This Easy Birria Tacos recipe uses the slow cooker to make the most rich and savory beef birria. Corn tortillas are dipped into the flavorful chipotle braising broth then stuffed with tender shredded beef and cheese and pan fried.
Serve these cheesy quesabirria tacos with fresh pico de gallo, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. As an added bonus, you can use the braising liquid as a delicious dipping sauce. You’ll quickly realize why this Mexican favorite has taken the internet by storm.
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Easy Birria Tacos Recipe
For how simple this recipe is, you won’t believe how rich, flavorful, and juicy these Birria Tacos are. They're filled with tender beef, melted cheese, salsa, and cilantro. Since it is traditionally a slowly braised meat, it made perfect sense for me to use the crock pot to slow cook the beef in a flavorful chipotle beef broth.
Corn tortillas are traditional and definitely my preference. However you can feel free to use flour tortillas if you prefer. Likewise, you can switch up the cheese inside and use Oaxaca cheese, Chihuahua cheese, or even mozzarella.
Main Ingredients
Crockpot Birria Ingredients
- Beef - any kind of chuck roast, rump roast, round roast, or sirloin roast will work great. For even richer tacos, you could also make this recipe using oxtail or short ribs.
- Onions - white onion or yellow onion will work great.
- Garlic - be sure to use fresh garlic cloves.
- Bay Leaves - fresh or dried bay leaves will work.
- Seasoning - for this recipe I use garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, dried Mexican oregano, and salt.
- Chipotle Sauce - use your favorite canned chipotle sauce.
- Beef Broth - this will give the birria the richest flavor.
Birria Taco Ingredients
- Corn Tortillas - 6” corn tortillas are a perfect size for these tacos.
- Shredded Cheese - I like to use Monterey Jack cheese. You could also use mozzarella cheese, Oaxaca cheese, or Chihuahua cheese.
- Pico de Gallo - any kind of store bought or homemade Pico de Gallo or salsa will taste great.
- Limes - serve with fresh lime wedges if desired.
- Cilantro - you can finely chop or serve with small sprigs.
How to Make Crockpot Birria Tacos
- Add the birria ingredients to a slow cooker. Place the beef roast in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the diced onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. In a small bowl, combine the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and oregano and then sprinkle on the roast. Top with the chipotle sauce and beef broth.
- Slow cook. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours - until you can easily shred the beef with 2 forks.
- Shred the beef. Once cooked, remove the roast from the juices and separate the meat from the gristle and the fat. Shred the beef with forks and set aside.
- Strain the chipotle birria sauce. Strain the onions, garlic cloves and any chunks from the broth and transfer to a bowl.
- Heat the tortillas. Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a thin layer of avocado oil. Dip each corn tortilla into the chipotle beef broth mixture and place on the griddle. Let the tortilla cook until slightly crispy for about 2 minutes per side.
- Add the meat and cheese. Add about ¼ cup shredded cheese and a few tablespoons of shredded beef. Fold the taco in half and continue to cook until both sides of the taco are crispy. Remove from the heat and assemble the remaining tacos.
- Serve. Open the prepared taco and add 1-2 tablespoons of fresh salsa or pico de gallo, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a spritz of fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Birria is a Mexican slow cooked stew that was traditionally made from serving goat meat in its braising liquid. These days, birria is often made with beef or oxtail and has been adapted to a few regional styles. The red-tinged broth is flavored with adobo, dried chiles, and other Mexican spices like cumin.
Yes! Slow cooked birria is a great make-ahead option that can be used to make tacos, quesadillas, and more. Store the completely cooled shredded beef in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 2 months. Store the sauce separately. When you are ready to serve, just warm them back up.
If you prefer to cook your birria on the stovetop, grab a large pot or dutch oven and add your ingredients. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat then continue to cook at a low simmer (covered) until the meat is tender and shreds easily - about 3 hours. Every hour or so, remove the lid and stir gently.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator: store leftover beef in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can store any extra sauce separately for the same amount of time.
- Freezer: if you prefer to store for longer you can freeze the beef and sauce separately for up to 2 months. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight.
- To reheat: pull your beef and sauce out of the fridge about 30 minutes - 1 hour before you plan to serve and spoon any hardened fat off of the top. Place in a pot or skillet and simmer on low until warmed through.
Easy Birria Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
Birria Taco Meat
- 5 pounds chuck roast (or rump roast, round roast, sirloin roast)
- ½ large white onion cut into 2" pieces
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 3 large bay leaves
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- 7 ounces chipotle sauce
- 1 cup beef broth
Birria Taco Toppings
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- ½ cup pico de gallo
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
- 2 small limes cut into wedges
Instructions
How to Make the Birra Taco Meat
- Place the beef roast in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the diced onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. In a small bowl, combine the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and oregano and then sprinkle on the roast. Top with the chipotle sauce and beef broth.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6 hours—until the beef is tender and easy to shred.
- Once cooked, remove the roast from the juices and separate the meat from the gristle and the fat. Shred the beef using two forks and set aside. Strain the onions, garlic cloves and any chunks from the broth and transfer to a bowl.
How to Assemble the Birra Tacos
- Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a thin layer of avocado oil. Dip each corn tortilla into the chipotle beef broth mixture and place on the griddle. Let the tortilla cook until slightly crispy, then flip over.
- Add about ¼ cup shredded cheese and a few tablespoons of shredded beef. Fold the taco in half and continue to cook until both sides of the taco are crispy. Remove from the heat and assemble the remaining tacos.
- Open the prepared taco and add 1-2 tablespoons of pico de gallo, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a spritz of fresh lime juice. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Storing leftover birria meat: store leftover beef in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can store any extra sauce separately for the same amount of time.
- Freezing: to store for longer, you can freeze the beef and sauce separately for up to 2 months. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight.
- To reheat: pull your beef and sauce out of the fridge about 30 minutes-1 hour before you plan to serve and spoon any hardened fat off of the top. Place in a pot or skillet and simmer on low until warmed through.
Nutrition
More Mexican-Inspired Recipes
- Homemade Salsa
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Refried Black Beans
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
- Shredded Beef Tacos
- Crispy Ground Beef Tacos
- Chicken Taco Soup
- More Tex-Mex Recipes
- More Beef Recipes
This recipe will show you how to make Birria Tacos in the slow cooker. They're full of rich and savory beef birria and cheese and cooked on a skillet until crisp and delicious.
Maria Boyce
I’m making these for dinner tonight! Do you use the remaining broth to dip the tacos in?
Jill Baird
Yes, use the remaining broth to dip the tacos!
Maria
I’m so excited to make these! I was only able to find chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in a can. I couldn’t find just plain chipotle sauce. What type of chipotle sauce do you use?
Jill Baird
There are cans of just adobo sauce and also cans with the sauce and the peppers. You can use either. If you can't find just the sauce, just push the peppers out of the way and collect the sauce. I like to freeze the remaining sauce in an ice try and then transfer it to a ziplock baggie for next time. Hope this helps!
Julie wood
Delicious!!
Christie Apodaca
Loved how this turned out! Definitely on our rotation.
Patrick
I made the recipe exactly and it was a little bland.
After I filtered the sauce I let it sit overnight.
Before serving the jus I cooked a little tomato paste, in evoo, added 2 cloves of garlic, 1 cayenne pepper dried, and added salt as needed.
Sarah
We made these last night and they were fantastic. Such easy directions and they had so much flavor! Thanks for another great recipe, The Carefree Kitchen,