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In Mexico, important celebrations call for Birria, eaten as a savory stew or stuffed into tortillas for tacos. Steam the meat on the stove (as is tradition), or make it in your slow cooker or Instant pot. It’s a great example of simple, delicious food.
Every region in Mexico has their own version of Birria, and my version comes from Aguascalientes. This is exactly what they make (and how they make it) when they are feeding hundreds of family and friends for weddings, baptisms, and birthday parties.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Sachet: A sachet is a fancy term for herbs, spices, and garlic tied up in a piece of cheesecloth with twine. You could also use a tea ball or loose leaf tea bag to hold them. It makes it easier to pull these small ingredients out later.
- Beef: Boneless beef chuck roast, short ribs, stew meet, oxtail, or beef cheeks work great here (or substitute a bone-in cut). In Mexico, it is common to use lamb or goat for Birria, too.
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the sachet, lay a piece of cheesecloth on a flat surface. Add cloves, garlic, cumin seeds, and peppercorns. Tie with kitchen twine.
- Season beef liberally with salt on all sides. Fill the bottom of the pot with 1-2 inches of water and add steam insert. Set seasoned beef on steam insert.
- Add the sachet of spices, cover the pot, and bring water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Steam the beef in the pot until tender and falling apart, about 4 to 5 hours. Check the pot occasionally, adding more water if necessary, to prevent the pot from burning.
- Remove beef from the pot and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet or cutting board. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle.
- Transfer to shredded beef to a serving platter or bowl. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 servings, 1 cup (4 ounces) each. 2 ½ pounds of beef chuck roast cooks down to 1 pound total (with some slight variations depending on how fatty the roast is and how meticulous you are about pulling out the fat).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Make this 1 day ahead for parties and reheat with a small amount of water in a pot or slow cooker until heated through.
- Slow cooker: In the bottom of a slow cooker, add the meat, salt, spice sachet and water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle. To serve the Birria from the slow cooker, drain excess juice before adding back the shredded meat. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
- Instant Pot: In the bottom of an Instant Pot, add the meat, salt, spice sachet and water. Cover, seal, and set to HIGH PRESSURE for 45 minutes. Let the pressure cooker release naturally before opening. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
Salsa de Birria
The best Birria tastes even better with Salsa de Birria, a simple red salsa made with tomatoes, tomatillos, serranos, and chiles de arbol. It’s a gold-standard salsa recipe that you can enjoy with birria and…
View Recipe
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Birria
In Mexico, important celebrations call for Birria, eaten as a savory stew or stuffed into tortillas for tacos. Steam the meat on the stove (as is tradition), or make it in your slow cooker or Instant pot. It's a great example of simple, delicious food.
Ingredients
For the sachet (see note 1):
For the birria:
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast (see note 2)
- Corn tortillas (warmed), minced onion, minced cilantro, and lime wedges, for serving
- Salsa de Birria
Instructions
- To make a sachet, lay a piece of cheesecloth on a flat surface. Add cloves, garlic, cumin seeds, and peppercorns. Tie with kitchen twine. (To use ground spices, in a small bowl, whisk together ground cloves, garlic powder, cumin, and ground black pepper.)
- Season beef liberally with salt on all sides (if using ground spices, rub the beef all over with the spice mixture). Fill the bottom of the pot with 1-2 inches of water and add steam insert. Set beef on steam insert and add sachet of spices.
- Cover the pot and bring water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Steam the beef in the pot until tender and falling apart, about 4 to 5 hours. Check the pot occasionally, adding more water if necessary, to prevent the pot from burning.
- Remove beef from the pot and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet or other rimmed work surface. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle.
- Transfer to shredded beef to a serving platter or bowl. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Sachet: A sachet is a fancy term for herbs, spices, and garlic tied up in a piece of cheesecloth with twine. You could also use a tea ball or loose leaf tea bag to hold them. It makes it easier to pull these small ingredients out later.
- Beef: Boneless beef chuck roast, short ribs, stew meet, oxtail, or beef cheeks work great here (or substitute a bone-in cut). In Mexico, it is common to use lamb or goat for Birria, too.
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 servings, 1 cup (4 ounces) each. 2 ½ pounds of beef chuck roast cooks down to 1 pound total (with some slight variations depending on how fatty the roast is and how meticulous you are about pulling out the fat).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Make this 1 day ahead for parties and reheat with a small amount of water in a pot or slow cooker until heated through.
- Slow cooker: In the bottom of a slow cooker, add the meat, salt, spice sachet and water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle. To serve the Birria from the slow cooker, drain excess juice before adding back the shredded meat. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
- Instant Pot: In the bottom of an Instant Pot, add the meat, salt, spice sachet and water. Cover, seal, and set to HIGH PRESSURE for 45 minutes. Let the pressure cooker release naturally before opening. Pull apart the beef to shred the meat, separating and discarding any fat or gristle. Serve with tortillas, onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and Salsa de Birria, if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 4 ozCalories: 520kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 55gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 196mgSodium: 233mgPotassium: 978mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 37IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 6mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I cooked the meat in the slow cooker. Very delicious.
I’m so glad you loved it, Christine! Thank you for your feedback! – Meggan
I use large, loose-leaf tea balls for whole spice sachets – I’m not so good with scissors, cloth and string. This looks so good and since it’s a low n slow cook, I imagine that plain old cheap stew beef would work too. This is a nice “fiesta-style” recipe with all the other suggestions and is definitely on my “to make” list.
I don’t have to make it first because I know it’s going to taste superb as do all your recipes. Cheers……