This slow cooker birria recipe is the perfect way to enjoy rich, authentic Mexican flavors without spending all day in the kitchen.
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Traditionally from Jalisco, Mexico, birria is a slow-cooked stew made with tender beef simmered in a deeply flavorful chile-based sauce.
Whether you serve it as a comforting stew or turn it into crispy birria tacos, this dish is guaranteed to be a family favorite.
Table of Contents
👩🏼🍳 Instructions
Sear the meat all sides on medium heat to lock in the flavors. Mmm… imagine the smell! It’s Mexcellent! 😃
The best cut of meat to use is boneless beef chuck roast. Chop into beef chunks for searing in batches.
Originally, this recipe was made with goat meat. You might also find people who make with lamb.
These dried chiles are what give amazing smokiness flavor to the beef. We’re using guajillo chiles and ancho chile.
Full ingredients list is below in the printable recipe card.
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.
There really are no substitutions for these two types of chiles. If you can’t find guajillos, use chipotles. They have great smoky flavor.
To make this birria sauce recipe, you will need all these aromatics. Spices like ¼ cinnamon stick, thyme, Mexican 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.
Not a fan of bouillon? Use beef broth instead.
For a smoother adobo sauce, strain the sauce. Set this aside until ready to use. This is what will help create a rich consommé.
If the sauce tastes too spicy, add 1-2 tomatoes to the blender and blend away. They will help reduce the heat level.
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!
This crockpot birria recipe is sure to be a hit, but just in case… Stovetop and instant pot instructions are in the recipe card below.
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 or simply add beef broth.
Slow cook the meat – Set it on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours. The meat will be fall-apart tender and ready to eat.
🫙 Storing & Reheating Instructions
- Store leftovers in airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Reheat in a microwave covered for 2 ½ to 3 minutes.
🥘 How To Serve
- Beef Birria is typically served with raw diced onion, chopped fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and a dozen tortillas.
- Or, you can take it up a notch and use the shredded meat to make Birria Ramen, Instant Pot Birria Tacos (also known as quesabirria tacos), Birria Burritos, even Birria Tamales!
🥩 More Mexican Beef Recipes
- Barbacoa de Res (Beef Barbacoa)
- Carne con Papas (Beef and Potatoes)
- Salpicon de Res (Cold Beef Salad)
- Caldillo (Mexican Beef Stew)
- Milanesa de Res (Fried Beef Steak)
- Carne Asada Street Tacos
This slow cooker birria recipe delivers bold, authentic Mexican flavor with minimal effort. Juicy shredded beef and a rich consommé make it perfect for tacos or serving as a stew.
😋 Hungry for More
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Slow Cooker Birria Recipe (Birria de Res)
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.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- Release pressure. Serve and enjoy.
- Make the sauce as instructed above.
- Keep the meat in the pot.
- Pour sauce over the meat.
- Cover with lid and cook for 2 hours.
- Until fork tender.
I have mine in the crockpot, is my husband birthday, I am anxious. Thank you very much for your recipes I love many of them
So glad you enjoyed this. Provecho!
I have mine in the crockpot right now! So excited 😋
So exciting hope you liked it!
So delicious, my family loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your family’s recipe.
So glad you family liked it! This is one of my favorite recipes.
I cant get a hold of ancho chilies, will it still turn out ok?
Yes. Anchos add good flavor, but you can use only guajillo chiles.
This is a great recipe! Super savory and rich in flavor. I asked my Pops to bring a few pounds of beef… He brought almost 10 lbs!!! Had to double everything, switched to stove top, and turned out well.
Thank you!
Wow that’s a lot of beef. Glad you liked this recipe!
I used your instructions as a guide, mi mom shares ‘recipes’ like an ingredient list without quantities or instructions! But this was very similar, just added vinegar and used cumin instead of thyme (as per my mom’s list).
So yummy. Glad you liked it!
I made this for dinner yesterday. I cooked it in the crockpot on low for 7 hours. The house smelled so good! I was worried that a whole stick of cinnamon would be too much but it turned out delicious. It was about 1/4 inch in diameter. I did put in some carrots, roma tomatoes and half toasted onion. Mmm! The broth was flavorful. It may look like there’s a lot of chili’s but it’s not spicy at all. Hubby loved it. He said this was the best taco I’ve ever made. Thank you for this recipe. It’s a Keeper. Will make again.
I think so too definitely this recipe is a keeper. So glad you liked it!
Thank you for this! I’ve cooked it twice already in the past week and made it into tacos. Can’t stop eating them. Soooo good!
So yummy. Glad you liked it!
My maternal grandpa was also from Zacatecas but I have never been. My grandma was from chihuahua. They moved to Texas before I could ever visit their places of birth. I am planning on making your recipe this week but making it into tacos. I cannot wait!
I think everyone would love this recipe. Hope you try it!
I ave always put a little bit of vinegar in mine .it really brings out the flavor of the sauce but I always did it on the stove or in a hole outside. We always did a whole goat or a pig.
Great idea! It will help tenderize the meat.
I’m very impatiently staring at my crockpot every time I pass through the kitchen. I tasted the sauce and it was amazing! I’m making birria de chivo with some mountain goat a friend gave me. Thank you for the recipe! It sounds almost exactly like my grandma’s but of course she doesn’t measure so it’s been hard to replicate.
So delicious hope you liked it!
Hola hola Maggie, nice to see you!
All your recipes look delicious 😋
I will be trying this one next week but I will try it in a pressure cooker (I no longer have my slow cooker)
I’ll let you know how it goes
Hola Claudia! Thanks I’m glad you liked my recipes. Let me know how it goes with this recipe.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I have been craving birria for weeks. I am new to cooking authentic Mexican food and wanted to know how to make this amazing dish. I looked at tons of videos and they didn’t really give details on little things like how much cinnamon to use. I’m so grateful for this recipe and you taking the time to post about it.
I made this this recipe yesterday and although I didn’t so it step by step it turned out so good I was super impressed. I did take some advice from the comments section and added tomato. I also added juice from half of an orange. I did not strain the chile sauce and really didn’t find the texture to be grainy or noticeable. I also booked this in the instant pot at your recommendation of 45 on high pressure.
What was kind of an error, was adding the tomato and not adding enough water to make it more soupy, the broth was thicker. Some people might not like that. I did but it’s something to think about if you want more of a soup feel.
This is my first time ever commenting on a recipe. It was so amazing that I needed to say thanks. I can’t wait to make this again
So glad you liked it! This is one of my favorite recipes.
I’ve made this twice and it turned out great! My mother in law is from Jalisco and makes it the same way <3 My husband loves it and I made it for a potluck and I had zero leftovers! Thanks for sharing!
That is awesome. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! It turned out absolutely delicious.
So glad you liked it!
Can I make this in a regular pot if I don’t have a slow cooker?
In a regular pot, simmer for 90 minutes, or until tender. It can take as long as 2 hours.
What if I don’t have thyme will this work?
Thyme is a big ingredient in the sauce. You can substitute for marjoram, more oregano, or even Herbes de Provence.
Hello!
Is there anything different I would need to do if i am cooking this in an instapot?
thank you!
Yes. Press SAUTE, heat oil, sear the meat in the instant pot. The problem with the instant pot is that you can’t fit the entire meat sometimes. Chop it up and do the searing in stages if needed.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made this a few times now and each time there have been no leftovers 🙂
That’s awesome. So glad to hear!
HI! I’m so excited to try this. However I bought a rump roast. Will that be ok? Also, I do not have beef bouillon, can I use beef broth instead?
Thanks!
Tara
Rump roast is fine. Beef broth is fine too. Hope you like it! 🙂
Hi. If I want to make it more like a soup version, if I add more water how much more of the ingredients do I add so I won’t lose flavor?
Add more beef broth, or water + bouillon. I would only add 1 extra cup at a time to see if you like it. Anything more than 2 cups might dilute the flavor.
Can this recipe be done with pork?
Yes. Try it with pork shoulder or pork loin. Pork butt is too fatty.