Birria quesadilla are delicious and easy-to-make even on busy weeknight. The Instant Pot prepares the shredded beef and cheese Birria quesadillas with an amazing birria consume` dipping sauce, in about an hour.
Why You'll Love These Birria Quesadillas
This birria quesadilla recipe is perfect for a crowd, as it can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more people. The birria barbacoa is great for meal prep also, just make ahead of time and reheat in the microwave or oven. You can use any inexpensive cut of beef for the shredded beef barbacoa also!
Sometimes is easy to over complicate a recipe. The aim of this birria quesadilla recipe is to simplify and make a more approachable birria quesadilla process.
What Is A Birria Quesadilla?
Birria means a stewed meat in chile sauce. Birria quesadillas are a dish that combines tender, shredded birria meat (beef marinated in chiles - barbacoa style) and cheese into a handheld quesadillas.
After building the birria quesadilla, it then gets dipped into the consume` left from simmering the meat and chilies.
You get your hands messy eating birria quesadillas, and you might even have a little savory meat juices dribble down your chin. But, they are so delicious, you won't care.
Traditionally, birria was made from goat meat. But, for ease of preparation, we are using beef chuck. You can also make this birria recipe using a pork or chicken. It's basically 'Spicy Mexican Pulled Meat' in either corn or flour tortilla.
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Ingredients For Birria and Consume`
Get an inexpensive cut of beef chuck, chuck roast, shoulder roast, or even a chuck pot roast. We're taking a few short cuts in making the consume` and using red enchilada sauce, which is already nicely seasoned.
What Cheese Is Best for Birria Quesadilla?
The most authentic cheese is Oaxaca. It's stingy like Mozzarella, and melts nicely for quesadilla. A great substitute is Monterey Jack, or Pepper Jack cheese.
- Beef chuck roast - Cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Cumin - Ground.
- Oregano - Mexican or Italian, dried.
- Cloves - Whole and crushed.
- Cinnamon stick - Whole. You will discard it like bay leaves after cooking.
- Bay leaves - Whole.
- Onion - Diced.
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Red Enchilada Sauce - One 10 oz can (or a can of diced tomatoes).
- Chipotle Peppers - Diced in the jar with adobo sauce.
- Ancho or Negro pepper - Dried, with stem and seeds removed.
- Beef broth - Divided (1 cup for Instant Pot processing, 3 cups for diluting the consume to taste).
- Oaxaca cheese - Shredded (or Monterey Jack cheese).
- Flour tortillas - You will need the large burrito size, 8 of them.
- Favorite toppings - Such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cilantro.
PRO TIP: Be sure to use gloves when handling chilies, even dried ones. Pull the stems off, and pull it open on one side. Scrape or shake the seeds out.
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Birria Quesadilla
Rather then slow cooking for 4 hours, or baby sitting a Dutch oven all day, we're taking advantage of the Instant Pot to prepare the shredded beef barbacoa and consume sauce.
Sounds like cheating, but when you taste these birria quesadilla, no one will know you spent only about an hour making them!
Fill Instant Pot With Birria and Consume` Ingredients
- In the Instant Pot bowl, combine the cubed beef, ground cumin, crushed garlic cloves, diced onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper.
- Add the enchilada sauce (or diced tomatoes if you prefer), chipotle, dry chile pepper (seeds removed!),and 1 cup of the beef broth to the Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, seal, and set on the Chili or Stew setting, or Manual > High > 40 minutes. Let naturally release for 10 minutes after program ends, then manually release any remaining pressure.
Separate Beef, Consume`, and Aromatics
- Separate the meat, concentrated consume` liquid, and aromatics into three separate bowls. Shred the beef, and set aside, and discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.
Make The Adobo Paste
Adding the homemade Adobo paste is optional, but adds depth of flavor. Just add as much as you need, as it will make the consume` spicier.
- Make the adobo paste by running the mushy chile mixture though a fine sieve and discard any remaining skins left inside the sieve.
- Blend the adobo paste with the remaining consume` concentrate. Dilute with additional beef stock to taste, and reheat to simmering.
PRO TIP: The chili's you use will determine how spicy the consume` is. Ancho chilies are mild to medium.
Negro chilies are used in Mole and are very mild. Both have amazing flavor. Chipotle chilies are smoked jalapeno though, and hot. You can dilute the concentrated birria consume` with additional beef stock to reduce the heat.
Build the Birria Quesadilla
- Prepare by filling flour tortilla with shredded meat and cheese, then folding in half.
Place on baking tray and place in the oven to stay hot until ready to serve with small individual bowls of the birria consume` for each person to dip their quesadilla into as they eat.
PRO TIP: Popular toppings include more cheese, avocado, and cilantro leaves.
Serve Birria and Consume` With Sides
Serve with each person having their own bowl of consume` and some cilantro. These Birria Quesadilla are delicious and satisfying by themselves, or with additional side dishes. Have some Easy Pico De Gallo, Mexican White Sauce, and Guacamole on hand with chips for a complete restaurant quality Mexican meal!
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Related Recipes
Substitutions & Variations
- Use any beef cut you want to use, but this recipe is wonderful for cheap, tough cuts of meat. You can also use boneless chicken thighs and chicken breasts for a chicken birria.
- If you like your birria mild, simply use our Chili Seasoning mix recipe with the cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Below are some of my favorite pieces of equipment that I use when making this birria quesadilla recipe.
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These Chipotle Peppers are quite hot. They are smoked, dried Jalapenos in adobo sauce. The smoky flavor they lend is essential to any Birria recipe.
Storage
To reheat leftover quesadillas, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and heat in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with reheated consume`.
Tips for Success
- For a more flavorful dish, use bone-in beef chuck roast.
- If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can cook the beef in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or in a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat for 2-3 hours.
- You can use any type of cheese you like in these birria quesadillas. Some good options include Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella.
- Birria quesadillas are delicious with rice and beans. Serve them with your favorite sides for a complete meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mexican dish of stewed meat seasoned with chili peppers.
You pronounce birria as 'bee ree uh'.
Birria sauce is a spicy sauce that the meat stewed in, as well as dried chilies, onion, garlic, tomatoes or tomato sauce, and spices like cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf, and cloves. This spicy sauce is then added to the beef cooking liquid to create a delicious dipping sauce for the birria quesadilla or birria tacos.
Yes, simply prepare the birria recipe (the shredded beef) separate from the sauce and aromatics, and refrigerate after shredding up to 2 days. Make the adobo paste and refrigerate it separately from any of the concentrated consume` sauce also. On the day you plan to serve, heat the birria meat up, dilute the consume with beef stock, add some adobo paste, and put your quesadillas together.
Guajillo Peppers and Chile de Arbol Peppers are often also used. They are quite a bit hotter than the Negro (mild to medium) and Ancho (medium) chilies. Combined with the spicy enchilada sauce and the spoonful of smoky chipolte paste, you may find you don't need hotter chilies.
More Delish Ideas
📖 Recipe
Birria Quesadilla
Ingredients
- 1½ lb beef chuck cut into cubes
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- ½ teaspoon oregano dried Mexican or Italian
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 4 cloves whole
- 1 3" cinnamon stick whole
- 2 bay leaves whole
- ½ onion diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 10 oz red enchilada sauce canned
- 1 teaspoon chipotle peppers minced in the jar
- 1 small chile pepper dried, Ancho or Negro
- 1 cup beef broth for instant pot processing
- 3 cup beef broth additional to dilute the consume`
- 1½ cup Oaxaca cheese shredded, or Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 large flour tortillas get the oversize burrito ones
- toppings sour cream, cilantro, guacamole, salsa, etc.
Instructions
- In the Instant Pot bowl, combine the cubed beef, ground cumin, oregano, crushed garlic cloves, diced onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper.1½ lb beef chuck, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 cloves garlic, 4 cloves, 1 3" cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves, ½ onion, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon oregano
- Add the enchilada sauce (or diced tomatoes if you prefer), chipotle, dry chile pepper (seeds removed!),and 1 cup of the beef broth to the Instant Pot.10 oz red enchilada sauce, 1 teaspoon chipotle peppers, 1 small chile pepper, 1 cup beef broth
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, seal, and set on the Chili or Stew setting, or Manual > High > 40 minutes. Let naturally release for 10 minutes after program ends, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Separate the meat, concentrated consume` liquid, and aromatics into three separate bowls. Shred the beef using two forks, and set aside, and discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.PRO TIP: You can preheat your oven to 275℉ if you'd like to place a tray of prepared birria quesadillas to stay warm and serve all at once.
- Making and adding adobo paste is optional. If you like more spice, than make the adobo paste by running the mushy chile mixture though a fine sieve and discard any remaining skins left inside the sieve.
- Blend the adobo paste with the remaining consume` concentrate. Dilute with additional beef stock to taste, and reheat to simmering.PRO TIP: The chili's you use will determine how spicy the consume` is. Negro chilies are used in Mole and are mild. Ancho chilies are mild to medium. Both have amazing flavor. Chipotle chilies are smoked jalapeno though, and hot.3 cup beef broth
- Prepare each birria quesadilla by filling a flour tortilla with shredded meat and cheese, then folding in half. Serve with individual bowls of consume`, and toppings of additional cheese, avocado slices, and cilantro leaves.PRO TIP: Place quesadillas on a baking tray and place in the preheated oven to stay hot until ready to serve.1½ cup Oaxaca cheese, 8 large flour tortillas, toppings
Notes
- For a more flavorful dish, use bone-in beef chuck roast.
- If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can cook the beef in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or in a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat for 2-3 hours.
- You can use any type of cheese you like in these quesadillas. Some good options include Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella.
- Birria quesadillas are delicious with rice and beans. Serve them with your favorite sides for a complete meal.
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