Birria Made Simple in Your Pressure Cooker
This easy birria recipe makes juicy, fall-apart beef cooked in your slow cooker, bursting with rich Mexican spices and consommé flavor.
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker For stewing the beef
- 1 Blender High-powered blender for sauce
- 1 Sheet Pan For roasting vegetables
- 1 Tongs To mix ingredients
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 4 pounds beef chuck roast cut into 3-inch chunks
- 10 guajillo chiles
- 5 ancho chilies
- 3 arbol chilies
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1 white onion quartered
- 6 garlic cloves unpeeled
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cloves
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 0.25 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 bay leaves
- chopped onion, cilantro, and lime wedges optional, for serving
Instructions
Instructions
- Slice the stems off the chilies and shake out the seeds. Rinse to remove dust.
- Add guajillo, ancho, and arbol chilies to a pot. Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes until softened.
- While chilies simmer, roast tomatoes, onion, and garlic cloves on a sheet pan under a broiler for 4-6 minutes, until charred.
- Transfer softened chilies and 1 cup of water to a blender. Add peeled garlic, roasted veggies, broth, vinegar, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Blend until smooth.
- Add beef to the slow cooker. Pour blended sauce on top and add bay leaves. Gently mix and cover.
- Cook on low for 8–9 hours or high for 4–5 hours, until the beef shreds easily with a fork.
- Discard bay leaves. Remove beef and shred with two forks.
- Return shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir to absorb the consommé.
- Serve birria in bowls with consommé, garnished with chopped onion, cilantro, and lime juice.
Video
https://youtube.com/watch?v=pU0LYyyJnBA%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Notes
To reduce heat, omit arbol chilies. Substitute marjoram for Mexican oregano if needed. Store leftovers in refrigerator for 4–5 days or freeze up to 3 months.
