This juicy and flavorful crockpot method makes having Birria tacos at home even easier! Cook the beef birria slow and low all day, then blend the cooking liquid into a rich and delicious consome! Fry up some Quesabirria tacos with shredded cheese, diced onion and fresh cilantro for the ultimate Taco Tuesday!
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My Birria Taco Story
My first encounter with the internet-famous Birra tacos was on an impromptu weekend trip with friends to check out the Mi Pueblito Tacos truck in Philly. When I said yes to heading downtown for some tacos, I never expected to wait in line for OVER 2 HOURS. But there was hype behind these tacos, and I was committed (and hungry) so I stuck it out.
As I dove head first into my crispy, beefy Quesabirria tacos while hunched over a Toyota Camry on a random street corner, it was love at first bite.
Birria Tacos are a part of Mexican cuisine to 100% try and treasure. And while they are certainly a labor of love, they are worth the time and effort, or a 2+ hour line wait.
What is Birria, anyway?
Birria (aka birria de res) tacos are in a class of their own. Made with juicy slow braised beef or goat meat, Birria is a rich and meaty dish.
To make the tacos, tortillas are dipped into the sauce the Birria meat cooks in, then filled with tender meat, cilantro and diced onions. The dipped tacos are then fried until crisp.
Adding cheese makes it a Quesabirria, which is my favorite way to enjoy the tacos. Cheese is life.
If you don't know how to make Birria tacos yet, this recipe is super easy to follow, and low key, thanks to the crockpot and blender.
An easy and flavorful Birria Tacos recipe you can make in the slow cooker!
For my version of this classic dish, you'll sear off your seasoned beef, then let it cook low and slow in your Crock Pot. Once the beef is cooked, take it out and shred it, and take blend what's left in the Crock Pot (with the exception of a few tough items we will discard).
Slow Cooker Birria: Cast of Characters
- Boneless beef chuck roast. A tried and true cut, with great marbling, it's one of the perfect cuts of meat for slow cooking. If you prefer another cut of beef, short ribs are a great option as well.
- Avocado oil, or another neutral oil.
- Salt and pepper, always. I fresh coarse ground for this recipe.
- Dried guajillo chiles. These flavorful (but not particularly spicy) dried chilis can be found at most grocery stores! If you can't find them in your local grocery store, you can also purchase them on Amazon. If you want to amp up the flavor of the chilies, you can dry toast them in a hot skillet for a few minutes prior to adding to the crockpot. There is no need to soak the chili peppers, since they will soften in the pot.
- A can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. You won't need the whole can, so save what's left in your freezer for later! They will keep in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
- A red onion, a bunch of fresh garlic cloves, and some fresh grated ginger.
- Beef stock or broth.
- Tomato paste. Same rule applied here for freezing as does for the chipotles!
- A can of fire roasted diced tomatoes.
- Organic apple cider vinegar. Organic is better tasting, and better for you. I store mine in the fridge.
- Dried spices: Cumin, Oregano (regular, or Mexican oregano), a Cinnamon stick, dried bay leaves, smoked paprika, and ground coriander.
- Corn tortillas, oaxaca cheese, fresh cilantro, and diced white onion, for the tacos.
- A bit of vegetable oil, to fry the tacos.
What goes into the Birria Tacos recipe?
The only real "Prep" prior to cooking the beef and sauce is searing the chuck roast. You'll season it well with coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper, and sear it on both sides until it's nice and crusty. This helps impart a depth of flavor to the consome (sauce).
After the meat is well browned, add it to the crockpot with the other ingredients, and cook the meat covered on low for 8 hours.
Making the Birria Consome
Once the meat is cooked and falling apart, remove it to a lipped baking sheet and shred it once its cool enough to handle.
Find and remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves from the slow cooker. Transfer the remaining ingredients and liquid to a high powered blender, and blend until smooth. Alternatively, if you've got an immersion blender, you can blend the sauce right in the crockpot!
Once the sauce is well blender, add some ladle by ladle to the meat until it is well coated in sauce. Reserve some consome for making the tacos/dipping!
How to make Birria Tacos
To make the beef birria tacos, you'll first dip the tortillas into the consome. Add the a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, and layer sauced beef birria, cilantro and diced onion on one side.
If doing a Quesabirria (birria queso tacos), add oaxaca cheese prior to the shredded meat. I also find that doubling up the tortillas helps with Quesabirria if using corn tortillas to make them more sturdy. Fry the tacos in a hot skillet until golden brown.
Serve hot with plenty of consome (dipping sauce) and limes.
What tortillas should I use for the beef birria?
You can use any tortillas you like for this Birria tacos recipe! I personally prefer white or yellow corn tortillas. The have more flavor, and also crisp up better than flour tortillas.
Got leftovers?
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. The leftovers from this recipe make for great Quesadillas and Empanadas!
Looking for more great Mexican-inspired dinner recipes?
Why not try my Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Casserole, Easy Crockpot Carnitas, Slow Cooker Chicken Pozole Verde, or Crockpot Shredded Beef and Smoked Gouda Enchiladas!
Crock Pot Birria Tacos Recipe
Equipment
- crockpot
- blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs boneless chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or neutral oil , (plus more for taco frying)
- coarse ground salt and fresh ground pepper
- 4 dried Guajillo chiles
- 5-6 Chipotle chilis in adobo (from a can)
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 8 whole cloves garlic, smashed
- 32 oz beef stock
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 14.5 oz can Fire roasted diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup organic Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 dry bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tsp ground coriander
Tacos/fixings
- corn or flour tortillas
- lime wedges
- fresh cilantro leaves
- diced white onion
- shredded Oaxacan cheese (or Italian cheese)
Instructions
- Cooking the Beef/Consome: 1. Heat avocado oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat for 4-5 minutes. 2. Liberally salt and pepper beef, add to hot skillet, and sear on both sides, 5-6 minutes a side. 3. Add beef to crockpot with remaining ingredients, and stir. Cook on low heat, covered, for 8 hours. 4. After 8 hours, remove beef to a rimmed baking sheet, and shred with 2 forks. 5. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick from crock pot and discard. 6. Using a high powered blender or immersion blender, blend everything until a smooth sauce forms. 7. Transfer sauce back to crockpot to keep warm. 8. Add 1 ½ to 2 cups of sauce to shredded beef and toss to coat. Tacos: 1. Dip doubled up tortilla into consome, and lay flat in frying pan with a bit of avocado oil or neutral oil over medium heat. 2. To one half of the tortilla, add cheese, then meat, and top with diced onions and cilantro leaves. 3. Fry 2-3 minutes over medium heat, then flip other side to make a half moon. 4. Add a small ladle of consume to the top of the tortilla. 5. Flip over, and fry 2-3 minutes more. **If not using cheese, 1 tortilla is fine.
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Lilly says
This Birria recipe is absolutely delicious!! I made it for my family yesterday and we all LOVED it! I followed the directions and used my Dutch oven instead of crockpot and placed it in the oven at 350 for 3 hours. It was so tender and full of flavor!! Thanks for the recipe!
AQ says
I never leave reviews for recipes I find online, but these turned out amazing so I had to! So easy to make and the aroma filled my house all day when it was cooking. My family couldn’t wait to eat dinner. Note: I used 4.25 lbs of chuck but kept the measurements for the rest of the ingredients the same, still came out great! Highly recommended.
Sharon Farnell says
So happy you and your family enjoyed! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Allie says
This was so good! I will be making this again. The sauce was more like a salsa than the thinner consume, I'm used to, but was still really tasty.
Sharon Farnell says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Donna says
DUDE!!! I had a huge piece of fatty beef coulotte I cut up and fried fat side down and the rest pretty much followed to a T. I added a few cubes of beef bullion. I used a dutch oven @ 350 for 3ish hours. Took out the meat, used an emulsifier to blend the sauce, and added water to make it soupier. WOW were these delicious fried with corn tortilla and mozzarella cheese.
Sharon Farnell says
Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed
Rachael says
Hi! I can’t wait to try this, I was just wondering if I needed to steep the chiles first?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Rachael! No need- they steep in the crockpot as it cooks!
Tara says
I’m so excited to try this! Do you chop the chiles first, or just toss them into the crockpot whole?
Sharon Farnell says
You can throw them in whole! If you want the sauce a bit less spicy, you can remove some or all of the seeds. Hope you enjoy, and would love to hear how it turns out!
Rachael says
Delicious! We have tried a few birria recipes and haven’t liked any. Finally found one we love! And it was easy to prepare. I love smelling yummy food cooking in the slow cooker, and this smelled divine.
Sharon Farnell says
Thank you so much! I am so happy you enjoyed it, and thanks for stopping by and leaving a review!!
Kiley says
My broth tastes very bitter… I haven’t blended it yet. But I’m worried. It tastes like a lot of vinegar… I feel like the broth usually has more of a sweet taste than mine. Did anyone else experience this problem?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Kiley- I wanted to check in and see how your sauce turned out once blended.
Mel W says
I used about a tbsp of vinegar and it was perfect
Sharon Farnell says
So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Hannah says
Can I cook this on high in my crockpot for a shorter amount of time?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi! Yes, you can do this on high for 4-5 hours instead. Just be sure to check the beef- it should be fork-tender and shreddable before you remove it and make the sauce.
Sharon Farnell says
I recently revisited this at a shorter time, and I would recommend cutting the meat into smaller pieces prior to searing, and going for 5-6 hours if cooking on high.
Hannah says
Can I cook this on high in my crockpot for a shorter amount of time?
Beth says
Hi - I have this in my slow cooker right now and am wondering if 8 hours will be too long. It's 2.57 lbs., I believe.
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Beth! It should be fine, provided you have the slow cooker on low! If you like, you can check for fork-tenderness around 6 hours. Please let me know how it turns out!
Rita F. says
These were so good, easy to follow instructions and the house smelled divine. Only part I didn't get was what to do with leftovers..what leftovers!
Cindy Peters says
Hey - I haven't ever used dried Guajillo chiles before. Do I need to rehydrate before adding to crock pot, or will they rehydrate during cooking? This looks like a great recipe. Thank you!
Sharon Farnell says
You don't need to re-hydrate them prior to cooking, they will hydrate in the crockpot! If you like things a bit less spicy, I would remove the seeds before adding to the pot.
I hope you enjoy, and I would love f you can leave a review once you try the recipe. Thanks!
Nicole says
Can’t wait to try! Jawns? You must be from Philly?
Sharon Farnell says
Hahaha, yep! Would love to hear what you think after you make it!
Nicole says
I’ll let you know! Go Phil’s and go birds today!
Hannah w says
This recipe turned out absolutely amazing! I couldn’t find full guajillo peppers in my area with out special ordering them but used ground dried guajillos and worked just the same! Whole family loved them! I’ll definitely be making these again!
Sharon Farnell says
So happy you enjoyed the recipe, Hannah! Thanks for stopping back to let me know 🙂
Samantha says
Omg , I was very worried if I had just put my entire kitchen into my crockpot and it would come out bad. ...oh no ma'am. I think my husband might marry me again. Even my 11 year old said it was the best thing I've cooked.
I do have a question for you though. There is a terribly excessive amount of consume left. Do you think if I added some broth, could I use it with another chuck?
(I will note that I have small kids so instead of 4 Guajillo chiles, I added 2 Guajillo and 2 Pasilla chiles and then just removed them after cooking instead of blending them)
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Samantha- I am so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed the recipe! If you have a lot of consume left, I think it would work well to cook another chuck in! You could either freeze or keep for a day or 2 in the fridge, If it doesn't look like a ton of liquid to submerge the seared beef in, I would add a touch more beef broth to the mix.
Bailey says
This was soooo spicy but so yummy lol. Definitely recommend taking the seeds out of the guajillo chiles before putting them in the crockpot. I don’t like spicy and the package said they were mild so i thought I could handle it but boy was I wrong lol. Flavor is amazing though
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Bailey, thanks for leaving a review! I'm sorry to hear it turned out a little too spicy, but I am glad you were able to enjoy it. I think taking the seeds out should do the trick!
Natalie says
Hi! I'm hoping to make these, but it's for a party. Will the meat be just as good in a taco without frying? It will be too hard to fry the tacos for the party, so I was planning on serving the consume as a dipping sauce for the tacos. Any tips for this?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi! The meat is just as great without frying! If making for a party, I would dish out some of the finished sauce into a smaller crockpot, and toss the meat in some of the finished sauce in a larger crockpot- then keep both on warm for guests. if you want, you can add a bit of water or additional stock to the sauce on warm to keep it from getting too thick. Serve with tacos shells or tortillas (flour or corn) and plenty of shredded cheese and some chopped onions and cilantro. Also, I wanted to mention- if any of your guests are spice-averse, you may want to remove some of the seeds from the dried chilis to make the tacos a little more mild, and serve with hot sauce for guests who like a bit more spice. Hope that helps, and please let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Chris says
Hi, do I need to strain any of the blended ingredients so it’s not too thick?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Chris,
This recipe's sauce tends to come out thicker than a standard Birria, so if you are wanting a thinner consome, I would strain out about half before blending,
Kay says
Do I need to chop the stems off of the peppers begore blending?
Sharon Farnell says
You can pop them off right before blending, yes!
Andy says
Hi! Can I cook on high for 4 hours instead on low for 8 hours?
Sharon Farnell says
I would aim for 5-6 hours on high to make sure the meat is tender!
Elaf says
Hi! I don’t have access to any Guajillo chiles nor chipotle chilis in adobo . I have the chipotle sauce / dried habanero peppers/ fresh jalapeños. Any recommendations as to how to substitute them. Thank you!!!
Sharon Farnell says
Hi! The Guajillo chiles and chipotle chilis in adobo are a big part of what gives the birria it's flavor and smokiness. If you're chipotle sauce is bottled/like hot sauce, that may help a bit. I fear the jalapenos and habeneros will add a lot of heat, and not much else- so I wouldn't recommend using those. Do you have any dry chili powder or dry ancho chili powder?
Elaf says
Thank you for your prompt reply! I do have dry chilli powder and ancho powder. So you’d reccomend I put that? I also have liquid smoke if you believe that would help with the smokey flavor.. thank you!
Elizabeth says
This recipe turned out delicious! My four year old even asked for seconds. Fork tender and great depth of flavor. We topped with pickled red onions and avocado. Looking forward to adding this recipe to our rotation.
Sharon Farnell says
I am so happy to hear this, Elizabeth! The topping sound great! Thanks for stopping back to let me know 🙂
Abbey T says
I have a 1 year old who is my harshest critic and he asked for ?? (more) twice! So did my husband. Everything about this meal was a hit. It was easy to prep before work and finish when getting home. My husband asked for this to be on the weekly rotation<3
Sharon Farnell says
Thanks so much, Abbey! I am so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed- and I take a high honor in your harshest critic's approval! 🙂
Casey says
Hello I plan to make this tomorrow morning but could I prep all the liquids overnight and just pop the meat in the next morning?
Sharon Farnell says
Sorry for the late reply. I have not in the past, but I think it would be fine.
Anna says
Wanting to make these for a party! Is there a rough estimate for how many tacos this makes?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Anna! The serving is 3 tacos, so I would say it makes anywhere from 24-30 tacos, if you're using smaller or fajita size tortillas.
Kirsten says
I've never left a review on a Pinterest recipe in my life, but this was amazing. I'm a chef and currently working at a Mexican joint and this was great! Kudos kudos kudos! I sped up the process by using my dutch in the oven but gurl, amazing!
Sharon Farnell says
Thank you so much, Kirsten!! 🙂
Anne Grasmick says
This sounds dumb but the recipe says to blend everything. Do you mean you blend the meat with the sauce? This can’t be right, correct?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Anne, you pull the meat and shred it, then blend everything but the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.Then you add a 1 1/2 -2 cups of sauce to the meat and toss, and use the rest for dipping/frying the tacos!
Al Cuevas says
I made this the other night for my family (wife & 2 teenage kids). I made a little over 4 pounds of chuck roast and it was such a hit. This might be my new signature dish it was so good!!
Thank you
Sharon Farnell says
Thank you so much, Al! So happy you and yor family enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Aman says
Can I cook this for 10-12 hours on low instead of 8? I'd like to start it around 10pm at night, and take it out around 8am the next morning. I plan on not cooking the tacos until 11am, so if I can leave it on even longer, that would be great.
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Aman. While I have not cooked it that long previously, my guess would be it should be OK. I'd try and keep it closer to 10 hours if possible. Chuck roast is pretty forgiving, but you don't want to dry it out too much.
Laura says
Absolutely delicious. The kind of authentic Mexican that you rarely find! I used about 3lb of boneless chuck roast and have probably 3 cups of consomme leftover even after dipping the tortillas and using extra sauce on top of the tacos.. Any ideas of what else I could use it for? Wonder if I could make it again using the reserved consomme?
Sharon Farnell says
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed it! You could used it again to make more tacos, or quesadillas (https://jawnsicooked.com/appetizers/birria-quesadillas/), or even empanadas!
Rita says
Can I use pork shoulder instead of chuck roast?
Sharon Farnell says
This recipe is designed for beef flavors, but I feel like it could work if you'd like to give it a try. I would trim off as much excess fat as possible.
Marjorie Holste says
This is fabulous! I followed the instructions and am very pleased with the recipe.🙏🏻
Sharon Farnell says
Thanks, Marjorie! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Tara says
Hello…I am making these for a party. Once I fry them, could I keep them warm in the crockpot?
Sharon Farnell says
If you want to fry them advance for the party, I would keep them warm in the oven on a low temperature for up to 1-2 hours. If going longer, I would recommend wrapping them in foil so they don't dry out.