Wonderfully smoky with a crispy tortilla exterior, these tacos de birria are the greatest Mexican street food to have ever existed. Dunked into a spiced consomé, they’re super juicy and just the right bit of spicy. Topped with cilantro and onions, these Birria Tacos are the best shredded-beef tacos ever!
Easy Homemade Birria Tacos
Crispy on the outside but wonderfully soupy on the inside, these tacos de birria are what your street food cravings were missing. With tender shredded beef simmered for hours in a spicy chile sauce, a bit of melty cheese is all these tacos need to become your new favorites.
Dunked into a rich, wholesome broth for juiciness, you’ll understand the newfound craze behind Birria the moment you bite into these tacos. Topped with diced onion and radishes for extra crunch, every bite is like taking a trip down to Mexico without leaving your kitchen.
Whether you make these with corn or flour tortillas, they’ll be absolutely irresistible between the beef’s tenderness and smokiness. No matter how large the birria pot is, it’ll be gone within an hour if these tacos are on the menu.
If you love these Mexican tacos, also check out these amazing Carne Asada Tacos!
What’s The Difference Between Regular Tacos and Birria Tacos?
Although there are different kinds of tacos, the meat in most is cooked on the grill. Birria, on the other hand, is made by simmering the meat for hours in a chile and tomato-based sauce. Once it’s tender, it’s shredded and served in corn tortillas. It’s a very soupy taco, but that’s a good thing because the sauce is loaded with flavor.
What Do Birria Tacos Taste Like?
Birria tacos are like spicy and smoky BBQ pulled pork, except they’re made with beef. With crispy tortillas, they’re also a bit like nachos or crunchy taquitos. Dunked in additional consomé, it’s like drizzling a very smoky and spicy chili-oil type of salsa over them.
Recipe Ingredients
With 5 ingredients, these are a quick meal perfect for using up leftovers. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact ingredient amounts.
- Corn Tortillas: These make the best tacos, but you can also use flour tortillas.
- Birria: You will need a batch of Birria to make these homemade Birria Tacos. You will use the cooked meat, the grease from the pot and the juice to dip your tacos in!
- Birria Grease: Please don’t substitute it for vegetable shortening or vegetable oil. They’re not tacos de birria without birria grease.
- Shredded Birria
- Birria Broth: This is also referred to as “consomé.”
- Chihuahua Cheese: Mozzarella, Oaxaca, Monterey Jack, pepper Jack, Muenster, and even Mexican cheese blends will all also work.
Beef Birria Taco Toppings
These are the most common toppings for birria tacos:
- Diced Onion: Red or white, your choice!
- Chopped Cilantro
- Avocado: Or how about some Authentic Guacamole.
- Salsa: Or some homemade Pico De Gallo is always great too!
- Radishes: Sliced nice and thin or even use pickled radishes!
- Mexican Crema: Or you can thin out some sour cream with a little water to make it more similar in texture to Mexican Crema.
How to Make Birria Tacos
Ready in 3 simple steps, they’ll be done by the time you finish reading this post.
- Dip the tortillas. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Dip the tortillas in warm birria grease. It needs to be warm so it can coat them like a liquid. Extend them in the pan. You may have to work in batches because the tortillas shouldn’t overlap.
- Assemble them. Add cheese and birria meat to taste on half of each tortilla. Fold the tortillas in half, like quesadillas. Cook them for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they’re crispy to taste.
- Serve. Top the tacos de birria with diced onion, cilantro, radishes, and crema. Serve and enjoy.
Tips & Variations
These simple tips and variations will help you make the best tacos de birria on your block.
- Change the chile. Just like there is a black “pastor” marinade, make a similarly smoky and blackened birria by swapping half of the guajillos for chile ancho.
- Use leftover turkey. Use any leftover consomé to simmer leftover shredded turkey for a quick, festive kind of birria.
- Don’t add too much filling. Don’t go overboard with the cheese and birria meat. If your birria tacos won’t stay closed when grilling, then you’ve added too much filling.
- Remove excess moisture. If your birria meat still has a lot of consomé, squeeze some of the excess moisture out to make your tacos extra crispy.
- Make tacos al vapor. Place the tacos de birria in a steamer basket and steam them for 3-4 minutes or until extremely soft. Just like that you’ve made a different but very delicious Mexican taco.
What To Serve with Tacos de Birria
Believe it or not, tacos de birria are usually considered a breakfast food. You don’t normally find them after 1:00 pm, but you can go ahead and enjoy them for lunch or dinner because it’s your kitchen.
They’re often served with frijoles charros, frijoles de la olla, or a bowl consomé (birria broth). It’s also very common to dunk the tacos in the consomé for an extra juicy bite! A side of refried beans, Mexican rice, or guacamole with tortilla chips is great too.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
These tacos are really best served fresh! However, you can refrigerate any cooled leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat them on the grill over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until warm and crispy. You can also heat them in the air fryer at 400°F for 2-3 minutes.
More Easy Mexican Recipes
- Chilaquiles Verdes
- Fresh Huevos Rancheros
- Calabacitas Recipe (Mexican Squash)
- The Best Carne Asada
- Chicken Tinga (Tinga de Pollo)
- Pork Pozole Verde
- Chorizo and Eggs
- Chile Rellenos in Cream Sauce (Rajas Con Crema)
Birria Tacos
Ingredients
For the Tacos
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 cup Birria grease
- 1 cup Birria meat and broth
- 2 cups shredded Chihuahua cheese
Optional Toppings
- ½ cup diced white onion
- 3 radishes, chopped or sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup Mexican cream, or sour cream
Instructions
- Heat a nonstick pan, then dip a tortilla in the birria grease, covering both sides. Add to the hot pan.
- Add a couple tablespoons of cheese and birria meat to one side of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half and cook each side for 2 to 3 minutes until good and crispy. Repeat till all the tortillas are made.
- Serve tacos with diced onion, radishes, cilantro, Mexican cream, and birria broth to dunk in, if desired!
Notes
Nutrition
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