Beef Birria Tacos (Quesabirria)

This is the easiest way to make homemade Instant Pot birria tacos with shredded beef and super flavorful dipping sauce.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe With a one-hour cook time, this is the fastest and most flavorful way to make shredded beef birria for quesabirria or tacos. The beef is fall-apart tender and the sauce is meaty and savory. 

We first had birria at a local restaurant in Salt Lake City and fell in love. But we wanted to make an easier, shortcut version that didn’t involve making our own birria sauce from peppers.

This is one of our favorite Instant Pot Mexican-inspired recipes, right alongside Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, Mexican Pinto Bean Soup, and Homemade Carne Asada. 

While there are some great recipes for making birria from scratch, we were interested in using a shortcut method. Using the Instant Pot and a jarred birria marinade makes intensely flavorful birria that’s ready in a fraction of the time. 

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

Here’s what you need for the best Instant Pot beef birria:

• Beef. Go for chuck roast that’s about 2 1/2 inches thick so it cooks at the right rate. 
• Broth. We like beef broth to build the rich beefy flavor. 
• Seasonings. The beef and sauce get major flavor from garlic powder, bay leaf, and dried onion. 
• White vinegar. Just a splash of vinegar brightens up the flavor of the sauce. 
• Para birria sauce. This pre-jarred version gives you all the benefits of roasted peppers and chiles without spending the time.
• Cornstarch. This is optional if you like a thicker sauce. 

The most important ingredient is the birria sauce. Premade birria sauce was trickier to find than I expected. We found Private Selection available at Kroger stores and Good & Gather from Target, which was much less spicy than the Kroger version.

We also have tested this with a marinade from Chef Merito, which is more concentrated than the sauces. If you’re using Chef Merito, you only need 1/4 cup for the whole batch. Chef Merito’s is my favorite of the three.

How to Make Beef Birria in an Instant Pot

✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.

Start making this birria recipe by making a seasoning mixture for the beef using salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Dry the meat well with paper towels and slice it into thirds, then season it all over with the spice mixture. 

Next, you’ll brown the beef in the pressure cooking pot. Select Sauté and heat the oil in the pot. Add the meat, working in batches to avoid crowding the pot, and sear it until it’s browned on one side. Transfer the meat to a plate and carry on with the remaining pieces of beef. 

To deglaze the pot when all the beef is browned, add the beef broth and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Return the meat to the pot along with the vinegar, dried onion, and bay leaf. Add the birria sauce on top and without stirring, lock the lid in place, and cook on high pressure for one hour. 

When the cooking time ends, release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. Remove the lid and check that the roast is cooked through using an instant-read thermometer. It should register at least 195°F for fall-apart tender birria. 

Transfer the cooked roast pieces to a cutting board and shred them with forks, then place the shredded beef into a serving bowl. To finish the sauce, use a fat separator to remove the fat (save it for later). Make a slurry with the cornstarch and the water in a small bowl and slowly add the slurry to the sauce in the cooking pot, whisking constantly. Select Sauté and bring the sauce to a simmer until it’s thickened.

Add a ladleful of the sauce to the beef in the bowl and stir well to coat. Now you’re ready to serve it however you like! See our suggestions below. 

Important Tips for Making Beef Birria

• For tacos or quesabirria, strain the fat and the sauce, then dip the tortillas in the fat before frying them on an electric griddle or on the stove.
• The cornstarch slurry isn’t traditional, but my family prefers the consumme to be a little thicker so it’s less drippy to eat. Even with the cornstarch, this consume is still fairly thin. It’s not as thick as gravy.
• We included two different serving suggestions below, but honestly, birria tastes amazing on anything. (We even loved it served as a Birria Grilled cheese sandwich from the Jolly Holiday Bakery in Disneyland!)

Frequently Asked Questions about Instant Pot Birria

MORE Instant Pot Beef Recipes

Try these other tender beef recipes made in a pressure cooker next:

• Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot) Beef Stew is a classic, hearty wintery dish complete with flavor-packed potatoes and chunks of beef. 
• Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli Recipe is a quick one-pot stir-fry with crisp-tender veggies and saucy steak. 
• Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon is an impressive dish for holiday entertaining that’s easy enough to make on a weeknight, thanks to the Instant Pot. 

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Beef Birria Tacos and Quesabirria

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Additional: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

This is the easiest Instant Pot Beef Birria recipe for birria tacos or quesadillas, or simply dipping into the rich, meaty sauce all on its own. The super tender, juicy meat shreds beautifully after pressure cooking.

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon canola oil plus more if needed
• 3 pounds beef chuck roast trimmed and about 2.5 inches thick
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
• 1/8 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup adobo para birria sauce***
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch optional*
• 1 tablespoon cold water optional*
• Serve on corn tortillas with melted Oaxaca cheese, cilantro, lemon or lime wedges, chopped fresh cilantro, fresh chopped onions or fresh salsa

Instructions

• In a small bowl, mix together the salt, ground pepper, and garlic powder.
• Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Cut the meat into three equal pieces. Season both sides of the roast well with the prepared spices, pressing the spices deep into the meat.
• Select Sauté and preheat the pressure cooking pot. When hot, add the vegetable oil. Brown the roast in batches so that they lay flat in the pot. Cook until the beef is browned on one side and releases easily from the pot. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining meat, add more oil if necessary.
• Add the broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the roast and any accumulated juices to the pot.
• Add the vinegar, dried onions, and bay leaf. Pour the adobo para birria on top. Do not stir. (Do your best to keep as much as possible on the roast, since the thickeners can settle to the bottom and cause the burn notice.)
• Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 60 minutes cook time. When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then finish with a quick release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid. Use an instant read thermometer to check that the roast is cooked through in the center (at least 195°F for fall-apart tender). If not, return the lid and cook for 5 to 15 minutes more, depending on the thermometer reading.
• Transfer the roast to a cutting board and slice or shred with two forks. Transfer to a serving bowl and set aside.
• Use a fat separator to remove the fat from the liquid in the cooking pot; retain the fat for later. Return the liquid to the cooking pot. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the cooking pot, stirring constantly. Select Sauté and bring the consommé to a boil, stirring constantly until it thickens slightly. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
• Add 1/2 cup consommé to the shredded beef and stir until well coated.

To Serve as Tacos

• Dip a corn tortilla in the consommé. Place another corn tortilla on of the dipped tortilla. (You can use a little bit of cheese to get the two tortillas to stick together, if you like.) Fry on an electric griddle or on the stove. When the tortilla has browned, flip and allow the other side to absorb the consommé/browning left from the previous side. Then top with lots of meat, onions or pico, cilantro. Serve with the remaining consommé in a small dish for dipping.

To Serve as Quesabirria

• Dip both sides of a corn tortilla in the reserved cooking fat and place it on an electric griddle or on the stove in a frying pan. Add the cheese and birria meat. Once the cheese starts to melt, fold the tortilla in half. Continue to cook until the tortilla is golden and crisp on both sides. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Serve with onion, cilantro, and the remaining consommé for dipping.

Notes

* The traditional way to eat birria is to dip the tortilla or bread into the flavorful broth before taking a bite of the meat.

** If you just dip it in the consommé before frying, the tortilla is soggy when it’s browned. If you dip it in just the fat, it crisps up so much nicer. 

*** How much birria sauce needed depends on whether your jar is a sauce or a marinade. If you’re using a birria marinade like Chef Merito’s, I’d start with just 1/4 cup and then you can increase from there to your tastes. 

Nutrition

Calories: 475kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 1004mg | Potassium: 834mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 32IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 5mg

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