Beef Birria

Featuring:
Rumba Meats® Beef Cheek Meat
Rumba Meats® Beef Oxtails

35 minutes plus overnight Prep Time
4 hours Cook Time
8 Servings

Original Blog & Recipe by
Mely Martinez

I’m Mely Martinez, passionate home cook and former teacher, born and raised in Mexico. Growing up, I was constantly thinking about food and watching how the women in my family cooked and prepared meals. Today, I enjoy teaching people how to cook Mexican food through my blog. Cooking my recipes with the best quality products is very important to me and Rumba Meats offers quality cuts of meat that are conveniently packaged and readily available.

See more of my recipes

Beef Birria

Directions

Birria Preparation

Season the meat with salt and pepper, then place in a large baking dish.
Clean and devein the peppers. Slightly toast them over medium heat. Soak peppers in a cup of hot water. Roast the onion and garlic and place them in your blender.

Birria Preparation 2

Toast the whole cloves, cumin seeds, and black peppercorns. Place them in your blender along with the roasted tomatoes, herbs, onion, cinnamon, and vinegar.
Once peppers are soft, drain, add to the blender, and puree until you have a smooth sauce. Season the sauce with salt.
Pour the sauce over the meat, making sure it is covered all over with the salsa. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Bake the meat for about 4 hours.

Birria Plated 3

Serve the warm meat with its broth in bowls and garnish with chopped onion and cilantro.

Ingredients

Beef Birria

Rumba Meats® Beef Cheek Meat (2 packages)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Ancho Peppers
6 Guajillo Peppers
2 Large roasted tomatoes
4 Whole cloves
½ Teaspoon cumin seeds
½ Teaspoon black peppercorns
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ Teaspoon Marjoram
½ Medium-size white onion sliced
1- in of stick of Mexican cinnamon
½ Cup white vinegar
Salt to taste
3 thick-cut slices white onion

GARNISH

2/3 Cup chopped cilantro or 1/4 Cup of dried oregano
2/3 Cup chopped white onion
Lime wedges

Recipe Notes

Some cooks also like to add a 1-inch piece of ginger root to stock.

Instructions

Season beef cheekmeat with salt and pepper, then place in a large baking dish. Set aside.
Clean and devein peppers. In a hot skillet, lightly toast the peppers over medium heat, making sure you do not burn them (burned peppers will make the dish taste bitter). Soak peppers in hot water for 20 minutes. Roast 3 thick onion slices and garlic in hot skillet and place into blender.
Toast the whole cloves, cumin seeds, and black peppercorns in a hot skillet (this is a quick step that only takes a few seconds) and place into blender Add roasted tomatoes, herbs, onion, cinnamon and vinegar.
Once peppers are soft, drain, add into the blender and puree until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of water only if your blender is having a hard time processing the sauce. Season to taste with salt.
Pour the sauce over evenly over meat. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours to allow meat to absorb the flavors of the sauce.
Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake for about 4 hours until cheekmeat is fork-tender and reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF.
Serve the warm meat with broth in bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro, onion and lime.
Serve with warm tortillas and a hot salsa, if desired.