Birria de Res Recipe (Beef Birria)

After weeks of making vegetarian dishes I started to crave this rich, succulent Birria de Res for some reason 🙂    

And while Birria is traditionally made with goat in Mexico, I get way more mileage from a batch of Beef Birria so I used beef brisket for this batch. 

This 3 lb. recipe makes a big batch and will give you all sorts of options with your leftovers!  Feel free to use it as a starting point for on-the-fly tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc. 

How To Make Beef Birria (Birria de Res)

Regardless of the protein you choose, the underlying sauce stays the same and is built using dried chiles, roasted tomatoes, and some depth from the aromatics. 

It's a wonderfully rich sauce and I think it's a great example of Mexican cuisine at its finest.  Ready to dig in?! 

 

Beef brisket or chuck roast are both great options for this recipe, and since they respond well to low-and-slow cooking we'll go ahead and whip out the slow cooker.   But don't sweat it if you don't have a slow cooker as simmering on the stove will give you an equally good result.   

As usual, I start by putting the tomatoes in the oven (400F) for a quick roast.   We'll be waiting on the chiles to reconstitute so I usually just leave the tomatoes in until I need them. 

And since the oven is on we'll use that to wake up the dried chiles. 

For this batch I used:

4 Ancho dried chiles  What are Anchos?
3 New Mexican dried chiles
2 chipotles in adobo (from a can, so added later on)

I love this combo of Ancho and New Mexican chiles and I use it quite often, but there is leeway on the dried chiles so feel free to improvise.

And since both of these chiles are mild in heat I went ahead and added 2 chipotles.  Using 2 chipotles gives the sauce some real zip, but you can always use less or omit them for a milder batch.  More info on working with chipotles.  

To wake up the dried chiles you can always use a dry skillet over medium heat, but lately I just put them in the oven for 1-2 minutes or until they are warm and fragrant.

Rehydrating the chiles makes them easier to grind up so we'll cover them with hot tap water for 20-30 minutes.

If the chiles float to the surface you can always use a plate or small bowl to keep them submerged.

We'll also saute a roughly chopped onion and 6 peeled garlic cloves in some oil over medium heat. 

It's all going in the blender eventually, so I just roughly chop the onion and leave the garlic cloves whole. 

We're also going to give the meat a quick sear before adding it to the slow cooker.  This is 3 lbs. of beef brisket cut into chunks:

After a good salting you can add it to an oiled, pre-heated skillet on medium-high heat and give it a few minutes per side. 

This quick sear will add in some extra flavor, but you can consider it optional if you're in a rush.  More info on the Maillard reaction.

And when possible, I usually deglaze the pan to pick up any priceless bits of fond.  And since this recipe calls for 2 cups of stock I used some Better Vegetable Stock to deglaze the pan that seared the meat.

I didn't reduce the stock down, I just brought it up to a simmer and scraped up the solid bits of flavor that were leftover in the pan.  It had a rich, savory, beefy flavor and I had to stop myself from slurping it down 🙂

And now everything goes in the blender along with a few other ingredients:

the roasted tomatoes
the cooked onion-garlic mixture
the deglazed stock
the drained, reconstituted chiles
2 chipotles in adobo
1-2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the can
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano  What is Mexican Oregano?
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of ground clove
2 teaspoons salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Give it a whirl and take a taste.

Hello Birria sauce!  It has a massively satisfying flavor that will only get better as it simmers away with the beef.  Awesome 🙂

A couple notes on this sauce:

Half of the world will prefer to use the chiles' soaking liquid to liquefy the sauce, as opposed to using stock.   The other half, including me, thinks the soaking liquid tastes bitter.  To test this, just take a taste of the chiles' soaking liquid and you'll know if it's an option for your kitchen.   More info on tasting the dried chiles' soaking liquid. 

Two teaspoons of salt is a lot for just the sauce so it will taste a little salty.  But once the beef gets shredded you're going to need it so I usually add it in now.  Alternatively, you can add 1 teaspoon of salt now and more to taste once the beef is cooked. 

And it only takes a small amount of cinnamon and clove to give the sauce some depth, so don't go overboard with those or they'll dominate too much.

Okay, time to plop the seared beef pieces in the slow cooker and cover them with the Birria sauce.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  That gives the beef plenty of time to tenderize. 

As mentioned, you are welcome to simmer this on the stove (covered) for a few hours and you can get an equally good result. 

Once cooked you can optionally skim off any fat that has risen to the surface. 

 

I usually shred the cooked beef with two forks and set aside any fatty chunks that have done their job for flavor but don't necessarily want to be eaten (see left side in above photo).

Note:  the flavor of the sauce won't penetrate into the beef chunks as much as you might think despite co-existing for 5 hours.  Rather, the flavor of the beef imparts itself into the sauce, so adding the sauce back into the shredded beef is the key to the recipe!

I usually add the shredded beef to a bowl and douse it with enough sauce to completely coat it.

You'll get a wonderfully savory batch of shredded beef that you can use in all sorts of dishes.

You'll have enough sauce to turn this into a delicious Birria Soup (recipe coming soon) but I chose the simplest route possible because I was getting hangry, i.e. tacos!

The meat is so flavorful that you can just plop it on some cheesy, crispy corn tortillas and dinner is served 🙂

I usually crisp up the tortillas for a couple minutes in a dry skillet and if the meat has cooled I will add it on top for a quick reheat.   Once the underside of the tortillas has light brown spots forming they are ready to roll. 

That means there was time to whip up a quick Salsa de Aguacate as the tortillas were crisping up in the skillet:

This is a creamy Avocado sauce that will taste mild and maybe even a little bland out of the blender, but something awesome happens when you pair it with bold, spicy meats.  

You can see that recipe here but the ingredient list look like this:

1 avocado
1/4 cup water
juice of 1 lime
4-5 sprigs cilantro
1/2 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt

I also added some raw onion, freshly chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime to these tacos.

And they were carnivorously delicious 🙂

Feel free to get creative with your Birria de Res.  It has such a rich, satisfying flavor and you can build all sorts of quick meals from it:

Tacos (see Dark Birria for tips on crispy, cheesy Tacos)
Tostadas
Burritos
Tortas
Enchiladas!

And here are a few more ideas for toppings that will work well on your freshly made Birria:

Pickled Onions
Queso Fresco
Chipotle Crema
Curtido - Pickled Cabbage Slaw
Pico de Gallo
Pickled Jalapenos

Buen Provecho. 

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You can use similar ingredients to make an awesome batch of Chili con Carne. 

 

And here are 9 other recipes you can make with Ancho chiles.