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A big bowl of this Slow Cooker Birria de Res, or Mexican Beef stew, is the ultimate comfort food. Deep robust Mexican food flavors that will make your tastebuds very happy. Enjoy!
Birria de Res reminds me of my maternal grandfather. He was born in a humble town in Zacatecas, Mexico – no neon signs, taxis or 7-11s. Like most Mexicans outside of the city, he didn’t have much of an education, but that didn’t stop him. He collected every book or magazine he could get his hands on. Learning was my grandfather’s passion.
My grandfather was a violinist, an engineer, a writer, a man beyond his time. Eventually, he made his way to Durango, Mexico – where my family is from. Each time we visited my abuelito, we would eat Birria de Chivo, or Mexican Stew made with goat. Since goat is hard to find in the US, I’m making this dish with beef. This is the way we make it in Durango. Other states have their versions.
Sear the meat on all sides to lock in the flavors. Mmm… imagine the smell! It’s Mexcellent! 😀
These chiles give good flavor to the Birria de Res. I’m using chile guajillo and ancho chile.
It’s easy to devein and remove the seeds from the chiles. Start by cutting off the tops, or the stems.
Then cut them lengthwise. Do you see the seeds? You don’t want these in your sauce. Remove them. You won’t be able to get all of them. Just remove as many as you can. If you can remove any veins, remove them too.
Place your stems removed, deveined, and seeds removed chiles in a stock pot. You will need to use a pot that can handle all the chiles.
Reconstituting chiles means they have to soak in hot water. This does not take long. 5-10 minutes at the most.
To make the sauce for the Birria de Res you will need all these spices. ¼ cinnamon stick, thyme, oregano, cloves, laurel leaves (or bay leaves), salt, and pepper. It sounds like a lot, but each spice brings a lot of flavor to the dish.
Add the spices, the reconstituted chiles, liquid, bouillon, and garlic to the blend. Blend until smooth. Since we are not straining, make sure it is fully blended. You might need to blend a second time.
Some people will strain the sauce for the Birria de Res. My mom is not much of a strainer. Authentic Mexican food is rustic. I love that about our food. If you like a smoother sauce, then go for it. Strain away. I like my mom’s version, and that’s what I’m going with. Set this aside until ready to use.
Back to our beef… salt and pepper the side that’s up. Then turn and sear the uncooked side. You really want color on your beef. Don’t skip this step. It helps lock in some amazingly delicious flavors.
The slow cooker is your friend in the kitchen. You can go shopping, go horseback riding, watch two movies, and your food will not burn. Gotta love that! Add the beef to the slow cooker.
Now time to add the sauce. You want the sauce to cover the entire piece of beef. If it doesn’t for some strange reason, add more water and a little more salt.
Set it on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours. The meat will be tender and ready to eat. Birria de Res is typically served with raw diced onion, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, and a dozen tortillas.
Birria de Res screams celebration – birthday parties, Christmas, baby showers. It’s probably because you can make a HUGE pot of this delicious stew, and it feeds large Mexican families. Big families. Big food. Lots of love (and tortillas).
Watch Video and learn how to make Birria de Res
Slow Cooker: Birria de Res, or Mexican Beef Stew + VIDEO
Birria de Res is a traditional Mexican stew, the perfect comfort food with rich, bold flavors that your tastebuds will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs roast beef
- 3-4 cups water
- 5 dried chile guajillo
- 2 dried chile ancho
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 clove
- ¼ whole cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon
- 2 laurel leaves (or bay leaves)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Heat the griddle, or pan.
Toast the chiles on the griddle for 2-3 minutes.
Turn frequently.
Make sure they do not burn.
If they burn, discard the chiles and start again.
Once toasted, transfer to a heatproof bowl.
Add 1 cup hot water and let the chiles soak for 5 minutes, or until pliable.
Seed and devein the chiles, saving the water.
Don’t worry if some seeds remain.
Add the saved water, the chiles, garlic, oregano, thyme, clove, cinnamon, bouillon, laurel leaves (or bay leaves), salt and pepper in a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Set aside.
In a large pot, heat two tablespoons oil.
Add salt and pepper to the beef.
Sear the beef on all sides.
Once the meat is brown, transfer to the slow cooker.
Add the chile mixture from the blender.
Add enough water to cover the meat.
Set slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours.
Shred beef.
Serve with diced onions, chopped cilantro, and tortillas.
Notes
Searing the meat before adding to the slow cooker locks in flavor. Don't skip this step!
Cut of beef used was chuck roast.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Make the sauce as instructed above.
- Add oil. Press Saute.
- Season the beef with salt and pepper. Sear the meat on all sides.
- Remove the meat and add the chile sauce and water.
- Return the meat to the pot.
- Cover with lid. Press Pressure Cook. 55 minutes.
- Full natural release.
Stove Top Instructions:
- Make the sauce as instructed above.
- Keep the meat in the pot.
- Pour sauce over the meat.
- Cover with lid and cook for 90 minutes, up to 2 hours.
- Until fork tender.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 1457mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 29g
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Making this again tomorrow, so good! This is good for tacos too.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Victoria!
My sister made this yesterday for a birthday dinner and I begged her for the recipe. It was DELICIOUS! I can’t wait to make it myself. Thank you so much for sharing. Saludos desde California 🙂
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Saludos Martha!
Made this today for my husband. He raved about it. You should know he always finds something to say about any meal -needs more salt, not enough salt, too dry, etc. This one he went as far as to say I could sell it by the pound. Thank you!
So glad to read this! This recipe is amazing. I’m glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe!
So good! I’ve made it 3 times already. My daughter asked for it for her 18th birthday!
It’s delicious! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the recipe! Its sound simple and easy to follow.
I am going to make this for Thanksgiving dinner, and this will be the first time for me.
Hope it will turn out good.
Glad you liked this recipe. It’s delicious!
Hola, yo me animé hacer esta receta porque me gustan mucho los caldos, vi la manera de escribir la receta y es muy parecido a como yo cocino, deseo que me quede delicioso igual que a las demas personas que ya lo han hecho,
muchas gracias por compartir.
Les comentaré mañana que tal me quedó! 😉
Esta receta es la favorita! Espero te haya quedado deliciosa!
My son who never tries anything new, love this. He is 13 and a picky eater. He will not eat anything but bean and cheese tacos when we go out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and now this is his favorite dish. Thank you for making this possible for my son that is a picky eater.
So glad to know you son loved this recipe! It’s one of my favorites too.
I’ve been looking around for recipes on simple birria, a lot of sites want to make it “over the top” which takes away from it’s authenticity. Just reading yours I can imagine it is delicious with simple instructions to follow. I can’t wait to make this and I’m positive it’ll be a hit! Muchas gracias Maggie.
This recipe it’s not hard to make and it’s delicious! Hope you try it
Oh my goodness. This was a fantastic recipe! Super easy and the meat was perfect at 7 hours, the flavor was incredible. I can’t wait to make them again! Thank you !!!
So glad you enjoyed this!
This was so delicious!! YUM! I used the Insta Pot and it was very easy.
So glad you enjoyed this Angela!
This is my husband favorite meal now. He is a picky eater and knows good birria . I made it for the first time for thanksgiving. My husband wanted it again for Christmas. Now he wants me to make it a third time for New Years . With humble gratitude, Thank You!!!!! The recipe is very delicious and very easy to make.
Thank you very much. I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed this!
I made your crock pot birria recipe today and I’m so happy I finally got brave enough to try my hand at birria
It’s something I’ve wanted to cook for many years and didn’t think I could do it justice
But your recipe was simple and easy to follow
My family loved it!
We will definitely be having it again
So glad you enjoyed this Ruth!
Looks so good. I am going to make this in the next week
Hope you try it, it’s delicious!
Originally from Zacatecas here too. I stumbled upon this recipe and it’s delicious. Since my parents retired and moved back to Mexico, I was looking at making something that reminded me of home.
This is the perfect recipe then. Hope you try it!