How To Make Quesabirilla Tacos

Quesabirria Tacos are a very delicious version of the classic Mexican taco. The beef is slow cooked and shredded and the tortillas are dipped in the consommé before being fried with gooey cheese melting out all over. We love it when we find these tacos on a menu but you don’t have to wait. You can make your own.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Quesabirria Tacos

The Ingredients For Quesabirria Tacos

• 3 1/2 lbs Chuck Roast
• Short Ribs
• 2 Cups Beef Broth
• 6 Cups Water
• 8 Guajillo Chiles
• 1 Spicy Hatch Chile
• 2 Arbol Chiles
• 2 Moritas
• 2 Pasillas
• 2 Anchos
• 1 Onion
• 1 Head of Garlic
• 1 Large Carrot
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp Chile Powder
• 1 tsp Mexican Oregano
• 1 tsp Salt

For the tacos

• Corn Tortillas
• Shredded Mozarella or Mexican Melting Cheese
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Diced Onion
• Chopped Cilantro

Prepare the Ingredients

We need to remove the seeds and stems from the guajillo, pasilla and ancho chiles and remove the stems from the arbols. We’ll also cut the pot roast into a few pieces just to make it easier to handle. We cut the carrot and onion in large pieces and cut the top off the garlic bulb, leaving the rest of it whole. We’ll squeeze the garlic out of it after it’s cooked.

If you need to substitute some of the chiles it will be fine. You can also adjust the heat level by adding or omitting some of the hot chiles.

We are using short ribs here in addition to the pot roast because of the connective tissue and bones in the short ribs. These will add a richness to the broth after cooking for four hours. It is not as rich as bone broth, which is cooked for more than 24 hours which is why we are adding two cups of that as well.

Put the Ingredients Into the Pot

Next we will put all our prepared ingredients into a large stock pot. We will put the beef on the bottom of the pot, the vegetables next and the chiles on top.

Add the Spices

Next we will add the cumin, chile powder, Mexican oregano and salt. You can substitute regular oregano if you need to.

Add the Liquid

We’ll put our beef broth and water into the pot. You should have enough to cover the ingredients. If it doesn’t, add more water. We are going to cook this for a long time so it will get plenty of flavor.

Cook 45 Minutes Then Remove the Vegetables

We will bring this pot to a boil and then let it bubble away for 45 minutes before we remove the vegetables and chiles. Alternatively, you can cook the vegetables and chiles separately from the meat in another pot but we feel like doing it this way adds more flavor to the soup.

We’ll carefully remove the vegetables and chiles and put them in a blender. They tend to float so we can get them out of the pot fairly easily. Set the garlic bulb aside to cool for a few minutes.

Put Some Broth In the Blender

We’ll also add about a cup of the liquid from the pot to the blender. This will help us get it all blended smooth.

Squeeze the Garlic Out

We’ll blend all this and then squeeze the garlic out into the blender. You can use a towel to protect your hand if it is still too hot.

Add the Blended Sauce Back Into the Pot

Once we have everything blended very smooth we will add it back into the pot.

Cook For Another 3 Hours

We’ll bring the pot back to a simmer and let it cook slowly for 3 more hours.

Remove the Beef From the Pot

Once our cooking time is done we will remove the beef from the pot. We are going to cut some of it into large bite size chunks to eat with the soup as beef birria. We’ll also shred some of it to eat as quesabirilla tacos.

Reserve the Fat

We will let our pot of soup cool and then take the top layer of fat off and reserve it. We’ll be dipping our tortillas in it before we cook them. An alternative method is just to dip the tortillas in the pot of soup before cooking. We find it easier to get the tacos crispy using the higher fat content. Put the soup back on the burner to heat up while you cook the tacos.

Dip the Tortillas

Now we want to get our tortillas covered in the reserved soup and fat. We put the soup in a pie pan so we can just put two tortillas in the pan and use a spoon to make sure they get covered all over.

Put the Tortillas On A Hot Griddle

We will heat up our griddle and put the tortillas on it. Using our griddle lets us cook two at a time.

Put On Some Shredded Beef

Working fairly quickly we want to put some of our shredded beef on one side of the tortillas. We only want it on one side since we will be folding the tortillas over to make tacos.

Add the Cheese

Next we’ll put our cheeses on top of the beef. We want plenty of cheese here, hoping that some will leak out as it melts and get fried crispy on the griddle.

Fold the Tortilla

Now we will fold the tortilla over and press down on it with a spatula. We’ll let the first side cook for a while trying to get it crispy.

Flip the Tacos Over

After the first side has cooked and the cheese has melted we will turn the tacos over and cook the other side.

Cooked Quesabirria Tacos

Once both sides are cooked to your satisfaction your quesabirria tacos are ready to serve. If you are cooking more, keep them warm on a plate in the oven at 200°.

Serve With Consommé

We will put some of the soup in a small bowl and garnish with diced onions and chopped cilantro. We’ll put the bowl on a plate with two tacos.

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Here are some more traditional Mexican dishes you can make:

• Classic Molé Rojo
• Chile Rellenos
• Al Pastor Tacos
• Tinga de Pollo
• Enchiladas

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