Easy CROCKPOT BIRRIA Makes the Best BIRRIA TACOS Recipe!

Today, I'm gonna show you how to make the best birria. Birria, birria, birria, birria. And even better is that it's an easy slow cooker version. So after you make the birria sauce, it's pretty much a set it and forget it meal. You guys have been requesting this one for years. So if you love my slow cooker carnitas or slow cooker barbacoa, which are both top ranked recipes on Google, by the way, I think you're gonna love this new slow cooker recipe as well. And I think it goes without saying, but yes, we are gonna be making the best birria tacos today as well. So let's dive right in. Dried chilies are key to the birria sauce and you'll need three different types for this recipe. Guajillo chilies provide the bright red color to this sauce along with an earthy sweet flavor, but you really get no heat from these guys. Ancho chilies are a darker color with mild to moderate heat and a lightly smoky flavor. And last but not least, chilies de arbol may be small, but they definitely pack a punch. These chilies add bold heat and spice to the recipe. So if you're worried about it being too hot, you can reduce the amount of these. And since we're talking about Mexican ingredients, I do wanna point out that Mexican oregano is different from an Italian or Mediterranean oregano. Mexican oregano has a stronger flavor with more citrus undertones. And if you have trouble finding it, you could swap in majoram, though I'll link it in the dried chilies below because it's so easy to buy everything online nowadays. Similar to my barbacoa recipe, you'll need four pounds of beef chuck roast for this recipe. And you can just cut the beef into large three to four inch chunks and then place it in your slow cooker or crock pot. I first had birria 30 years ago when I was 17 years old in Puerto Vallarta, and that was made with goat meat, but birria de res, which is beef birria, is most common in the US. Now, if you'd like to take the time to sear the meat for extra flavor, you can do so. But as I'm making this an easy slow cooker version today, I'll skip that step. And to be honest, I don't even think you'll notice the difference given all of the robust spices and flavor. Next, you'll need to deseed the chilies, so slice the stems off the chilies and shake out any seeds. The seeds tend to impart some bitterness, more so than heat, which is why they're usually removed, but I'm also not super particular if some remain. I just try to get the majority of them out. Now, there is additional heat in the membrane of the chilies, so you can remove that if you'd like. And I often find it's easier to use kitchen scissors rather than a knife to de-stem and de-seed them. So you can try both ways and see which is easier for you. But once you've de-seeded all of the chilies, give them a rinse under the faucet to remove any dirt and debris on the outside, and then add them to a pot. Fill the pot with enough water that it covers the chilies completely, and then pop it back on the stove and bring it to a simmer. You'll simmer the chilies for about 15 minutes or so until they've softened up. And while those are softening, you can prep the other veggies. Add one white onion that you've peeled and quartered to a small sheet pan. I'm using a quarter sheet pan here, with two Roma tomatoes and six garlic cloves. And make sure to leave the garlic cloves in their peel. Then pop them under the broiler in your oven for a quick four to six minutes until they're just lightly charred. This imparts a little extra smoky flavor to the birria, and it's perfectly timed so that these veggies are done right when the chilies are nice and softened as well. So now it's time to make the birria sauce. Use tongs to transfer the softened chilies to a high-powered blender. And make sure you get them all, even the little ones, as the water will now be dark and murky. But that dark and murky water has lots of flavor. So take about a cup of it and transfer it to the blender. Then add the tomatoes, onion, and garlic cloves, and you can just squeeze those out of their peels straight into the blender. To that, you'll add two cups of low-sodium beef broth, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, two teaspoons of kosher salt, one teaspoon of ground black pepper, one teaspoon of ground cumin, one of my favorite spices, one teaspoon of Mexican oregano, half a teaspoon of ground cloves, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger. Add the lid to your blender and blend it on high for one to two minutes until it's completely smooth. Using ground versions of those spices rather than whole spices results in a very smooth texture that you don't have to strain, which again, makes this recipe a bit easier than others out there. Then just pour the sauce all over the meat in your slow cooker or crock pot. The last thing you'll do is add three bay leaves to the slow cooker, and I just nestle them in, though if you'd like to toss everything together with tongs, you can do that as well. Cook the birria on low for eight to nine hours or high for four to five hours. I'm cooking it on high today as video filming is always a race against the clock, but normally I'd start this recipe in the morning and then let the slow cooker work its magic during the day while I'm doing other things to then have the most amazing dinner in the evening. For me, it's just so much easier to make slow cooker birria and then I don't have to worry about having the stove or oven on for several hours throughout the day. When the meat is done, discard the bay leaves and use tongs to remove the meat to a cutting board and then shred it with two forks. It should be so succulent that it just falls apart when you barely touch it, and I always love to sneak a few bites here as the meat is just so darn good. But a quick note, because I've gotten this question before, and that's if your meat is not fall apart tender, it just means that it needs to cook a bit longer in the slow cooker so that the connective tissue breaks down and I've got this tip listed on the recipe blog post. Once all of the meat is shredded, add it back to the slow cooker. Give it a quick toss in the sauce to soak up all of those juices and your birria recipe is done. A classic way to serve this up is in a bowl with a few ladles of the liquid, which is also known as consomme, for a hearty, warming, and deliciously spicy Mexican beef stew. And for garnish, all you need is a sprinkle of chopped onions and cilantro. But let's be honest, most of you are probably going to make birria tacos, also known as quesa birria, as it's been such a popular recipe for the last several years thanks to social media. So to make the tacos, you'll dip corn tortillas in the consomme to coat both sides. The top layer of the consomme has more of the fat, which is perfect for frying, and then place them on a hot cast iron griddle or pan. Cook one side until the tortilla is lightly crispy, then flip them over. Top the tortilla with a sprinkle of Oaxacan cheese, which is like a Mexican version of mozzarella, and then add a portion of birria on half of the tortilla along with a sprinkle of onion and cilantro. Once the cheese has melted, fold the tacos in half and continue to fry each side for two to three minutes until they're nice and crispy. These tacos are so unbelievably good, and I just love that crispy cheese and meat on the edge of the tacos. Once you've made your batch of birria, it's also easy to fry these tacos up on the fly throughout the week. Or you can make this recipe for your next Taco Tuesday fiesta and invite a bunch of friends over. I guarantee you that this recipe will be a hit. If you wanna eat these tacos the authentic way, just dip them in some of the consomme before taking a bite, and I, for one, am ready to bite away. So one thing I forgot to do when I was assembling these meals quickly was to add a fresh squeeze of lime. I was moving quickly because there's so much sun and light coming in that I am just not used to, and moving the cameras around. But both of these would get a bright burst of a delicious flavor with a squeeze of fresh lime. So let's take a bite first of the birria stew with the consomme. So delicious. While birria is great to enjoy year-round, I can assure you that if you eat this in the winter or fall when it's cold outside, that is one meal that will definitely warm you from the inside out. I have been eating these tacos on repeat for the last several weeks as I was tweaking the recipe just to get it the way that I remembered it years ago on a trip to Mexico with just the right spice level, but not too much, right flavor, mm, these are my favorite. These are hard to beat. I love that the cheese gets all golden and crispy on the outside. They're just oozy, they're simple. It doesn't get much better than this. I am going to say goodbye to you guys today so I can finish all of this off, but I will say that a big batch of the birria will last for months in the freezer. So if you wanna do a big batch, same as the barbacoa or the carnitas, you can store it for months, you can put it into individual portions and then just reheat as much as you'd like to enjoy for the week. I hope you guys enjoyed today's video and if you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up, share it with your family and friends who love delicious Mexican food and I will see you again in the next video.