The Simplest Ways To Add More Flavor To Your Birria Tacos

Tacos have to be the most iconic handheld south of the border and rival pizza for one of the most beloved comfort foods on the planet. There are countless taco recipes out there, but birria tacos are unique. We've consulted an expert, Ari Reyes, executive chef of The Ledge, located at The Cape, a Thompson Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, to share the simplest ways to add more flavor to your birria tacos. He focuses on the birria itself.

Birria is first and foremost a stew, deconstructed into shredded meat to fill tacos and broth, or "consomé," for dipping; think French dipped sandwich, but in taco form. "Some of the easiest ways to elevate a birria recipe are to use the highest quality meat you can and be patient when cooking," Rayes explains. "Birria is best when cooked slowly so the meat is tender and easy to shred." Choosing the right meat is Birria taco making 101.

Traditional recipes used lamb or goat meat, but modern recipes favor beef. While the ideal cut of beef for birria is chuck roast, we recommend using a combination of different cuts to maximize flavor. Short ribs, beef shank, and beef cheek are all cuts of beef worth throwing into your stew. Our slow cooker birria recipe honors the low and slow cooking process that Reyes advises. He also advocates for "adding spices like cinnamon, thyme, oregano, cumin, or allspice for birria that's as flavorful as it is tender."

While birria tacos are hard to beat, there are plenty of alternatives to fill up a week's worth of imaginative meals. "One of my favorite Mexican food dishes is quesabirrias," Reyes reveals, honoring the larger canon of Mexican cuisine. "It simply uses birria meat, cheese, and corn tortillas to prepare a quesadilla, which is then bathed in the birria broth and grilled on the comal. It's simply something delicious that you can't miss!"

Despite Tex-Mex crunchy tacos being topped with shredded cheese, no Mexican tacos are served with cheese. That said, Mexicans learned really fast that birria tacos taste even better with the addition of melty, gooey cheese. The cheese holds the tacos together, almost like a quesadilla. Dipping the corn tortillas in the consomé before grilling them infuses them with so much more flavor and turns them a deep orange hue.

If you want to transform birria into quesadillas, you can swap corn tortillas for a larger flour tortilla. Oaxaca cheese is one of the best types of cheese for a quesadilla and a quesabirria taco. To venture into the realm of fusion cuisine, you could try adding birria to your grilled cheese sandwich for the ultimate upgrade. A sharp cheddar will stand up well to the robust umami-richness of the stewed beef. Birria would also be a great addition to macaroni and cheese, whether you're elevating a boxed brand or stirring it into a homemade casserole.