Birria

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 355 min
Servings: 8
Yield: 8 servings

Description

Use a mix of dried chiles for birria that's incredibly flavorful. Garlic and dried chilies give birria, a Mexican shredded beef chuck soup, amazing flavor when cooked in a slow cooker.

Ingredients

2 dried California chile peppers, stemmed and seeded
2 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 New Mexico dried red chile pods, stemmed and seeded
water to cover
6 cloves garlic
1 slice onion, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 onions, chopped
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into chunks
6 bay leaves
salt to taste

Directions

1 Place dried chiles into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chiles are softened, 15 to 20 minutes.
2 Pour chile mixture into a blender. Add garlic, onion slice, pepper, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
3 Layer chopped onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place chuck roast over onions and add bay leaves. Pour chile sauce on top.
4 Cook on High until beef is tender enough to shred with a fork, about 5 hours.
5 Remove beef from sauce. Continue cooking sauce until reduced, 35 to 45 minutes. Return beef to sauce and season with salt.