Last Updated on July 21, 2025 by Janell

If you’ve ever dipped a taco into a rich, flavorful broth and taken that first juicy, cheesy bite—you already know why quesabirria tacos have become a viral food sensation. Crispy on the outside, melty on the inside, and loaded with slow-cooked beef, these tacos are everything a comfort food should be.

Originally from the Mexican state of Jalisco and made famous through taco trucks and social media, quesabirria combines birria-style braised beef with the indulgent twist of cheese-stuffed tacos. It’s bold, messy, and downright irresistible.

Why You’ll Love This Birria Tacos Recipe

This homemade quesabirria recipe is designed to deliver restaurant-style results right from your kitchen. It starts with a chuck roast simmered for hours in a broth infused with guajillo chilies, garlic, tomatoes, and warm spices like cumin, cloves, and oregano. After about a few hours of slow cooking, the meat becomes fall-apart tender and ready to be shredded.

What really sets quesabirria apart is the way the tacos are assembled. Corn tortillas are dipped in the vibrant red chili oil that rises to the top of the birria broth, then filled with Oaxaca cheese and that flavorful shredded beef. They’re crisped to golden perfection on a skillet, folded, and fried until the cheese melts and the edges crackle.

And don’t forget the consommé! This isn’t just leftover broth—it’s a dipping sauce that completes the experience. Mixed with fresh cilantro and chopped onions, each bite dunked in consommé is bursting with smoky, spicy flavor.

Make It a Taco Night to Remember

This recipe yields approximately 12 tacos, making it perfect for serving 4–6 people. While it does require a bit of time (about 30 minutes of prep and a few hours of cooking, depending on whether you cook it on the stovetop or in a crockpot), the payoff is well worth it. It’s ideal for a weekend cooking project or when you want to impress family and friends with something truly special.

Serve your quesabirria tacos with plenty of lime wedges, fresh cilantro, and extra cheese if you’re feeling indulgent. Once you try them, these tacos are guaranteed to become a new favorite.

Ready to make them? Scroll down for the full recipe and step-by-step instructions—including how to build the perfect consommé for dipping.

Yield: 12

Crock Pot Beef Birria Taco Recipe

Learn how to make beef birria quesabirria tacos filled with tender braised beef and served with rich consommé for dipping.

Ingredients

For the Birria:

3 pounds chuck roast
8 dried guajillo chilies
4 Roma tomatoes, quartered.
1 whole garlic bulb
1 white onion, quartered.
1 teaspoon whole cumin
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
teaspoon whole peppercorns
4-5 whole cloves
4 cups beef broth 4 cups water
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

For the Consommé (Birria broth):

Reserved cooking liquid from the Birria
½ white onion, finely chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro

For Assembling Tacos:

12 Corn tortillas
12 oz Grated Oaxaca cheese
2 tbsp cilantro
½ white onion, finely chopped.
Lime wedges

Instructions

Preparing the Ingredients:

Remove the seeds from 8 guajillo chilies.
Peel and chop one of the onions.
Peel 10 garlic cloves and add to the pot.
Cut your beef into large pieces.
Grind together cumin, coriander, peppercorns, cloves, and oregano until it's a fine powder.

Cooking the Birria:

In a large pot, combine the beef, guajillo chilies, chopped onion, garlic, bay leaves, ground spice mix, salt, beef broth, and water. Cook this on high heat for about 30 minutes.
In a blender, put the quartered Roma tomatoes.
Remove the guajillo chilies, onion, garlic, and about half a cup of the broth. Blend these with the tomatoes until it's smooth.
Strain this blended sauce and add it back to the broth in the pot.
Stove Top - Continue cooking for 3 hours on low-medium heat, with the lid slightly covering the pot and stirring every 30 minutes.
Crock Pot - Add the ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

Preparing the Tacos:

When the meat is very tender, remove it from the pot and let it cool slightly.
Finely chop the remaining onion.
Cut the limes into eight pieces.
Chop half of the cilantro finely and remove the stems from the other half. Set this cilantro aside.
Shred your cheese.
Shred the beef using two forks.
Remove the oil that's floating on top of the broth with a spoon and put it on a plate.
Dip your tortillas in this oil and then add cheese and beef to each tortilla.
In a pan with a bit of oil, cook the tacos on medium heat. After about a minute, fold them in half.
Cook the folded tacos for an additional minute on each side, until they're golden brown. Repeat for all the tacos.

Making the Consommé:

Take about a cup of the broth and mix it with the finely chopped cilantro and diced onions in a bowl to create a flavorful consommé.

Serving the Tacos:

Add cilantro leaves, lime wedges, and the remaining diced onions as garnishes to your tacos.
Serve your delicious Birria tacos with the consommé for dipping. Enjoy!