Instant Pot Birria Tacos Recipe

Instant Pot Birria Tacos Recipe

Your mouth has never known the joy these birria tacos will provide. Your tongue will thank you. And the deep, rich, smoky flavors is something you'll think about for days on end.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 1 hr 30 mins

Yield: tacos

Equipment

Ingredients

3 pounds beef - (shoulder roast, chuck roast, stew meat, short ribs) lamb, goat, chicken, bufallo
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 dried ancho chilies - (mild & smoky)
3 dried guajillo chilies - (smoky & sweet)
1 new Mexican chile - (mild & sweet)
1 chile de árbol - (really spicy) (optional)
1 white or yellow onion - sliced
6 cloves garlic - whole
2 bay leaves
½ tsp cinnamon (ground)
2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1½ tsp cumin (ground)
1 tsp coriander (ground)
2 tsp tomato paste
2 cups chicken or beef stock
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce - (optional)
salt and pepper

Garnish Ingredients:

12 corn or flower tortillas
1 block or bag melting cheese (Oaxaca or mozzarella cheese) - grated
1 white onion - finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro - (optional)
1 lime - cut into wedges

Instructions

Making the Birria sauce:

Prepare the dried chilies by removing the seeds and stems.
Toast the chilies in your instant pot
First, place all the chiles into the pressure cooker (don’t add oil yet). Saute the chiles for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.
You’ll know they’re ready when you smell the rich aroma.
Dump the peppers onto a plate. Place the metal pot back into the Instant Pot.
Sear the meat in your Instant Pot
Make sure your instant pot is still on saute and reads “HOT.” Season one side of the beef with salt & black pepper.
Pour 1 tbsp of vegetable into the instant pot. Next, place your meat gently into the instant pot.
Brown each side for 5 minutes. Take the birria meat out of the instant pot and set it aside to rest.
Saute the garlic and onions
Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to the still-hot instant pot. Drop your sliced onions and full cloves of garlic into the pot and sauté for 4 minutes.
Add the following spices to the onions and garlic
2 bay leaves, 2 tsp tomato paste, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano, 1½ tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander. Saute these spices with the onions and stir for 1 minute.
Deglaze your Instant Pot using broth
Next, pour 1 cup of your unsalted chicken or beef stock into the Instant Pot. Using a wooden spoon, scrape all the brown crusted bits off the bottom and sides.
Add the rest of the ingredients & meat
Add 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional), 1 tbsp soy sauce (optional), and the 2nd cup of chicken stock. Mix this all together. Next, add the toasted chiles that you made earlier.
Make sure the liquid is fully covering the chiles. Place the browned meat on top of the sauce.
Cook the Birria
Put the lid on your Instant Pot, and make sure the vent position is set to “closed.” Set the cooking time for 42 minutes.
This is a good default time for all types of beef. If you're using chicken, cook for 20 minutes.
Bled the Birria sauce
Look for the bay leaves in the instant pot mixture and remove them. Using an immersion hand blender, blend all the ingredients left in the Instant Pot, including the chiles.
It will take 2 or 3 minutes to blend everything sufficiently. Next, add the meat back into the birria sauce and stir until the consommé is well mixed.
Shred the meat & add back to sauce
Using tongs, transfer the cooked beef into a large mixing bowl. Using 2 forks, shred the meat. It should come apart easily. Alternatively, you can use a Cuisinart Mixer to quickly shred the meat.
Put the meat in the Cuisinart and pulse the meat 5 or 6 times. Don’t over pulse. If you overmix, you’ll end up with a meat paste. You want chunks of shredded beef. Add the meat back to the birria sauce.

Making the Birria Tacos:

Heat your skillet
Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Drench the tortilla in birria
Using tongs, drop the corn or flour tortilla on top of the Instant Pot birria sauce mixture. Push it down a bit with tongs but be careful not to poke a hole or rip the tortilla.
Flip the tortilla over and coat the other side in the mixture. You want your tortilla to be completely covered in sauce. Using your tongs, place the tortilla in the hot skillet.
Add cheese
Put a handful of grated cheese on the tortilla, and let it melt. The cheese will melt very quickly.
Add meat
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up 1/4 cup of birria mixture and empty it onto the melted cheese.
Fry the tortilla
Using tongs, carefully bend the tortilla in half so that it looks like a taco. Let this side cook for 1 minute. Next, carefully flip the taco onto the other side to let that side crisp up for a minute or so.
The taco should be crisp enough to hold its shape. Remove the taco and place it on a dry paper towel to soak up some leftover oil. Repeat this process until you have all the birria tacos you could possibly want!

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Equipment

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Immersion Hand Blender

Cuisinart food processor

Video

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1taco, Calories: 270kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Sodium: 120mg, Potassium: 570mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 1576IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 40mg, Iron: 3mg

The Golden Lamb provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietician.

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