Description
Slow Cooker Beef Birria is a comforting and flavorful Mexican dish featuring tender beef chuck roast slow-cooked in a rich, smoky, and spicy chile sauce. Perfect for effortless weeknight dinners or impressive weekend meals, this recipe delivers authentic birria taste with minimal hands-on time, resulting in melt-in-your-mouth meat and a versatile meal option served as stew, tacos, or quesadillas.
Ingredients
Scale
Beef
- 3 to 4 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into large chunks
Dried Chiles and Aromatics
- 4 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 3 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion, quartered
Liquids
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar or lime juice
- 2 to 3 cups beef broth (enough to partially cover the meat)
Spices
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Additional Ingredients
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Prepare the Chiles: Remove stems and seeds from dried guajillo and ancho chiles. Toast them lightly in a dry skillet until fragrant, then soak in hot water for about 15 minutes until softened.
- Blend the Sauce: In a blender, combine softened chiles, garlic, onion, tomato sauce, vinegar or lime juice, cumin, oregano, cloves, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth to create a rich, flavorful marinade.
- Prepare the Beef: Trim excess fat from the beef chuck roast and cut into large chunks. Season well with salt and pepper to enhance the natural flavors.
- Combine in Slow Cooker: Place the beef chunks in the slow cooker. Pour the chile sauce evenly over the meat. Add bay leaves and pour beef broth to partially cover the meat. Stir gently to coat beef fully in the sauce.
- Cook Low and Slow: Set the slow cooker to low heat and cook for 8 to 10 hours until the beef is tender and infused with the sauce flavors.
- Shred and Serve: Remove the beef chunks and shred with two forks. Return shredded beef to the sauce, stirring well to soak up the juices before serving.
Notes
- Toast chiles carefully to avoid burning and bitterness.
- Use quality beef chuck roast with good marbling for juiciness.
- Soak dried chiles thoroughly to release full flavor.
- Cooking on low for a long time produces the best tenderness and taste.
- For a smoother sauce, strain blended sauce before adding beef if desired.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 to 10 hours
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 4g
- Sodium: 550mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 8g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: Thirty grams please note - 30g
- Cholesterol: 85mg
Keywords: beef birria, slow cooker birria, Mexican beef stew, birria tacos, comfort food, slow cooked beef, gluten free Mexican recipe