Recipe

North America🇲🇽 MexicoJalisco
Birria
Mexican (Jalisciense) · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 180 min
~892 cal · 75g protein · 40g carbs · 44g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Shredded birria with consomé and folded tacos
🇲🇽 Jalisco
Birria began around Cocula as a way to make tough goat glorious: an adobo of dried chiles and spices, then hours of gentle steam. The consomé — the braising liquid — is half the point, served alongside for dipping everything.
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Ingredients
Serves 6
3.5 lbs beef chuck + short rib (or goat)
5 dried guajillo
3 ancho
2 chipotle chiles
2 tomatoes
1/4 cup white vinegar
6 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
3 bay leaves
18 corn tortillas
a board of it white onion + cilantro + lime, to serve
Instructions
1
Toast and soak the chiles; blend with tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, onion, and all the spices into a thick adobo.
2
Coat the meat (or mushrooms and jackfruit) and marinate at least 2 hours.
3
Braise, covered, with 4 cups water and bay at 325°F for 3 hours (1 hour for the plant version) until it collapses.
4
Shred the meat; skim the consomé and season it — it should be drinkable on its own.
5
Serve as bowls of birria with consomé, onion, cilantro, lime, and tortillas — or dip tortillas in the fat, fill, and griddle into quesabirria.
Cocula, Jalisco tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Jalisco. Birthplace of mariachi, tequila, and birria worth a pilgrimage.
🗺️
Mexico. A UNESCO-recognized cuisine older than any border.
🌍
North America. A collision of Indigenous, colonial, and immigrant tables.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩‍🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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