Best homemade birria tacos sauce consommé to dip or to cook your meat in like our pressure cooker birria. Make as mild or spicy as you want with lots of chiles. Get ready for the best Mexican recipe of your life y’all.

A close-up of dried red chilies soaking in a rich, oily blend of spices and seasoning, reminiscent of a vibrant birria tacos sauce. The marinade is a luscious reddish-brown hue, with the chilies appearing softened and perfectly coated in the flavorful oil.
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I bet you had some birria homemade taco sauce at a restaurant lately and you were blown away. Can you make it homemade at home? Yes and it’s super easy too! Get ready for some heat, drooling mouths and the most flavorful lamb or beef you’ll ever eat y’all. (affiliate links present)

Birria Tacos Dipping Sauce

Ok so if you aren’t familiar to this type of meat or tacos you are in for a real treat. It’s basically a marinade that’s spicy, smoky and a bit sweet. Once the chiles, onion, garlic, coriander, and all the other seasonings are sauteed together and boiled down you can use it in two ways.

You can pressure cook shredded beef right in this sauce which is terrific, serve inside tortillas, wait but there’s more. THEN you blend all the liquids and peppers together to create an incredibly pungent sauce you can dip your air fryer tacos in, kinda’ like a Mexican au jus sauce.

A spoonful of tomato paste is held over a pot, poised to join the simmering ingredients transforming into a rich birria tacos sauce. The pot's browned bits and seasonings, including a cinnamon stick, hint at the warm depth of flavors in preparation for this delectable stew.

Birria Taco Sauce Recipe Ingredients

If I had to compare it to something else I have had before I might say it is a little like our slow cooker barbacoa. You know how the sauce in that just envelopes the protein and makes it a bit sticky and coated? It’s like that but hotter. You can adjust how spicy it is though at the end, trust me.

  • Cascabel chili peppers and New Mexico chili peppers
  • de arbol chili pepper or guajillo chiles
  • ancho chili peppers
  • Diced onions and cilantro is nice too if you like it
  • Olive oil
  • Minced garlic
  • Mexican oregano
  • Cumin
  • Ginger, ground
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • Cloves
  • Coriander
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Tomato paste 

Whether you are cooking your meat in this sauce or not here are two variations to it. I would suggest that you try it without blending first. If it is on the hot side then just strain it and serve as is. Wanting more heat? Blend it until smooth and then it will satisfy your need for fiery food!

  1. Spicy birria sauce = After it is done and boiled down, pour half of your liquid and use a slotted spoon to move all the whole pieces into a blender. Pulse until as smooth as you’d like it to be.
  2. Medium to mild birria sauce = Use a strainer with a bowl below it to remove everything from the liquid. Pour the contents in your small bowl into small containers and serve alongside your meal. Note: this will still be on the spicy side

This is great served alongside your quesabirria taco, or beef birria with some shredded cheese on top inside corn tortillas. I mean it is terrific on all things on your plate really. I have even mixed a bit inside of our Spanish rice and it gave it an oomph that I had never had before, everyone loved it.

A hand holds a glass bowl of spices perfect for birria tacos sauce, featuring whole black peppercorns, dried oregano, ground cumin, coriander, and ginger. In the background, a wooden spoon awaits to blend these flavors into a savory masterpiece.

How to Make Easy Birria Tacos Sauce

You can either make this on your stovetop in a pot or in a pressure cooker. If you want to make shredded meat in it, not just the sauce itself I suggest using an Instant Pot as you see here below. Short ribs are great cooked right inside there, but lamb is what is traditional. Really you could use this with any protein to add a ton of flavor to it.

  • To prepare your dried chiles you want to remove all stems and seeds. Place into a large pot (or pressure cooker on saute) over medium/high heat.
    • Toast chilies until they are fragrant, this will be about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from pot and set aside. Add your oil to the pot and add onion and garlic, cooking until soft, about 6 minutes. Frequently scrape off any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  
  • Add your bay leaves, a whole cinnamon stick, oregano, cumin, coriander, ginger, peppercorns, salt and pepper and cloves. Stir in vinegar and tomato paste.
    • Combine and add back in your chilies. Pour beef broth or stock in and boil (or keep on saute in IP).
  • If you were just making the sauce you would be finished after boiling for 4-5 minutes. Strain or blend in a blender and enjoy sauce.

If you want to add meat you would do so after step 3 and boil until tender enough to shred with 2 forks. OR seal lid on your pressure cooker and cook for 1 hour on high pressure. Remove meat and then serve sauce as directed on the side of your birria taco recipe.

A close-up of Birria Tacos Sauce in a glass container reveals its rich, chunky texture with visible pieces of peppers and spices. Bold lettering at the top proudly declares "Birria taco sauce.

Best Sauce for Birria Tacos

There are quite a few seasonings you use to make this, like all the things. It will take you about 15 minutes to prep so keep that in mind. That is just for the sauce itself not including the cook time you would need if you added beef in there. An hour or so is what it takes under pressure for that part.

How to make birria sauce thicker?

Then you’re going to add a few cups of beef broth, the more you add the more diluted it will be so add less if you want it thick. If cooking meat in it you will need more than if you didn’t. 4 cups is just about right for us. I do use this in both ways though where I tenderize the meat in it, then strain, and serve together. I don’t know why you wouldn’t.

A pot with chunks of beef simmering in a reddish-brown Birria sauce, accented by visible dried chili peppers and spices. The dish, rich in flavor and aroma, is likely being cooked on a stove.

What can I make with birria sauce?

Some call it this which does make sense. Like I said, this is kinda’ compared to au jus like when you make a French dip sandwich (which is great with this meal too). I mean you can’t have one without the other. Not that the meat isn’t fabulous as is but it wouldn’t be categorized as such without the broth being served on the side for dipping.

If you wanted to make or serve this as a sort of low carb version you would just want to skip the wrap entirely. You could make into lettuce wraps instead with meat of your choice, I’m a fan of this. In this case you add a bit of toner to it because the outside is a bit cool right out of the fridge. Tacos are traditional though for sure.

How do you serve this sauce? Well you just need a little dish like a ramekin size on the plate for dipping. You can add the meat all sorts of ways beyond just inside a tortilla with oaxaca cheese on top. I mean you can roll them up with a bit of cheese to make a few air fry flautas. These are easy to dip dip dip away.

A hand holds metal tongs, placing shredded beef onto a tortilla with melted cheese in a black skillet. The tortilla appears partially folded, suggesting the preparation of a quesadilla, while a drizzle of savory birria tacos sauce enhances its flavor.

What to do with leftover birria consome?

This is another fun thing to make with this the next day. Okay so get a small corn tortilla and put it into a cast iron skillet with a touch of olive oil. Smother with some sauce. Add your marinated beef, cheese, and fold over. Brown on both sides to melt and make ooey gooey. AAAaaaand then serve with a side of sauce too.

They will kinda’ be like fried tacos in a sense, as they sit they will get crispier. Easy to pick up with all the goodness and goo inside. Pick up and dip each bite in the goodness before eating. OMG my mouth is watering just thinking about making these babies yet again.

I bet you are ready to jump to recipe below and get going right?? First decide whether you are going to use it for cooking and serving or just the latter. Personally it is best if you go all out. If it is your first go around test the sauce without blending first. If it isn’t warm enough for you then go for the spicier blended version as I explain below.

How do you make birria sauce less spicy?

If you make this homemade birria and find it is too hot for your liking, first off make note of that so you can tone down the amount of peppers you add the next time you make it. Secondly, you can add more broth or to really tame it and add a creamy element, use some coconut milk.

Birria Tacos Sauce
5 from 3 votes

Birria Tacos Sauce

By The Typical Mom
Best birria tacos sauce to dip in or cook your meat in and then use as a sauce on top. Make as mild or spicy as you want with lots of chiles.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Servings: 12
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Equipment

  • 1 pot

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Remove all stems and seeds from the dry chilies. Cut off the ends and shake out all of the seeds. Place into a pot over medium/high heat. Toast chilies until they become aromatic, this will be about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from pot and set aside. Add your oil to the pot and add onion and garlic, cooking until soft, about 6 minutes. Frequently scrape off any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  
  • Add bay leaves, cinnamon stick, oregano, cumin, coriander, ginger, peppercorns and cloves. Stir in vinegar and tomato paste. Combine and add in chilies. Pour beef stock in and boil.
  • If you were just making the sauce you would be finished after boiling for 4-5 minutes. Strain and enjoy sauce.
  • If you want to add meat you would do so after step 3 and boil until tender enough to shred with 2 forks. Then serve inside small tortillas to make tacos.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1oz, Calories: 43kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 156mg, Potassium: 290mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 1628IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 27mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dip
Cuisine: Mexican
Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

About The Typical Mom

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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6 Comments

    1. In directions yes you strain sauce to remove all the larger pieces and enjoy the liquid sauce that way.

    2. @The Typical Mom, thank you so much for the clarification. I don’t know how I missed it. Cheers!

  1. This is delicious sauce! How long will this last in the refrigerator? Can I freeze this?

    1. It would freeze well cooled in freezer bags for a few months, in the fridge you’d need to use within the week in a sealed container.