Beef, Lamb, or Goat Birria With Consommé (4 Cooking Methods)

Fall-off-the-bone birria cooked in a bold and flavorful sauce (consommé)

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 45 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 10

Calories 297 kcal

Instant Pot (recommended), large pot (if cooking on stovetop), slow cooker (if using slow cook method), or large baking dish (if using oven)
Blender or food processor
Frying pan
Pot for boiling 4 cups of water
Dutch oven (optional)

3 LB Beef, Lamb, Or Goat Meat (Cut Into 2-3 Inch Pieces) For beef, use roast or short ribs. For goat or lamb, use leg, shoulder, or neck.
1 1/2 Tbsp Salt Kosher salt is preferred.
1 Tbsp Ground Pepper
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano Mexican oregano is preferred.

3 Whole Dried Ancho Chili Peppers
5 Whole Dried Guajillo Chili Peppers
1 Whole Chipotle Chili Pepper (Optional) Remove to make mild, add to make more spicy.
1 Tsp Oil For Roasting Chili Peppers
4 Cups Hot Water
1 Medium Yellow Onion, Sliced.
4 Medium Ripe Tomatoes, Sliced.
1 Tbsp Oil For Onion, Tomatoes, and Spices
1 Tsp Dried Marjoram
1 Tsp Dried Oregano Mexican oregano is preferred.
1 Tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Tsp Minced Ginger or Ginger Paste (optional)
1 Tbsp Salt Kosher salt is preferred.
10 Whole Dried Peppercorns
2 Whole Cloves
2 Each Bay Leaves
1/2 Stick Cinnamon Mexican cinnamon (canela) is preferred.
10 Cloves Peeled Garlic
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Heat 4 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.
While water is heating up, using kitchen scissors, remove heads from all chili peppers.
Using kitchen scissors, cut large slit into each chili pepper and remove all seeds.
Heat frying pan on medium heat and add oil.
Once the oil is hot, add chili peppers and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2-3 minutes. Take care to make sure you don't burn the chilies.
Put toasted chilies into the boiling water from step 1, and let boil for 10-12 minutes, until chilies are slightly softened, then set aside.

Heat the same frying pan you used for chilies to medium heat.
Add oil to pan.
When oil is hot, add onions and tomatoes until they are slightly browned.
Add the garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves, salt, thyme, marjoram, and oregano, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add chili peppers, and the water they were boiled in, to a blender or food processor.
Add tomato/onion/spices mixture to blender or food processor.
Add ginger, cumin, and apple cider vinegar to blender or food processor.
Blend together all ingredients until it forms a smooth puree.
Strain sauce to remove any remaining bits of whole spices and vegetables.

Combine meat and sauce in a pot, baking dish, or bowl, depending on your cooking method. and mix thoroughly.
Cover with aluminum foil, and refrigerate.
Marinate for at least 4 hours, but preferably 8 hours or more.

Put meat into Instant Pot. If you chose to marinate ahead of time, you would add both meat and sauce in this step.
Put sauce into Instant Pot.
Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
Allow 5 minutes for natural release.
Do a manual release and remove lid.
Shred meat off the bones and discard bones.

Put meat and sauce into slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
When meat is falling easily off the bone, shred meat off the bones, and discard bones.

Mix consommé thoroughly.
Dip tortilla (you can use corn or flour) into consommé.
Cook tortilla on pan until heated on both sides.
(Optional Step) Put a generous portion of Oaxaca Mexican melting cheese all around the tortilla and cook until it melts.
Fill tortilla with meat.
Add cilantro, diced onion, and a squeeze of lime into tortilla.
Add cheese (Mexican chihuahua cheese recommended) into tortilla.
Add sour cream (optional).
Put a small amount of consommé into a bowl.
Enjoy your tacos by dipping into consommé and enjoying this lovely dish!

Place 1/2 cup of cooked long grain rice into a deep bowl. Note: You can use cauliflower rice instead to make it keto and carb friendly.
Place meat and a heaping of the consommé to the bowl.
Add diced onion, cilantro, sliced radishes (optional) and lime juice to bowl.
Mix it together and enjoy!

For goat or lamb meat, you can use almost any part available. The neck and shoulder are most common.
Goat neck pieces, if available, provide one of the most tender end results.
For beef, we recommend you use either chuck roast or short ribs, although you can try other bone-in pieces of beef also. The beef version of this recipe is called "birria de res".
You can freeze the birria for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- We recommend freezing the meat and soup separately. We suggest storing it in increments of 1 lb of meat and about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups of water (depending on how much water you end up with). This will allow you to make smaller portions or use it in one of our many mashups without using all the meat at once.
- Once you defrost the meat the first time, you cannot freeze it again.
Let us know in the comments if you tried something different and how it turned out. We love feedback!

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