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This authentic Mexican Birria de res features a rich chile broth with chunks of tender, juicy beef. Serve as a stew topped with cilantro and onions or use it to make birria tacos.
This Mexican Birria beef stew is rich and hearty. While we love enjoying some Birria Tacos, serving it as a stew is a warm and comforting meal. Using bone-in beef gives us a thick, rich bone broth. While the combination of dried chile peppers and chili powder gives a warm, flavorful taste.
If you love beef stews check out our Chile Colorado, Carne Guisada, and Texas Chili.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Short Ribs (Bone-in)-Substitute for any cut with bones such as oxtails or simply beef bone. We need the bone for the broth. This is what is going to give us that nice thick texture to the broth/consomme.
- Chuck Roast: Any large roast will work, chuck roast is a budget friendly cut that provides a lot of meat. Since we’re cooking the meat low and slow the roast has time to break down and become tender. You can substitute with goat or lamb meat if desired.
- Guajillo Peppers: (2500-5000 SHU) these are a very common Chile used in Mexican cooking. Adjust the chile used if needed, these are very mild and give color and flavoring to the broth. If you want heat you can add in a Chile de Arbol if desired. Find in the spice or Mexican aisles at most markets.
- Ancho Peppers: (1000-2000 SHU) Dried chile peppers (dried poblanos) that have a mild heat with sweet notes.
- Carrots: Adding the carrots give a bit of sweetness and color to the broth and adds to the flavoring.
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
How to Make Authentic Birria
- Sear the Meat: Chop the chuck roast into 2 inch chunks, pat the roast and the short ribs dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then sear in a large dutch oven/pot with the avocado oil over medium high heat. Sear for 2-3 minutes then turn to continue searing all sides of the meat. Continue working in batches until all the meat is seared. Do not crowd the pot during this step.
- Combine Ingredients: In the same large pot add all of the seared meat, onion, garlic, carrots, bay leaves and dried peppers, pour in the beef broth. Cover with water. (This uses my large 7 qt pot and fills it to the top!)
- Add Seasonings: Add chicken bouillon, oregano, cumin and salt, stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
- Skim: After 30 minutes, skim the top of the pot to remove impurities from the bone cooking out. (will look like little bits of foam on the top)
- Blend Peppers: Remove the peppers (should be softened), onion, garlic and carrots and place in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, add up to 1/4 cup of broth if needed to help get a smooth consistency.
- Strain: Strain the peppers if needed to remove bits of skin (if using a high powered blender this step is not necessary).
- Combine: Add the blended peppers into the broth and stir to combine.
- Simmer: Cover and continue to simmer for about 3 hours or until meat is tender and easily shredding on it’s own. (remove lid and give a stir every 40 minutes or so. Taste the broth once the meat is cooked and adjust seasonings as needed).
- Remove Grease: Skim the grease from the top of the broth. If you are wanting to make tacos, save the grease for the tortillas.
- Remove the meat from the broth and cut into large chunks for serving. Remove any bones.
Serving
Serve this Birria as a stew in a bowl topped with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, diced cilantro and chopped onions. If you would prefer to serve the meat on tacos you can follow our Birria Tacos recipe with details on how to prepare and cook the tacos. Serve the stew with some fresh corn tortillas or flour tortillas on the side for dipping.
Storage
- Refrigerator: Store in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheating: Heat on the stovetop over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
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Authentic Mexican Birria
This authentic Mexican Birria de res features a rich chile broth with chunks of tender, juicy beef. Serve as a stew topped with cilantro and onions or use it to make birria tacos.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chuck roast
- 2 pounds short ribs (bone-in)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 large onion quartered
- 1 garlic bulb cut the tip off
- 1 carrot cut in half crosswise, then cut in half (4 large pieces of carrot)
- 8 guajillo chiles
- 4 ancho chiles
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cups water
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Garnishes
- fresh cilantro diced
- fresh lime juice
- white onion diced
Instructions
- Sear the Meat: Chop the chuck roast into 2 inch chunks, pat the roast and the short ribs dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then sear in a large dutch oven/pot with the avocado oil over medium high heat. Sear for 2-3 minutes then turn to continue searing all sides of the meat. Work in batches until all the meat is seared. Do not crowd the pot during this step.
- Combine Ingredients: In the same large pot add all of the seared meat, onion, garlic, carrots, bay leaves and dried peppers, pour in the beef broth. Cover with water. (This uses my large 7 qt pot and fills it to the top!)
- Add Seasonings: Add chicken bouillon, oregano, cumin and salt, stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
- Skim: After 30 minutes, skim the top of the pot to remove impurities from the bone cooking out. (will look like little bits of foam on the top)
- Blend Peppers: Remove the peppers (should be softened), onion, garlic and carrots and place in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, add up to 1/4 cup of broth if needed to help get a smooth consistency.
- Strain: Strain the peppers if needed to remove bits of skin (if using a high powered blender this step is not necessary).
- Combine: Add the blended peppers into the broth and stir to combine.
- Simmer: Cover and continue to simmer for about 3 hours or until meat is tender and easily shredding on it’s own. (remove lid and give a stir every 40 minutes or so. Can also taste the broth once the meat is cooked through and adjust seasonings as needed).
- Reserve Grease: Skim the grease from the top of the broth
- Serving: Remove the meat from the broth and cut into large chunks for serving. Remove any bones.
- Serve in bowls as a stew topped with fresh diced cilantro, white onion and a squeeze of lime juice.
Notes
- Short Ribs (Bone-in)-This can be substituted for any cut with bones such as oxtails or simply beef bone. We need the bone for the broth. This is what is going to give us that nice thick texture to the broth/consomme.
- Chuck Roast: Any large roast will work, chuck roast is a budget friendly cut that provides a lot of meat. Since we’re cooking the meat low and slow the roast has time to break down and become tender. You can substitute with goat or lamb meat if desired.
- Guajillo Peppers: (2500-5000 SHU) these are a very common Chile used in Mexican cooking. Adjust the chile used if needed, these are very mild and give color and flavoring to the broth. If you want heat you can add in a Chile de Arbol if desired. These are dried chile peppers that can be found in the spice or Mexican aisles at most markets.
- Ancho Peppers: (1000-2000 SHU) Dried chile peppers (dried poblanos) that have a mild heat with sweet notes.
- Carrots: Adding the carrots give a bit of sweetness and color to the broth and adds to the flavoring.
Nutrition
Calories: 744kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 69g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 222mg | Sodium: 1383mg | Potassium: 1764mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 9252IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 9mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography by KJandCompany.co
Birria is from Jalisco and this authentic dish is made with goat meat. Your recipe calls for a very good ingredients but is not authentic birria is just a barbacoa de res. New trends and fusions make authentic dishes for new generations to forget about what is really authentic.
This is actually not a barbacoa. Barbacoa refers to the method of cooking the meat, which involves slow cooking it, traditionally underground (although I have a slow cooker recipe version that is much easier). Birria is a stew and can be made with goat, lamb, or beef. I understand that it is often made with goat in Jalisco, however, that is not a common meat in our area.