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Crockpot Birria Tacos on a wooden cutting board, topped with cilantro and red onions, served with consomé for dipping

Crockpot Birria Tacos

This Crockpot Birria Tacos recipe offers time-saving simplicity with melt-in-your-mouth beef and flavorful sauce, perfect for your next taco night!
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours
Total Time 9 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 9 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs. boneless chuck roast
  • 1 Tbsp. cooking oil (vegetable, canola, or avocado)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coarse ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 4 dried Guajillo chiles
  • 7-8 dried arbol chiles
  • 5-6 Chipotle chiles in adobo, from a can
  • 1 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 8 whole cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 32 oz. beef stock
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 14.5 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 2 Tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. dried Mexican oregano
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 dry bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp. ground coriander
  • 1 tsp. dried minced onion, or 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • Corn tortillas
  • Cilantro
  • Diced red onions
  • More oil for frying tacos

Method
 

  1. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper on all sides.
  2. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil, and sear the beef for 4-5 minutes on each side.
  3. Transfer the beef to a slow cooker and add the guajillo chiles, arbol chiles, chipotle peppers, onion, garlic, beef stock, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, lime juice, cumin, oregano, thyme, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cloves, paprika, minced dried onion, and coriander. Stir to combine.
  4. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 9-10 hours.
  5. Once cooked, remove the beef and shred it with two forks. Discard cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and pepper stems.
  6. Blend the sauce until smooth using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor, then add 1 cup of the sauce to the shredded beef and stir.
  7. Heat a frying pan with oil over medium-high heat. Dip each tortilla into the smooth sauce, then fry for 2 minutes per side until slightly crispy.
  8. Fill each tortilla with shredded beef, diced onions, and cilantro. Fold the tortilla in half and fry for an additional 2 minutes on each side.
  9. Serve with a small bowl of sauce for dipping, and garnish with additional diced onions and cilantro as desired.

Notes

Make the sauce and shred the beef a day ahead to save even more time on serving day.