This Birria consomé recipe consists of a tasty, savory broth made by simmering meat and spices. It’s perfect for dipping, adding a warm flavor to every bite.

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A bowl of pozole with shredded meat, chopped onions, and cilantro on top. It is accompanied by sliced radishes and lime wedges in bowls on the side. A spoon rests in the bowl of stew.

Save this birria consomé recipe. You’ll be grateful that you did later.

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The birria sauce, or consomé, is the broth that is made when cooking the meat and spices.

It’s rich, deeply satisfying, and so delicious. Serve with the meat or use it for dipping.

See my recipe for Slow Cooker Birria!

Spices to make the Birria de Res sauce on a decorative Mexican clay plate.

Table of Contents

1 🌶️ Making the Chile Sauce
2 🥩 Type of Meat
3 🍴 Birria Variations
4 😋 Hungry for More
5 Birria Consomé (birria sauce)

🌶️ Making the Chile Sauce

These are the spices you will need in order to make birria.

Yes, you can use ground spices. Everything will go into the blender anyways.

Make the chile sauce ahead of time. You’ll save yourself time in the cooking process.

A collage of four images showing steps in making sauce. Top left: Dried chiles soaking in a pot. Top right: Blender with chiles, garlic, and spices. Bottom left: Strained sauce with residue. Bottom right: Spoon holding smooth red sauce.

Rehydrate the chiles.
Add all the sauce ingredients to a blender.
Blend until smooth.

You should be left with a thick sauce. This is the base of the consomé. It’ll thin out when the water is added.

Raw beef steaks on a rectangular white plate, placed on a rustic wooden surface. The steaks are well-marbled, with visible fat along the edges. The wood background has a weathered appearance, enhancing the rustic feel.

🥩 Type of Meat

Birria, traditionally, is made with goat. Since it is virtually impossible to find north of the border, beef is a perfectly acceptable substitute.
Here, we’re using beef chuck roast. Feel free to remove some of the fat. Not all of it, though. You need some fat in order to develop the flavors of the consomé and the beef.

A pot filled with tender, cooked beef in a rich, red tomato-based sauce. The beef appears to be well-cooked, with the sauce surrounding and partially covering the meat. The dish is inside a black slow cooker.

Add the beef, chile sauce, and broth to a large pot.
Cook for hours on the stove, in the slow cooker, or in the instant pot.

My favorite way to make birria is in the instant pot. It takes a fraction of the time, but you are limited on how much you can make. Tip: cut down the beef to make it fit inside of the Instant Pot.

A bowl of red birria stew, filled with tender shredded meat, chopped onions, and cilantro. A spoon rests in the bowl, ready to serve. The vibrant colors and fresh ingredients suggest a flavorful, comforting dish.

To serve: Add shredded beef to a bowl and cover it with ladles of consome.
Top with onions, lime juice, and chopped cilantro.

This homemade birria consomé recipe (or birria sauce) is deeply flavorful and aromatic. Simmered to perfection and great for dipping!

Four dishes featuring birria are shown: a taco dipped in sauce, a tamale on a husk with birria filling, a quesadilla with dipping sauce, and ramen noodles with birria. The text "BIRRIA VARIATIONS" is centered, with a website link below.

🍴 Birria Variations

Over the years, people have taken birria and reinvented it in many ways. Here are some popular variations.

Instant Pot Birria Tacos – also called Quesabirria tacos. The meat is placed inside corn tortillas along with cheese. They are folded in half on a hot griddle to create a cheesy crust. Served with consome for dipping.
Birria Ramen – Beef is added to the ramen container. The hot consome helps in softening the noodles.
Birria Tamales – Masa is spread on a corn husk, stewed birria meat is used as the filling, then they are steamed to perfection. The tamales are served with the consome.
Birria Quesadillas – These are made with flour tortillas, stewed birria meat, and cheese. Cooked on a griddle to create a cheesy sensation that’s perfect for dipping into consome.
Birria Pizza – You’ll either find them as stacked birria quesadillas or made with traditional pizza dough.