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About this recipe

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Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Fall-apart beef, glossy brick-red chile broth, smoky dried peppers, fresh lime, cilantro, and warm tortillas create a dramatic Mexican comfort dish built for slow cooking and big flavor. 🥩

Ingredients

• Beef 🥩
• 🥩 1.4 kg beef chuck, cut into large pieces (3.1 lb)
• 🥩 500 g beef short ribs or beef shank (1.1 lb)
• 🧂 2 tsp fine sea salt
• ⚫ ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 🫒 15 ml neutral oil (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• Chile sauce 🌶️
• 🌶️ 6 dried guajillo chilies
• 🌶️ 3 dried ancho chilies
• 🌶️ 1–2 dried chile de árbol, optional
• 🍅 350 g Roma tomatoes, halved (12.3 oz)
• 🧅 180 g white onion, quartered (1 large / 6.3 oz)
• 🧄 30 g garlic (7 cloves / 1.1 oz)
• 🍎 45 ml apple cider vinegar (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌿 1½ tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 🌿 1 tsp ground cumin
• 🌿 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 🌿 ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ⚫ ½ tsp black pepper
• 🧂 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 💧 350 ml hot water or beef broth (1½ cups / 12 fl oz)
• Consomé 🍲
• 🥩 1.2 liters beef broth (5 cups / 40 fl oz)
• 🌿 2 bay leaves
• 🌿 1 small cinnamon stick
• 🧅 100 g white onion, roughly chopped (¾ cup / 3.5 oz)
• To finish 🍽️
• 🧅 Finely diced white onion
• 🌿 Fresh cilantro
• 🍋 Fresh lime wedges
• 🌶️ Thinly sliced jalapeño or serrano, optional
• 🌮 Warm corn tortillas
• 🥑 Sliced avocado, optional
• 🧀 Crumbled queso fresco, optional

Preparation

• 1 Prepare the dried chilies 🌶️ Remove the stems and most of the seeds from the guajillo and ancho chilies. Leave the chile de árbol whole when using for a stronger heat.
• 2 Toast the chilies 🔥 Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the chilies for approximately 10–15 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly softened, then remove immediately before they darken.
• 3 Soften the chilies 💧 Place the toasted chilies in a heatproof bowl and cover with very hot water. Leave them to soften for 15 minutes, then drain.
• 4 Roast the vegetables 🍅 Place the tomatoes, quartered onion, and garlic in a dry skillet or beneath a hot broiler. Cook until softened with dark roasted spots around the edges.
• 5 Blend the birria sauce ✨ Place the softened chilies, roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, vinegar, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, salt, and hot broth in a blender. Blend until completely smooth.
• 6 Sear the beef 🥩 Pat the beef dry and season with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the meat in batches until deeply browned on several sides.
• 7 Add the chile sauce 🌶️ Return all the beef to the pot and pour the blended chile sauce over it. Stir and cook for 2–3 minutes until the sauce becomes darker and aromatic.
• 8 Build the consomé 🍲 Add the beef broth, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and chopped onion. Bring everything to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to very low and cover.
• 9 Braise until tender ⏳ Cook gently for approximately 3–3½ hours until the beef can be separated easily with a fork. Turn the larger pieces once or twice during cooking.
• 10 Shred the beef 🥩 Transfer the cooked beef to a large plate. Remove bones and excess pieces of fat, then pull the meat into thick juicy strands using two forks.
• 11 Finish and serve 🍽️ Skim only excessive fat from the surface of the consomé, leaving enough for richness and color. Return some shredded beef to the broth and serve the remaining meat alongside bowls of hot consomé with onion, cilantro, lime, and warm corn tortillas.

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