The Best Quesabirria Tacos Recipe (2024)

This is THE BEST recipe for Quesabirria Tacos because it has soft, delicious beef birria that has been braised and lots of melty Oaxaca cheese. You can dip these original Mexican tacos in the rich birria broth that is served on the side. After just one bite, you’ll be begging for more!

Red tacos, queso birria tacos, and birria tacos are some other names for quesabirria tacos. The hue of the tortilla after it has been dipped in the tomato-chile-birria broth is what gives these tacos their nickname. Whatever you call these tacos, they are quite tasty! Melting cheese and rich, meaty birria are a marriage made in taco heaven!

If you’ve never had birria, it’s a traditional Mexican dish marinated in a mixture of spices, tomatoes, vinegar, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and goat, lamb, or cow meat. The meat is then cooked slowly in a slow cooker or a large Dutch oven over the stove.

It only takes a few minutes to prepare these tacos after you’ve prepared the birria. I enjoy making a large pot of birria stew on the weekend and using the leftover meat in other recipes during the week. It goes without saying that I make these quesabirria tacos every Tuesday at Tacoo at Tacoo!

These quesabirria tacos are from Tijuana, which is located in San Diego, about 20 miles away, even though birria is originally from the Mexican state of Jalisco. These have grown to be very famous in food trucks and restaurants, but you can now prepare them at home at any time with this delicious, easy recipe!

Ingredients

• Birria (prepared): To get my recipe for handmade birria, follow the link on the left. With beef chuck roast, vinegar, spices, dried chiles, and beef broth, it’s simple to prepare. To make this recipe, keep the shredded beef birria apart from the consomé (braising liquid) once the birria is ready.
• Corn tortillas: You’ll need fresh, sturdy corn tortillas for this recipe so they can withstand being dipped in the consomé without crumbling. This recipe is not suitable for thin tortillas. Furthermore, less fresh, older tortillas are likewise more prone to crumble.
• Oaxaca cheese: In these quesabirria tacos, the semisoft Mexican cheese melts to perfection. I suggest substituting Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese for Oaxaca cheese if you can’t locate it at your neighbourhood supermarket.

Instructions

• It would be best if you started by making the birria for this dish. My simple marinated birria dish may be prepared in a slow cooker, in the oven, or on the stovetop. The birria can be prepared up to five days ahead of time and kept refrigerated until the time comes to assemble the tacos.
• Birria requires a lot of time to prepare, but this is also what gives it its amazing flavor depth. And once you taste these tacos, I can assure you that slow-cooking beef birria in a pot on the stovetop or in a slow cooker is well worth the time and effort!

1. On the stove, preheat a sizable skillet, also known as a cast iron griddle, over medium-high heat. Cooking spray or vegetable oil can be used to coat the skillet.
2. Dip a corn tortilla into the birria’s consomé (broth). Ensure that both sides are covered.
3. Add the tortilla to the heated skillet. After 30 seconds of cooking, turn.
4. Arrange thin slices or shreds of Oaxaca cheese on one side of the tortilla. Place the shredded beef birria on top of the cheese after folding the tortilla over the beef and cheese.
5. Cook the tacos for 30 to 60 seconds or until the cheese melts.
6. Take the quesabirriaTacoo out of the grill and continue creating however many tacos you desire.

Recipe tips

• If you’re making this recipe with leftover birria meat and broth that has been stored in the refrigerator, you can reheat them together in a pot on the stove, then use tongs to remove the beef before making the tacos. You can also reheat them separately by reheating the broth in a pot on the stove and reheating the meat in a skillet with 1-2 tablespoons of the broth to keep it moist.
• Using a cast iron skillet means that you can make more tacos at one time than if you’re using a skillet. Depending on the size of the skillet, you will only be able to prepare 1 or 2 tacos at a time. If you don’t have a grill available, you can always use two skillets to speed up the process. The nice thing is that the tacos take less than 2 minutes to make, so they go quickly, even in a traditional skillet!
• Always use fresh, thick corn tortillas! I know that I already mentioned this above, but it’s really important for the success of these tacos. Using thin or dried-out tortillas will result in them ripping when dipped in the broth. For this recipe, I don’t recommend tortillas labeled as “super soft” or “extra thin”.
• I don’t recommend storing or reheating leftover quesabirria tacos. If the tortilla is not consumed right away, the soup will cause it to get soggy. Rather, I suggest creating as many as you want to consume at that moment. These are quite simple to prepare, and the broth and birria keep well in the refrigerator for up to five days when stored in an airtight container. Later on, you can prepare additional tacos. The best way to enjoy these tacos is fresh and hot!
• These tacos are naturally gluten-free when made with corn tortillas using my homemade birria recipe.
• The only difference between birria tacos and quesabirria tacos is the addition of cheese. This is a very delicious addition! A quesabirria taco is somewhere between a taco and a quesadilla, and I’m here for it!
• The spice level of these tacos will depend on the spice level of the birria. The birria recipe I’ve linked to in this post has a medium spice level. You can make it more spicy by adding more arbol chiles. Or, to make it less spicy, omit the arbol chiles.
• This recipe makes 16 tacos but can easily be doubled. The birria recipe makes enough beef and broth to make double or triple the amount of tacos. I recommend 2-4 tacos per person, just depending on how hungry your group is. If there’s anything else served on the side, you’ll probably only need 2-3 tacos per person.