Stacey Hawkins, the Queen of Lean and Green Recipes makes Tender and Tasty Birria Beef or Birria Tacos. This low-carb recipe is an Optavia Recipe, Optavia 5 and 1 recipe and complies with most low carb diets. Eat great and lose the weight!
Tender and Tasty Birria Beef or Birria Tacos
Category
Main Dishes
Cuisine
Mexican
Servings
7
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
6-8 hours
A recent trip to Mexico introduced me to the world of tender, tasty beef Birria and my world has not been the same since! Slow cooked and ridiculously delicious, I was inspired to "Wow!" this recipe to make it Lean and Green for us all! What resulted is an amazing meal that you and your family will enjoy.
Happy Cooking!
Stacey
Ingredients
- 5 guajilo chiles stems cut off and seeds removed (can be found at most grocery stores)
- 7 C hot water
- 2 lbs chuck roast, cut into 4 large chunks
- 1 lb short ribs (bone in) or back ribs (bone in)
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- 1 large white onion, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves (optional, but they will add additional depth)
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- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut in half and then crosswise (into 4 pieces) *note this is not going to be eaten, it's just for flavor development
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Directions
- Place a large pot with a lid (7 quarts or so) over medium high heat and add the prepared chilis. Toast on both sides until slightly brown.
- If you have time, remove the chilis, turn up the heat to high and brown the meat on all sides before moving to the next step. While this is not necessary, browning the meat will add additional depth and flavor to the dish.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Remove the peppers from the pot and place them in a blender or a food processor. Add 1 ladle of liquid from the pot, place the lid on and pulse on high until smooth. BE CAREFUL when removing the lid as steam can build up.
- Add the blended peppers back into the pot (or slow cooker or instant pot as described below)
- Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 6-8 hours until meat is fork tender. ALTERNATELY, you may transfer all ingredients into Crock Pot and simmer 6-8 hours OR place all ingredients in an Instant Pot and cook on high pressure, actively for 60 minutes (cooking time, not warm up or release time), then use natural release method.
- Remove the meat from the broth and set aside.
- Remove all remaining ingredients from the broth (a strainer is the easiest way to do this) and reserve the liquid.
- To Serve as a Stew: Place the desired portion of meat in a bowl and add a ladle of broth.
- To Serve as Birria Beef: Using 2 forks, shred the beef in the bowl and drizzle with a little of the reserved broth. Portion the desired amount of beef in a serving vessel and serve with vegetables of your choice or over a salad.
To Serve as Birria Tacos: Shred the beef as above and place in your favorite tortilla shell, egg white taco shell or no-carb, no-cook jicama taco shells.
- You may add your favorite condiments such as fresh lime juice, cilantro, queso, avocado, etc. Please note that this information is not included in the nutritional information below.
Chef's Notes & More
Serving Size is 5 ounces of beef and is: 1 Lean
Additional condiments, taco shells, etc. must be counted separately and additionally.
