Those birria tacos with consommé (quesabirria tacos) are packed with flavorful meat, and melty cheese then served with a hearty broth to dip them.
A truly Mexican flavorful experience that you can enjoy at home with this super easy recipe.
About Quesabirria Tacos
Birria tacos with consommé have been popular in Mexico since I can recall. Any stall that sells birria will offer tacos or quesadillas con birria with a hot and comforting bowl of consommé to enjoy.
A quesabirria taco is a preparation made by assembling a birria taco in a soft corn tortilla, adding cheese, and then cooking on a griddle until melty and slightly crispy. The name comes by combining the words “quesadilla” + “birria”.
The cheesy birria tacos are then served with a side of Consommé, which is the broth that results from cooking the birria meat with various spices and chilies. The tacos are then dipped in the broth and enjoyed right away.
Ingredients Needed
For birria stew:
- Meat: Chuck beef is what is mostly recommended for the stew, but because you’ll need some oil to make the tacos, I strongly suggest using some fatty cut such as short ribs as the bones adds also lots of flavor to the broth.
- Chiles: Guajillo, pasilla, and ancho chiles. You can find those dried chilies at Mexican local and online stores, or on Amazon.
- Spices: Garlic cloves, black peppercorns, dried oregano, dried marjoram, bay leaves, cumin seeds, ground ginger, cinnamon stick, and whole cloves.
- Fresh produce: Onion and tomatoes.
- Vinegar: Use white or apple cider vinegar.
For quesabirria tacos:
- Tortillas. Use corn tortillas, flour tortillas get too soggy after dipping in the broth.
- Cheese. Oaxaca and Asadero are good options or use any melty cheese available to you.
- Onion. Freshly chopped onions.
- Cilantro. Chopped nicely, you will use it for tacos and consommé.
- Salsa. Read below for recipe recommendations.
- Limes. Adds a fresh and citrus touch to tacos.
How To Make Birria Tacos With Consommé
Start by making the marinade sauce. Remove the stem from the chilies, cut them longwise, and remove the seeds.
Add the chilies to a bowl and cover with hot water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
Drain chili peppers and add them to a blender along with the spices, vinegar, tomatoes, onions salt, and one cup of water. Blend until smooth.
Place meat in a large bowl or baking dish and pour over the sauce. Turn the meat until nicely coated, then cover with cling film and allow to marinate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Now, there are a few methods for cooking the meat, I did it in the stovetop but you can use any of the methods I listed below.
Place the meat in a large pot along with the marinade. Add salt and enough water to cover it for about 1.5-inches.
Cook over medium-high heat for about 2 hours or until the meat is nicely tender.
Cook In An Instant Pot:
- Place the meat and marinade in the pot, add water just to cover about 1 inch above the meat, then add salt.
- Cook at high pressure for 50 minutes, then naturally release the steam while you finish preparing the toppings for birria tacos.
Cook In A Slow Cooker:
- Place meat and marinade in the slow cooker pot, pour water enough to cover slightly the meat, and season with salt.
- Cook at low for 8 hours or at high for 6 hours.
Cook In The Oven:
- Add meat and marinade to a dutch oven or an oven-proof pot. Season with salt.
- Cover with a lid or foil.
- Cook at 350°F (175°C) for between 3 and 4 hours or until the meat is very tender.
Assemble Quesabirria Tacos
Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a cutting board. Use a large and sharp knife and chop the meat.
Since it will be very tender, it won’t take you more than a few minutes to do this step.
TIP: Keep the meat covered with foil to prevent it from drying out. And also keep the birria consommé on the stove over low heat. It needs to be nicely hot when served.
Heat a griddle or comal until smoky. Dip one tortilla into the consommé, making sure it coats nicely with the oil on both sides.
Place the tortilla on the hot griddle and add shredded meat and cheese on top. You can place as many tortillas as fit on your griddle.
Now, using a spatula, fold the quesabirria tacos into a half-moon, and press a bit to keep them closed.
Cook on both sides flipping from time to time until the cheese has melted inside, and the tortillas are nicely crisp and a bit charred.
Place tacos on a serving platter, carefully open them a little, and add some onions and cilantro in the middle.
Serve your birria tacos with consommé on the side, lime wedges, and salsa. Dip the quesabirria in the flavorful consommé before every bite and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- If you want the beef broth to be spicier, add 2-3 chile de árbol (or any other type of dried chiles) to the sauce.
- If you want more consommé for serving later, add a little bit more water to the pot.
- You’ll need some grease to heat up tortillas, otherwise, they will stick or break. So, make sure you’re not using only low-fat beef cuts.
- Use a cheese that melts well, such as Oaxaca cheese, Monterey Jack, Mexican blend, Mozzarella, etc.
Salsas That Pairs Well
Drinks That Pairs Well
Here are a few Mexican drinks that pair nicely with birria tacos with consommé:
- Tepache – Pinneaple fermented drink.
- Pineapple water – Agua fresca de piña.
- Tamarind drink – Tangy and sweet agua fresca de tamarindo.
- Tamarind margarita – The classic Mexican cocktail with a tangy twist.
- Michelada – A classic Mexican beer cocktail with a spicy touch.
How To Store
Once assembled, quesabirria tacos are delicious if eaten straight away. However, if you have some leftovers you can wrap them in foil and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.
For reheating, place them on a hot griddle and heat them up over medium heat until the cheese melts again.
The birria beef stew stores nicely in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Birria Tacos With Consomme (quesabirria tacos)
Ingredients
For birria stew
- 2 ½ lb chuck beef (read notes)
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 1 ancho pepper (stem and seeds removed)
- 5 small guajillo peppers (stem and seeds removed)
- 1 pasilla pepper (stem and seeds removed)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- ½ cup vinegar
- salt (as needed)
For serving
- 25 corn tortillas
- 3 cups melting cheese (asadero, Oaxaca, Mexican blend)
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1 large bunch cilantro (chopped)
- 6 limes
- chile de árbol salsa
Instructions
- Add the dried chilies to a bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 10 minutes.
- Drain chile peppers and add them to a blender.
- Add garlic, peppercorns, oregano, bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin, tomatoes, onion, and salt.
- Pour in vinegar and one cup of water. Blend until smooth.
- Place meat in a large bowl and pour over the chile sauce.
- Turn the meat until nicely coated, then cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Cook on the stovetop:
- Place the meat in a large pot along with the marinade.
- Add salt and enough water to cover it for about 1.5-inches.
- Cook over medium-high heat for about 2 hours or until the meat is nicely tender.
Cook In An Instant Pot:
- Place the meat, salt, and remaining marinade in the pot, and add water just to cover about 1 inch above the meat.
- Cook at high pressure for 50 minutes, then natural release the steam.
Cook In A Slow Cooker:
- Place meat and marinade in the slow cooker pot, pour water enough to cover slightly the meat, and season with salt.
- Cook at low for 8 hours or at high for 6 hours.
Cook In The Oven:
- Add meat and marinade to a dutch oven or an oven-proof pot. Season with salt.
- Cover with a lid or foil.
- Cook at 350°F (175°C) for between 3 and 4 hours or until the meat is very tender.
Assemble Quesabirria Tacos
- Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a cutting board.
- Use a large and sharp knife and chop the meat.
- Keep the meat covered with foil to prevent it from drying out. And also keep the birria consommé on the stove over low heat.
- Heat a griddle or comal until smoky.
- Dip one tortilla into the consommé, making sure it coats nicely with the oil on both sides.
- Place the tortilla on the hot griddle and add shredded meat and cheese on top. You can place as many tortillas as fit on your griddle.
- Using a spatula, fold the quesabirria tacos into a half-moon, and press a bit to keep them closed.
- Cook on both sides flipping from time to time until the cheese has melted inside, and the tortillas are nicely crisp and a bit charred.
- Place tacos on a serving platter, carefully open them a little, and add chopped onion and cilantro in the middle.
- Serve your birria tacos with a bowl of consommé on the side, lime wedges, and salsa. Dip the quesabirria in the flavorful consommé before every bite and enjoy!
Notes
- You’ll need some grease to heat up tortillas, otherwise, they will stick or break. So, make sure you’re not using only low-fat beef cuts. Short ribs add lots of flavor because of the bones and fat that contain.
- If you want the beef broth to be spicier, add 2-3 chile de árbol (or any other type of dried chiles) to the sauce.
- If you want more consommé for serving later, add a little bit more water to the pot.
Nutrition Information
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I’ve been wanting to make these for awhile!! What kind of vinegar do you use?
Hi Julie, I use cider or white vinegar, both works for this recipe :)
How would you suggest freezing this? Meat with consomme or separate?? Only two of us, lots of leftovers.
Hi Judy. I usually end with more consommé than meat so I like to store them separately and use the consomme to make soups or other stews.
Amazing recipe!!! Thank you so much!!!! I love that you added the chile de árbol salsa recipe to go with it.
LOVED the easy recipe. I always wanted to make birria tacos but the sauce was intimidating, so since you suggested, I used an store-bought adobo sauce and it was perfect! Yes, those tacos still involves a lot of work but the sauce shortcut saves lots of time. I want to try again with shredded beef leftovers, I think that’s also a nice way for speeding up this recipe.
Glad you liked it :)