Description
Rich and flavorful Birria Consomé featuring tender beef chuck roast and short ribs slowly simmered in a complex blend of dried chiles, aromatic spices, and a smooth blended sauce, served as a stew or for tacos with the flavorful broth as a dipping sauce.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Meat
- 3 pounds chuck roast cut into large pieces
- 2 pounds bone-in short ribs
Vegetables & Aromatics
- 1 large onion, sliced into wedges
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
Dried Chiles
- 5 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 3 dried arbol chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 2 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
Spices & Herbs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning the meat
Other
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups beef broth
- About 4-5 cups water (for simmering chiles and spices)
Instructions
- Season the meat: Generously season the chuck roast and short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper to enhance flavor before searing.
- Brown the meat and onions: Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the seasoned meat pieces and brown them well on all sides to develop rich flavor. Add half of the sliced onion and cook for an additional 2 minutes to soften.
- Prepare chile and spice broth: In a separate medium pot, combine the remaining half of the onion, whole head of garlic, guajillo, arbol, and ancho chiles, diced tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, smoked paprika, cumin, bay leaf, black peppercorns, and salt. Cover with about 4 to 5 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes to soften the ingredients and meld the flavors.
- Strain the broth: Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the chile and spice liquid into a bowl, discarding solids and removing the bay leaf. Reserve the strained liquid for blending.
- Blend the sauce: Place the strained solids into a blender along with 2 cups of the reserved liquid and 1 cup of beef broth. Blend on high until the mixture is very smooth, creating a rich, thick sauce.
- Combine sauce and meat: Return the pot with the browned meat to the stove over medium heat. Strain the blended sauce through a fine mesh sieve into the pot with the meat. Add additional beef broth if necessary to ensure the meat is covered by the sauce.
- Simmer the birria: Partially cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer gently for 3 hours, allowing the meat to become tender and absorb the complex flavors of the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt if desired before serving.
Notes
- Serving suggestion: Remove the meat from the sauce and shred it for serving. Birria meat is excellent over rice or inside tacos. Use the flavorful broth as a sauce poured over the rice or as a dipping sauce for tacos.
- Adjusting heat: Arbol chiles contribute noticeable heat to the stew. For a spicier dish, consider leaving the seeds in the arbol chiles when preparing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 tablespoons
- Calories: 554 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 573 mg
- Fat: 34 g
- Saturated Fat: 13 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 21 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 51 g
- Cholesterol: 166 mg
