cooking/recipes/mexican/birria/birria.md

title	slug	date	lastUpdated	category	tags	cookTime	prepTime	servings	author	description	featured	display	displayPhoto
Birria	birria	2026-02-10	2026-02-10	meat	meat	210	20	10	jake	A rich and flavorful Mexican stew that can be enjoyed as a comforting dish or in delicious tacos.	false	true

:::photos :::

:::ingredients

Meat Prep

• 4 to 5 pounds pork, cut into large chunks (Can substitute beef or lamb)
• ½ tablespoon kosher salt
• ½ tablespoon black pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil

Boiled Ingredients

• 12 guajillo chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
• 5 ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
• 5 árbol chiles, rinsed and stemmed
• 2 large Roma tomatoes
• ½ medium yellow onion
• 1 4-inch Mexican cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 cups beef broth
• ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves :::

:::instructions

1. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and sear the meat on all sides until browned.
2. In a separate pot, combine guajillo, ancho, and árbol chiles, tomatoes, onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cover with water and boil for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the softened ingredients to a blender, add 1 cup of the cooking water, beef broth, vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano, and cloves. Blend until smooth.
4. Strain the blended sauce into the pot with the seared meat. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3-3.5 hours until the meat is tender.
5. Shred the meat and store in a new container. Add consumé to the meat as needed to keep moist. Save the remaining consumé for another batch or for making tacos. Straining after blending is important for a smooth texture in the consumé. However, leaving it lightly chunky is not a bad thing. :::

:::notes

Ingredient Sourcing

• My local produce store carries bags of dried chilies - whole dried are the best. Purchasing online is a decent alternative for high quality chilies.
• Also, finding a decently fatty chuck roast is key for a quality consumé.

For the best Consumé

• Straining after blending is important for a smooth texture in the consumé. However, leaving it lightly chunky is not a bad thing. :::

:::references

• Reference Recipe HERE :::

::card