 3 to 3 ½ hours or until the beef is tender.
Once the beef has been cooked to tender, remove it from the pot and shred it. Put it back into the pot and stir to combine.
Now it’s time to prepare your tacos and toppings. Warm your corn tortillas. Dice your white onions and cilantro. Slice your lime wedges.
Serve as tacos by straining out the meat from the birria, with a cup of the consommé on the side for dipping. It’s especially good when you spoon a little of the consommé onto the taco before adding the meat. You may also enjoy it as a soup by itself, if desired.
-Delaney Blomstrom
