Birria sauce consommรฉ is a spicy liquid to cook your meat in like our Instant Pot birria tacos. Make as mild or hot as you want with lots of chiles. Get ready for the best Mexican recipe of your life yโall.
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 itโs super easy too! Get ready for some heat, drooling mouths and the most flavorful lamb or beef youโll ever eat yโall. (affiliate links present)
Birria Sauce Recipe
Ok so if you arenโt familiar to this type of meat or tacos you are in for a real treat. Itโs basically a marinade thatโs 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 cooker shredded beef right in this sauce which is terrific, serve inside tortillas, wait but thereโs more. THEN you blend all the liquids and peppers together to create an incredibly pungent sauce you can dip your air fryer tacos in, kindaโ like a Mexican au jus sauce.
Ingredients
- Cascabel chili peppers and New Mexico chili peppers
- 4 de arbol chili pepper or guajillo chiles
- 2 ancho chili peppers for a spicy kick
- Diced onions and cilantro is nice too if you like it
- Olive oil is the best option
- Minced garlic we love in anything
- Mexican oregano
- Cumin is traditionally used
- Ginger, ground
- 1 tsp peppercorns crushed
- Cloves is a fabulous add
- Coriander may be surprising
- Apple cider vinegar gives it that tangy flavor
- Tomato paste to thicken the sauce
How do you adjust the heat of birria sauce?
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!
- 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 youโd like it to be.
- 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.
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.
How to Make Birria Taco Sauce
- Prepare chiles to remove stems and seeds.
- Place into a large pot or pressure cooker on saute in order to toast chilies until the smell is evident and they begin to brown as well.
- Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add oil and saute sliced or diced onions and minced garlic to soften and bring out those flavors even further.
- Add seasonings with your tomato paste and vinegar to add the bang to this sauce. Add back in chilies.
- Pour liquids in to boil everything together on the stove in your pot.
- 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.
What does birria taste like?
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? Itโs like that but hotter. You can adjust how spicy it is though at the end, trust me.
How long does it take to make Birria sauce?
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.
FAQ
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.
Simmer the sauce uncovered over medium-low heat. This allows water to evaporate, concentrating and thickening the sauce naturally. OR mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot powder with 2 tablespoons of cold water to form a slurry. Stir that in when bubbling and stir until thicker.
You could toss with meat and serve this as a sort of low carb version with lettuce wraps. Tacos are a traditional meal with this though for sure. Not only is it folded in with shredded meat but served as a dipping sauce as well so it drips off you have so much of it. Pour on top of enchiladas or dip for flautas.
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.
What to do with leftovers
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 birria tacos dipping sauce.
They will kindaโ 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 isnโt warm enough for you then go for the spicier blended version as I explain below.
Birria Taco Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pot
Ingredients
- 4 cascabel chili peppers
- 1 New Mexico chili pepper
- 4 de arbol chili pepper
- 2 ancho chili peppers
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 tsp oregano
- 1 cinnamon stick, whole
- 2 tsp cumin, ground
- 1 tsp ginger, ground
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp coriander
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 3.5-4 c beef stock, or broth, depending on how intense of a flavor you want it, add more stock to tone it down
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Before serving, do you remove the cinnamon sticks, blend the contents in the pot?
In directions yes you strain sauce to remove all the larger pieces and enjoy the liquid sauce that way.
@The Typical Mom, thank you so much for the clarification. I donโt know how I missed it. Cheers!
enjoy love
This is delicious sauce! How long will this last in the refrigerator? Can I freeze this?
It would freeze well cooled in freezer bags for a few months, in the fridge youโd need to use within the week in a sealed container.