Description
These quesabirria tacos are rich, crisp-edged, and deeply savory, with tender beef, melted cheese, and a red chile broth for dipping. A blend of guajillo and ancho chiles, warm spices, vinegar, and a lightly fat-coated tortilla gives you that signature balance of deep birria flavor and griddled quesadilla crunch.
Ingredients
🌶️ Red chile adobo
- 5 dried guajillo chiles (stemmed and seeded)
- 2 dried ancho chiles (stemmed and seeded)
- 2 medium Roma tomatoes
- ½ medium white onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp / 30 ml white vinegar
- 1 tsp / 1 g dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp / 2 g ground cumin
- ½ tsp / 1 g ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp / 0.5 g ground cloves
- ¼ tsp / 0.5 g ground cinnamon
🥩 Beef and braise
- 3½ lb / 1.6 kg beef chuck roast (cut into large chunks)
- 1 tbsp / 18 g kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups / 480 ml beef stock
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml neutral oil
🌮 For the tacos
- 12 corn tortillas
- 12 oz / 340 g Oaxaca cheese, shredded
- ½ cup / 80 g finely diced white onion
- ½ cup / 8 g chopped cilantro
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
Instructions
Make the adobo
- Set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F / 165°C.
- Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles for about 10 to 15 seconds per side, just until fragrant and a little more pliable. Transfer them to a bowl, cover with hot water, and let them soften for 10 minutes.
- Drain the chiles and add them to a blender with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, vinegar, oregano, cumin, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and 1 cup / 240 ml of the beef stock. Blend until very smooth.
Braise the beef
- Pat the beef dry and season it all over with the salt. Heat the neutral oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then brown the beef in 2 to 3 batches until you have good browned spots on several sides.
- Lower the heat to medium. Pour in the adobo and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until it darkens slightly and smells deeper and less raw.
- Return the beef to the pot with any accumulated juices. Add the bay leaves and the remaining 1 cup / 240 ml beef stock. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and transfer to the oven.
- Braise for 3 to 3½ hours, until the beef shreds easily with very little resistance. Let it rest in the broth for 15 minutes, then lift the meat out and shred it. Skim the red fat from the top of the broth into a small bowl, and moisten the shredded beef with ½ cup / 120 ml of the consomé.
Fry and serve
- Strain the remaining consomé if you want it smoother, then taste and adjust salt if needed. Keep it warm for dipping.
- Heat a large skillet or comal over medium. Lightly dip one side of a tortilla into the reserved birria fat, or brush it on lightly, then place the tortilla in the pan fat-side down. Sprinkle cheese over one half, add some shredded beef, then fold the tortilla over once the cheese begins to melt. A light coating of fat helps the taco crisp; a heavy broth soak tends to make it floppy and soggy.
- Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, pressing gently, until the outside is crisp and red-golden and the cheese is fully melted. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, adding more birria fat as needed.
- Serve the tacos hot with onion, cilantro, lime, and small bowls of consomé. Success looks like a taco with a crisp, lightly blistered shell, juicy beef, stretchy melted cheese, and a broth that tastes rich and chile-deep without seeming greasy.
Notes
- Keep the shredded beef warm in a little broth while you fry the tacos so the filling stays juicy without drying out between batches.
- Let the skillet recover for a moment between tacos if it starts cooling down, because steady heat gives you better color and crisper edges.
- Shred or pull the cheese before you start frying so it melts quickly and evenly instead of sitting in thicker cold clumps.
- A squeeze of lime in the dipping broth right before serving makes the whole plate taste brighter and less heavy.
- Warm the consomé bowls if you can, because hot broth feels fuller and more comforting than broth that cools too fast on the table.
- Press the folded taco gently with a spatula, just enough to help the cheese bind the filling without squeezing the juices out.
- Build and serve in smaller batches rather than frying every taco at once, so the first ones do not lose their crispness while they wait.
- Leftover beef reheats best in a little broth first, then goes into a hot pan with cheese so the tacos crisp back up properly.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 3h 50 min
- Cuisine: Mexican