Birria Tacos (Tacos de Birria)

These flavorful Mexican Birria Tacos (Tacos de Birria or Quesatacos) are the perfect combination of sweet, sour, savory, slightly spicy, and a hint of smoky goodness! With this flavor-packed goat stew, you can serve it up as-is or make the crispiest, cheesiest tacos you’ll ever taste!

Birria is a traditional Mexican stew that combines delicious stew meat with an incredibly flavorful sauce packed with chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and tons of herbs and spices. This stew is amazing on its own, but even better when put into tortillas with cheese and fried until golden!

This stew may seem like a lot of work, but my straightforward instructions make it easy. If you’re not a fan of goat, I have plenty of suggestions for meat substitutions too!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe!
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
• 🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
• 🥡 Storing & Reheating
• ❓ FAQ
• 📋 Recipe

I also have recommendations for making this dish in the Instant Pot or Crock Pot for when you’re short on time, but still want to make this delightful recipe! Love Mexican soups and stews? Be sure to try my albondigas soup next!

This labor of love is the perfect way to make your family smile! Not only is it delicious –everyone can add their own garnishes to make their tacos exactly the way they want!

The best part of these birria tacos (tacos de birria) is dipping them in the incredible sauce (also known as consommé) leftover from the soup. You’ll never want tacos another way!

❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe!

It’s packed full of flavor! With over 16 herbs, spices, and aromatics, this delectable birria has bold flavor in every bite.

It’s unexpected! The goat in this recipe adds an unexpected richness and savory flavor to the stew and tacos. The slow simmer makes the meat fall-apart tender and delicious.

It’s versatile! Birria can be eaten like a stew or made into regular birria tacos, or fried quesatacos that will blow you away! Whatever way you decide to serve it – it’s going to be incredible!

🥘 Ingredients

Rich and bold Birria is an amazing, succulent goat stew that’ll become your new favorite! This recipe calls for a few traditional Mexican ingredients, like ancho and guajillo chiles – check your local Mexican grocery or the Mexican section of the grocery store to find them!

Meat & Seasoning

• Goat Meat – Don’t be afraid of goat! Goat meat cooks up tender and is bold, savory, and slightly sweet. If you’d prefer another stew meat for this recipe, I’ve got suggestions. (See Tips & Recipe Notes)
• Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper – A perfect base seasoning for the goat. Try to use freshly ground pepper if you can!
• Cumin – A rich spice with a unique flavor that compliments the dish well!

Birria Stew

• Olive Oil – I use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for the best flavor.
• Ancho Chiles – Ancho chiles are the dried form of poblano peppers. They’re sweet and give wonderful chile flavor and color without the spice.
• Guajillo Chiles – The dried form of the mirasol chile, guajillos are tangy and spicy-sweet. Guajillos also help give that beautiful red color to the stew.
• Dried Chipotle – Chipotles are the dried form of the jalapeño pepper and can be spicy. You can use one 7-ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce if you can’t find dried or skip all together if you’d like the dish to be milder!
• Onion – Chopped for this recipe. You can use white or yellow – it’s up to you!
• Fresh Tomatoes – Diced fresh tomatoes add a light tomato flavor to the stew. You can also use canned crushed tomatoes if you prefer!
• Garlic – You can finely mince or crush your own or use store-bought minced.
• Seasoning -- All these herbs and spices combine to create the wonderful Birria flavor! Spices including oregano, marjoram, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and more!
• Apple Cider Vinegar – Vinegar brightens up this dish and helps to tenderize the meat. Apple cider vinegar has a terrific, slightly sweet flavor.
• Beef Broth – Use your favorite store-bought or homemade if you have it. You can also use chicken stock if you prefer.
• Water – Enough to cover the chiles and meat as they cook.

Birria Tacos (Tacos de Birria)

• Corn Tortillas – I prefer white corn tortillas, but you can use your favorite. If you slightly warm the tortillas before making the tacos, they’ll be less likely to break apart.
• Quesadilla cheese – This is a delicious melting cheese that gives classic, gooey pull. You can substitute with Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, Queso Oaxaca, or another great melting cheese.
• Queso Fresco – An optional garnish, queso fresco adds a fresh, tangy bite to the tacos.
• Cilantro – Chopped cilantro adds a fresh flavor and beautiful color to the tacos, but you can skip if you prefer!
• White Onion – Chopped onion makes a great topping for these tacos! It gives an amazing zesty crunch.
• Lime – Lime juice is a must if you want extra bright, fresh flavor on your tacos! You can skip, though, if you’re not a fan.

💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes

Birria is traditionally made with goat, lamb, or mutton.

You’ll want to look for stew meat that’s already cut into chunks or select a goat shoulder or lamb ribs for your birria stew and tacos.

If none of those are your speed, you can substitute beef, pork, or veal. Cubed chuck roast, oxtails, or short ribs are all excellent choices!

As the birria cooks, foam from the meat may rise to the surface, especially if you’re using any bone-in meat.

Skim off the foam with a spoon and discard, as these are impurities from the meat rising to the surface.

If you’re serving as quesatacos, keep the tacos warm in the oven to help them stay crispy.

Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly brush with oil or use cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking, then preheat your oven to between 200°F (93°C) and 250°F (121°C). As you finish frying each batch of tacos, transfer them to the baking sheet to stay warm and crispy while you finish!

🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions

This incredible birria stew is world-famous – and for a good reason! This dish is a true labor of love, but you won’t regret it! There are options to make this dish in the oven, Instant Pot, or Slow-Cooker, so you can make it any way you like!

Season the Meat & Soften the Peppers

1. Season the meat. Cube the 3 pounds of goat meat (or substituted meat) if not already done. Then place in a medium-sized mixing bowl and season with 1 tablespoon of salt, ½ tablespoon of ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin. Cover with plastic cling film and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prep the chiles. Tear the 4 dried ancho chiles, 4 dried guajillo chiles, and 1 dried chipotle pepper by hand (or cut open with scissors) and remove the seeds. Start 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
3. Toast the chiles. Cook the dried chiles in the oil, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat. While heating the chiles, place a small saucepan filled with enough water to cover the chiles on another burner and bring to a boil.
4. Soften the chiles. Saving the oil in the stock pot, transfer the chiles to the saucepan once the water is boiling and bring them to a low boil for 10 minutes or until softened. Don’t drain the water!

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Make the Sauce

1. Prep the veggies. Chop 1 large onion, then, dice 4 ripe, red tomatoes (if not using canned), and mince or crush enough garlic to make 4 tablespoons (about 12 cloves) or use pre-minced.
2. Sauté the onions, tomatoes, and spices. Bring the stock pot with chile oil back to medium-high heat and sauté the chopped onion and diced fresh tomatoes or 1 cup of canned diced tomatoes until they begin to soften and darken. Add in a 7-ounce can of chipotle peppers (if not using dried), 4 tablespoons of minced or crushed garlic, 8-10 whole peppercorns, 3-4 cloves, 3 whole bay leaves, 1 whole cinnamon stick, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can), 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, and ½ teaspoon of ground ginger.
3. Simmer veggies and seasoning. Reduce the heat to medium or lower and continue cooking the onion, tomatoes, and seasoning at a simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. Blend sauce. To a blender, add the chiles and the water they were boiled in, the cooked tomatoes and onions with seasoning (remove the bay leaves), plus ½ a cup of apple cider vinegar and 2 cups of the beef broth. You want to add enough to blend the mixture without filling your blender to the max-line. Blend until smooth.
5. Strain mixture. Strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Your mixture may be pretty thick still, but that’s OK! If needed, use some of the beef broth to get the last bits of sauce out the blender.
6. Marinate the meat. Transfer the sauce into the bowl with the seasoned meat and toss to coat. Cover with cling film and marinate for 8-12 hours or overnight for best results when using the stove-top or oven cooking methods. If using an Instant Pot/pressure cooker or Crock Pot/slow cooker, the marinating step can be skipped!

Stove-top Method

1. Cook on the stove-top. Place the marinated meat into a large stockpot with any remaining beef broth, plus additional water if needed to cover the meat completely. Cook at medium heat with the lid, stirring occasionally, for about 2 ½ to 3 hours. Once the meat is fall-of-the-bone tender, it’s ready to be served as a stew or shred for making tacos.

Dutch Oven Baked

1. Bake in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C). Place the marinated meat into a large Dutch oven with any remaining beef broth, plus additional water if needed to cover the meat completely. Then, cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the meat is tender and easily shredded.

Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker

1. If using an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, add the meat and marinade to the inner pot of your pressure cooker, plus any remaining broth and additional water needed to cover the meat completely. Set the manual cook time on high for 45 minutes. Allow the cook time to elapse, then let the pressure vent (NPR - natural pressure release) for 5 minutes before doing a quick release to finish venting the remaining steam and pressure.

Crock Pot or Slow Cooker

1. If using a crock pot or slow cooker, place the marinated meat into the slow cooker with any remaining beef broth plus additional water if needed to cover the meat completely. Heat on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat is tender and easy to shred.

Serve as a Stew

1. When tender, serve the birria as a stew. You can either leave the meat as is or remove the chunks and shred the meat before returning to the stew. Top with chopped white onion and cilantro, a lime wedge or two, and warmed corn tortillas for scooping.

Serve as Birria Tacos (or as Quesatacos)

1. When tender, remove the chunks of meat and shred. Mix back into the stew.
2. Serve as tacos with the birria filling, topped with chopped onion and cilantro, salsa, and a wedge of lime.
3. To serve as quesatacos, separate shredded meat from the sauce. Dip the corn tortillas in the broth (consommé) and then fry in a large skillet, comal, or cast-iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Fill the tacos with some shredded meat and shredded quesadilla cheese (about 2 tablespoons) on one side and fold in half. Cook the tacos for 30 second to a minute on the first side, and an additional 30 seconds on the other side. Remove from pan and keep warm in oven (***see recipe notes). Repeat until all the tacos are cooked.
4. Serve the quesatacos with more of the broth (consommé) for dipping, topped with queso fresco, chopped onion and cilantro, and a wedge of lime on the side.

This bold and flavor-packed birria is a great dinner on its own or served as tacos, but if you want the best side dish, try my tasty refried black beans and my restaurant style Mexican rice or my fresh and fluffy Instant Pot cilantro lime rice!

🥡 Storing & Reheating

Refrigerating

This incredible birria stew will taste even more delicious the next day! Store cooled birria in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you have leftover birria quesatacos (though, I’m not sure you’ll have any!), you can also store those in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezing

Delicious birria also freezes very well! Store the cooled birria in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. I would not recommend freezing birria tacos.

Reheating

To reheat leftover birria stew, the stove is the best! Bring to a boil in a pot and then lower the heat and let it simmer gently until it’s bubbling or reached a temperature of 165° F (73° C).

If you’re reheating leftover tacos de birria, place them on a lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F (176°C) for 10 minutes until crispy or when they’ve reached a temperature of 165°F (73°C).

If defrosting frozen birria stew, it’s best to take it out the night before and let it defrost in your refrigerator overnight for a safe thaw.

❓ FAQ

📋 Recipe