Dutch Oven Birria is a traditional Mexican beef recipe. Beef chuck roast is stewed until tender in a rich broth, dried chiles, and tons of spices. It’s flavorful without being hot.
Although this recipe has a lot of ingredients, it’s still a simple recipe to make. Basically, everything goes in the Dutch oven and cooks low and slow for hours until tender. An extra bonus, your house will smell amazing all day but everyone that comes by will want to stay and eat!😉
DUTCH OVEN BIRRIA
Beef Birria is a great recipe to feed a crowd. However, if you don’t have a crowd to feed, it’s a great recipe. You can make so many different meals with it. Recently, my strategy has been “cook once eat twice (or more),” especially when the boys are home because they want to eat every 3 hours! Birria fits perfectly into that scheme. For example, I made eight pounds of Dutch Oven Birria and used it to make Birria Tacos, Birria Rice Bowls, Quesabirria, and Beef Birria Stacks.
WHAT IS BIRRIA?
Originating in Jalisco, Mexico, Birria is a meat stew or soup. Originally, it was made with goat meat. Less commonly, they used beef, lamb, mutton, or chicken to make birria. The meat is first marinated in a sauce of vinegar, chiles, garlic, and spices. Finally, it’s slow-cooked in broth until tender.
You can eat birria like chili or soup or you can use birria meat in any dish you want. A birria taco recipe went viral on TikTok in 2020 so that’s why you’re seeing an onslaught of birria recipes now.
IS BIRRIA SPICY?
Birria doesn’t have to be spicy unless you want it to be. My recipe below has a bold flavor that isn’t hot. Of course, you can add hot peppers or hot sauce if you want more fire. That’s the beauty of cooking, you can tailor any recipe to your taste.
INGREDIENTS FOR DUTCH OVEN BIRRIA
The full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post. You can save a tree and save the recipe to your personal and private recipe box right here on Call Me PMc. This way you’ll never misplace it as well as help the planet. 😉
- Guajillo peppers. You can find Guajillo peppers in most grocery stores now. They’re dry chile peppers and look like this. If you don’t want the trouble of rehydrating them you can use a jar of chipotle peppers instead.
- water.
- salt.
- ground black pepper.
- beef chuck roast. See notes below for substitutions.
- vegetable oil.
- fire roasted tomatoes. You can roast 4 Roma tomatoes or buy fire-roasted diced tomatoes like this.
- chipotle chilies. Chipotle peppers have a strong earthy flavor. You can add more for more flavor if desired.
- bay leaves. Bay leaves don’t soften so you’ll want to pick them out before serving.
- cinnamon stick. Your beef birria won’t taste like cinnamon. It just adds a nice back note.
- Mexican oregano or regular oregano if you can’t find Mexican oregano.
- cumin.
- chili powder.
- ground cloves.
- apple cider vinegar.
- beef bouillon.
- beef broth.
WHAT CUTS OF MEAT CAN I USE FOR BIRRIA?
I used beef chuck roast. However, you can use beef shank, bottom round roast, top round roast, short ribs, or sirloin roast.
You can also go authentic and use goat meat.
CAN I MAKE BEEF BIRRIA IN A SLOW COOKER?
Yes, of course. This is a great recipe for your slow cooker. You can even omit searing the beef and pile everything in the slow cooker. It depends on how much beef you’re cooking but for 3 pounds cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
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- Cajun Burgers
- Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin
- Country Club Sandwich
- Shrimp Crawfish and Scallop Jambalaya
- Corn Tortillas
- Individual Pizzas (kid favorite)
I hope you’ll try Dutch Oven Beef Birria. I think you’ll find it easy to make, versatile, and a good recipe for game day and crowds. You can use beef birria over rice, in tacos, quesadillas, and nachos. You can top any of these with pico, avocado, salsa verde, sour cream, and cheese. Finally, when you try it please come back and leave a comment and 5-star rating. Rating my recipes helps other people find it on Google.
DUTCH OVEN BIRRIA
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Save To Your Recipe BoxIngredients
- 6 large dried Guajillo peppers
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper or to taste
- 3 pound beef chuck roast
- 3 to 4 tablespoons oil
- 14.5 ounce tomatoes fire roasted, diced
- ⅓ cup chipotle chilies diced
- 2 medium bay leaves remove before serving
- 1 medium cinnamon stick remove before serving
- 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons beef bouillon
- 1 cup beef broth If you want to eat this as stew, add 2 cups
For Tacos
- 4-inch corn tortilla
- white onion diced
- cilantro chopped
- cheddar cheese shredded. Or Mexican blend or Cotija
- lime
Instructions
- Cut the stems off the chiles. Toss them into a pan and cover them with 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat, and cover the pan. Allow the chiles to sit for 20 minutes to rehydrate. (They can sit longer than 20 minutes because they don't need to be hot when you add them to the blender.) Add the peppers and water to a high-powered blender and process until smooth. Optional, you can strain the peppers if needed to remove any larger pieces of skin.
- Meanwhile, trim the roast of any connective tissue and cut it into large 4-inch chunks. Salt and pepper the beef. Heat your Dutch oven to medium-high and sear the beef on all sides.
- Once the beef is seared add the remaining ingredients to the pot: the dried pepper mixture, roasted tomatoes, chipotle peppers, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, oregano, cumin, chili powder, cloves, vinegar, beef bouillon, and beef broth.
- Stir to combine. Cover the Dutch oven and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or until tender. Stir once each hour.
- I like to cook the birria a day ahead of when I plan to serve it. At this point I refrigerate the birria until I'm ready to serve. When I'm ready to serve it I skim the fat off the top, shred it using two forks, and reserve it - If you're making tacos with the birria, you can use the reserved fat to cook the tacos. After you skim the fat off, heat the beef.
For Tacos
- You can use beef birria over rice, in tacos, quesadillas, or nachos. It's very versatile. You can top any of these with pico, avocado, salsa verde, sour cream, and cheese.
- Shred your meat. To warm the tortillas. (This makes them pliable and soft.) wrap them up in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the reserved fat to a skillet. Heat on medium-high. Fill a tortilla with birria meat, onions, cilantro, and cheese. Fry the taco for 2-3 minutes per side. Serve hot.
Nutrition
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