BEEF BIRRIA STACK

5 from 28 votes

Traditional Mexican beef birria is used in a stack of corn tortillas, pico, cheese, and avocado. It's a delicious recipe that's one of my family's favorites.

Course any meal, dinner, entree

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword beef, birria, dutch oven

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 3

Servings servings

Calories 792kcal

Author Paula

Ingredients

For birria

6 large dried Guajillo peppers
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoons 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 peppers in adobo sauce diced
2 medium bay leaves remove before serving
1 medium cinnamon sticks remove before serving
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
2 teaspoons ground 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 Birria Stack

24 6-inch corn tortillas
2 medium avocados sliced
1 cup pico
2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
vegetable oil for frying tortillas
sour cream, jalapeno slices, onions, & cilantro

Instructions

For beef birria

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 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.
You can use beef birria over rice, in tacos, quesadillas, nachos. It's very versatile. You can top any of these with pico, avocado, salsa verde, sour cream, and cheese.

For birria stack

Heat a 10 or 12-inch skillet to medium-high. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add 1 or 2 corn tortillas (if you have room without overlapping) Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side until brown. When you remove them to a tray, make sure they are flat for this stack. They will shape as they cool.
If you're using leftover birria, heat it now.
Start your stack by placing one corn tortilla on the plate. Top with birria, jalapeno slices, onions, cheese, and pico. Or desired toppings. Repeat with two more layers.
Serve with sour cream, jalapeno slices, & cilantro

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