Best Mexican Beef Birria Stew with Consommé

Beef birria stew (Birria de Res Con Consomé) is a rich stew that is traditionally made with either goat or lamb, but beef is the preferred meat in the U.S. The meat is always slow cooked in a richly-flavored broth until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender.

When served as a stew it is simply ladled into bowls with its broth (the consomé) and served with a range of toppings and corn tortillas. This Mexican stew is also used to make the popular birriatacos (aka quesatacos), but you need to make the birria stew before you can get to the tacos!

Jump to:
Birria “Stew” RECIPE
What is Birria?
Ingredients & Substitutions
Step by Step
Common Questions
Birria “taco” recipe

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What is Birria?

The original birria is said to have originated in Jalisco, Mexico, where it is traditionally served as a stew for holidays and special occasions and typically made with either goat or lamb.

There are, of course, many variations in the different regions of Mexico and elsewhere. The meat is often marinated in a rich adobe sauce and then slow cooked until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender.

To serve, the meat is ladled up into bowls along with plenty of its broth, garnished with onions and cilantro, and then served with a side of warm corn tortillas and sliced lime wedges.

The broth, or consommé is rich with flavor and the fresh acidity of the onions and limes complement the flavoring perfectly.

What is the Best Meat to Use for Birria?

My preferred meat for this dish is a combination of beef chuck roast and 3-4 short ribs. The short ribs offers the benefit of adding collagen to the consommé making a deliciously rich and robust broth. The chuck roast is the meat that is consumed as the stew meat (or shredded later for birria tacos)

The classic meat used for birria in the regional areas around Mexico is either goat or lamb (or mutton). As birria has become popular in the U.S., beef is often preferred, from both a flavor perspective as well as expense.

I have also used country style ribs (which are pork) with the chuck roast and it was excellent. They probably don’t have as much collagen as the short ribs, but they offer more stew meat that is easily shredded for tacos.

Oxtails are also a great substitute for short ribs if you have them readily available, although they have recently become quite expensive.

Main Ingredients and Substitutions

There are a few ingredients that are key to birria and some that are preferences or variations. Here are some substitutions for you to modify to your own preferences:

• Mexican oregano – You can find this at a Latin market and it is more fragrant than the more common Italian oregano. If it is unavailable to you, use the oregano you can find locally but know that it will be different from the traditional way of making birria. 
• Cinnamon: Mexican cinnamon is quite brittle and can be found in whole sticks, but not usually ground. If you use the stick just add them to the mixture to infuse while cooking and then remove it when done. Otherwise use ground cinnamon. 
• Cuts of meat – My favorite cuts of meat for this dish is a chuck roast and 3-4 short ribs. Many different kinds of stew meat and meat with bones can be used. See the above section on the best meat to use for a detailed explanation.
• Peppers: Typically dried Mexican/Southwestern peppers are deseeded and rehydrated. It can be a mix of Ancho, Guajillo, Pasilla or Arbol, all with different heat profiles. Dried and ground peppers will work in the place of soaking the dried peppers, and can be just as full of flavor without the labor if you can find fresh ground peppers or fresh blends. Since we grow, smoke and blend our own peppers on the farm I always use ground peppers in my Mexican cooking.
• Chipotle peppers in adobo. These come in a little can and they can be used in the stew as a complement to the other spices.

Illustrated Steps:

Can Beef Birria be Made in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker?

You can make the stew any way you like, but I prefer it slow cooked in a dutch oven. The key is to get the meat fork tender and to have all of the spices and ingredients completely infused into the consommé.

In the dutch oven on the stove top I can periodically check it for tenderness and taste it to see if I need to add more spices, salt or vinegar. This can be done with a slow cooker also, but I save crockpot cooking for those times when I won’t be around to periodically lift the lid and taste test.

The instant pot definitely takes less time, but the dutch oven is not hands-on time. Just choose a slow Sunday and cook it nice and slow, savoring the smells that permeate the house.

It will be delicious in all three ways so it’s really a preference type of thing.

Instant Pot

To make beef birria in the Instant Pot, you would need to sear the meat, and because the instant pot is smaller than a large dutch oven, you would need to sear in batches. Then make the sauce and pour over the meat. Set it to Stew setting or high pressure for about 50 minutes, followed by a natural release.

Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker – you would make the sauce as stated in the recipe. Sear the meat (if your slow cooker has this option – most do). And then pour in the sauce and broth. Set it to “high” and cook for 6 to 7 hours.

Using Birria Meat in Quesatacos or Tamales

After making this stew with the rich broth, you can shred the meat and use in a Quesatacos recipe.

One of my favorite ways to use birria meat is as a filling in these Mexican tamales (tamales post is a step by step guide with video)

Similar Mexican Meat Recipes

There are several Mexican dishes that have a similar flavor profile to birria. Here are a few:

• Low Carb Chile Colorado
• Crispy Carnitas Dinner
• Mexican meatball soup
• Low carb Mexican short ribs
• Chile Colorado with cactus

Common Questions:

Beef Birria Stew Recipe: with Consommé