Lamb Birria Tacos
Birria tacos feature lamb braised in a flavorful sauce, then filled into a corn tortilla along with lots of melty cheese. The tortillas are pan fried in the birria sauce and topped with onion and cilantro.
Ingredients
- 3 lb boneless lamb shoulder
Birria Sauce
- 6-8 guajillo chilies, stems and seeds removed
- 6-8 ancho chilies, stems and seeds removed
- 3-4 chilies de arbol, stems and seeds removed
- 3-4 chiptole chilies, stems and seeds removed
- 1 white onion, peeled and halved
- 4 cooking tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1 Mexican cinnamon stick
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups beef broth
- salt
Tacos
- 8 corn tortillas
- 4 oz Oaxacan or mozarella cheese
- 1 lime
- chopped white onion
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
To Braise the Lamb:
- Start by bringing the lamb up to room temperature. Then coat liberally with salt. Sear the meat on both sides in a large cast iron pot until browned (I used my 5qt dutch oven). Remove lamb from the pot and set aside. The meat may drain some juices while it rests, that's totally normal.
- Next, toast the dried chilies in the dutch oven/cast iron pot to release more of the flavor. Add the tomatoes, white onion, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, coriander, and cold water. Cover the pot and bring to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. This will soften the chilies and release all their delicious flavor.
- Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon, then transfer the remaining ingredients and about half the liquid to a high powered blender. Add the apple cider vinegar and about 2 cups of beef broth, then blend until smooth. Add salt to taste. This sauce does require a heavy dose of salt, I used about 1.5 tbsp.NOTE: The mixture should be thick, almost like an adobo sauce. You may have to work in batches depending on your blender's capacity.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Add the lamb back to the dutch oven/cast iron pot, then pour the sauce over the meat. Cover and braise in the oven for 2-2.5 hours, or until the meat pulls apart easily. NOTE: The braise time will depend on the thickness of your meat and the type of meat you are using. It will also depend on whether you want your lamb super soft, or if you want it to have some bite to it. Start with two hours, then take out a little piece of lamb and test it to see if it's cooked. If not, give it another 30 minutes and test it again.
- Once the lamb is done, remove from pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Set the meat and sauce aside.
To Make the Consomme (Dipping Sauce):
- Remove some of the sauce and add it to a bowl. Add a little beef broth to thin out the sauce. Congrats, youve made a consomme! Add chopped onions and cilantro to the dipping sauce.
To Assemble the Tacos
- Dip a corn tortilla into the pot with the reserve sauce (not the dipping sauce we just made). Pan fry the tortilla in a cast iron skillet, then add lamb and cheese and fold the tortilla over to make a taco. Spoon some sauce to the top of the tortilla and flip so you can cook the other side in the sauce. Repeat for the remaining tacos.
- Serve by topping with chopped onions and cilantro. Dip tacos in consomme and enter heaven!
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @sweetandsorrel on Instagram and hashtag it #sweetandsorrel so we can see all the deliciousness!