Easy Birria Tacos with Consomme in the Slow Cooker
This Birria Tacos with Consomme is definitely one that you need to try! Slow cooked shredded beef and Oaxaca cheese are melted together in corn tortillas in a pan. Then all of that goodness is dipped into the most unbelievable ancho chile sauce for one delicious bite after another. My version uses a slow cooker to cook the beef roast to melt-in-your-mouth perfection and blends the sauce right in a blender. It's super easy to toss the ingredients together and let the slow cooker do all the work!
Ingredients
Get all of these ingredients in this shoppable link!
- 2-3 pounds Beef chuck roast, boneless
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 Yellow onions (about 2-3 cups)
- 4 garlic cloves (4 teaspoons)
- 2 Dried Ancho chiles
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Ground Smoked Paprika (or Ground Chipotle Pepper)
- ½ teaspoon Dried thyme (ground or whole)
- 1 tablespoons Dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons Ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup Fresh Cilantro Leaves
- 8 ounces Tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
- 4-5 cups Beef stock or broth
- 18 Corn Tortillas, 6 inch (assumes 3 tacos per serving)
- 20 ounces Oaxaca cheese, shredded (mozzarella is a good substitute)
Instructions
Prep-Ahead Steps
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Dice the onions, rough chop the garlic, remove/discard the stems from the dried chiles and shake out the seeds. Discard the seeds and cut the chiles into 2-3 pieces each (will get pureed once cooked, so this is just to fit into slow cooker).
Cook Beef
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SEAR BEEF. Preheat a frying pan or skillet on high heat. Season your chuck roast with salt, and pepper to coat all sides. Drizzle the olive oil in the hot pan and add the beef and sear for 2 minutes on each side to brown evenly. On the final side, pour 1 cup of the beef stock in the pan to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker and pour in the liquid from the pan.
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SLOW COOKER. To the slow cooker with the beef, add the onions, garlic, cilantro leaves, tomato sauce, chiles, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Then pour in the rest of the beef stock until it reaches the top of the beef. Set the slow cooker to Low 8 or 10 hours, depending on your schedule.
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SHRED BEEF. When the cooking time is done, transfer the beef using tongs to a platter or cutting board. Shred the beef with forks and discard any string that may have been tied around the roast. Transfer the beef to a bowl and set aside.
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BLEND SAUCE. Fish out the bay leaves and discard. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out all of the onions and ancho peppers and transfer to a blender. (alternatively, you could strain the liquid into another bowl, add then add onions and peppers to the blender.) Blend the onions and the peppers until smooth. If needed, add ½ cup of the cooking liquid to the blender to help smooth it out. Once smooth, pour it back into the liquid in the slow cooker and stir to combine. Finally, pour ½ cup of this sauce over the beef and gently stir to mix through.
Make the Birria Tacos
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Preheat the oven to 300 F degrees. Preheat a large frying pan or skillet on the stove medium-high heat. Spray the pan with olive oil and then take 1 corn tortilla and dip it lightly into the sauce, then place it in the oiled hot pan. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the entire tortilla, then top half of the tortilla with the shredded beef.
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Using a spatula, gently fold over the cheese-only side of the tortilla over the beef side. With the spatula, transfer the folded taco to a sheet pan and keep in the oven as you assemble and cook the rest of the tacos, each taco getting transferred to the oven as finished.
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Serve each taco with a small bowl of the dipping sauce.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Get all of the ingredients for this recipe at this Shoppable Link!
- What if I don’t have a slow cooker?
If you do not have a slow cooker, you can make this in a dutch oven in the oven, cooking the beef at 400 F degrees for 3 hours until the beef is fall apart tender. You could also use an Instant Pot or pressure cooker if you have one. Refer to the equipment instructions for a beef roast or short ribs. - Are there other cuts of beef I can use for the Birria Beef?
For cooking this Birria Beef in the slow cooker, a Chuck roast is best. If you cannot find Chuck Roast, sometimes labeled as blade roast, arm roast, or pot roast, you can use tri-tip, top round, bottom round, or rump roast. - What can I substitute for Ancho Chiles in this Birria recipe?
For this recipe, you really want smokey and peppery, but not spicy. If you cannot find Ancho chiles, then look for dried Guajillo peppers. If you cannot find any of these dried peppers, you could use Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, but go light, as they tend to be spicy. Then supplement with another ½ to 1 teaspoon of ground Smoked Paprika. - Is there a cheese other than Oaxaca cheese that could go in Birria Tacos?
The best cheese to use for Birria Tacos for authentic Mexican melty goodness is Oaxaca cheese. You can find Oaxaca in the specialty cheese section of your grocery store. However, if you cannot find it mozzarella works great as a melty substitute. In fact, Oaxaca is made using the same pulling and stretching process as mozzarella which makes the texture so similar. Do not, however, substitute Cotija cheese as it is a hard cheese is great for sprinkling on top of tacos, but does not melt the way that Oaxaca or Mozzarella do. You could also use Jack cheese in a pinch! - Should I use Mexican Oregano or Regular?
If you can find Mexican oregano, that’s the way to go so that you get a more authentic flavor. However, I used a regular dried oregano and it turned out delicious. - Garnishes - You can garnish the dipping sauce and the tacos with fresh cilantro, diced onions, radishes, or roasted corn.