This is a fragrant, flavorful dish, and none of it goes to waste - the beef goes right into the tacos while the tortillas are dipped in the consome, and the consome is also served alongside the tacos for dipping. If you have extra, save it to serve with quesadillas.
You'll need:
- 4 lb chuck roast, trimmed of fat
- 3 whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 2 dried guajillo chiles
- 3 dried chiles de arbol
- 1 Tbs chicken bouillon (or 3 cubes)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 3 bay leaves
- 24 street taco-size corn tortillas
- 10 oz Mexican cheese, like queso fresco
Trim large pieces of fat from the chuck roast. I usually end up with a few big chunks of beef instead of one whole roast as a result. Peel the garlic, and peel and halve the onion. Remove stem and seeds from the dried chiles. Either peel 3 tomatoes, or take 3 from a can of whole peeled tomatoes and save the remainder for another dish.
Add the chuck roast to a large Dutch oven or pot over high heat, and fill with enough water to cover the roast (about 8 cups). Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles, bouillon, paprika, and cumin, and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let boil 20 minutes. (This will soften the ingredients enough to blend, and also reconstitute the chiles.)
Use tongs to remove the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chiles to a watertight blender like a Ninja. Ladle in about a cup of the broth from the stew, and blend on medium until smooth, 30 seconds to a minute. Return this mixture to the pot. Add the bay leaves.
Bring stew to a boil again, and cover and simmer on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beef is very tender. (Taste after an hour or two, and add more chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, etc. as needed to get the flavor you want.)
Make Ahead: You can do the beef a day or two before; just make sure you store it in a container with all the sauce because we'll be using that too!
Put the beef and sauce (consome) back into a stockpot on the stove on low heat and bring it to a simmer. On another burner, put a skillet on medium-high heat. Crumble the queso fresco into a bowl.
Use your hands to grab a tortilla. Dip it into the saucepan with the consome, then flip it and dip the other side, and grab it in a different part of the tortilla so the whole thing is covered with the sauce. Add it to the skillet. Depending on your skillet, you can probably do 3 or 4 at once.
Put about 1/4 c queso fresco onto each tortilla. Use tongs to put about 2 Tbs of beef on half of each tortilla and let sit about 20 seconds until the cheese starts to melt. Use a spatula to fold the empty side of the tortilla over the beef and let cook another minute or so, then carefully flip to brown the other side. Remove the tacos to a plate and continue with the rest of the tortillas.
Serve topped with more crumbled queso fresco, with a cup of consome for dipping!
Quesabirria Tacos
Ingredients
- 4 lb chuck roast, trimmed of fat
- 3 whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 2 dried guajillo chiles
- 3 dried chiles de arbol
- 1 Tbs chicken bouillon (or 3 cubes)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 3 bay leaves
- 24 street taco-size corn tortillas
- 10 oz Mexican cheese, like queso fresco
Instructions
- Trim large pieces of fat from the chuck roast. I usually end up with a few big chunks of beef instead of one whole roast as a result. Peel the garlic, and peel and halve the onion. Remove stem and seeds from the dried chiles. Either peel 3 tomatoes, or take 3 from a can of whole peeled tomatoes and save the remainder for another dish.
- Add the chuck roast to a large Dutch oven or pot over high heat, and fill with enough water to cover the roast (about 8 cups). Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles, bouillon, paprika, and cumin, and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let boil 20 minutes. (This will soften the ingredients enough to blend, and also reconstitute the chiles.)
- Use tongs to remove the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chiles to a watertight blender like a Ninja. Ladle in about a cup of the broth from the stew, and blend on medium until smooth, 30 seconds to a minute. Return this mixture to the pot. Add the bay leaves.
- Bring stew to a boil again, and cover and simmer on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beef is very tender. (Taste after an hour or two, and add more chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, etc. as needed to get the flavor you want.)
- Make Ahead: You can do the beef a day or two before; just make sure you store it in a container with all the sauce because we'll be using that too!
- Put the beef and sauce (consome) back into a stockpot on the stove on low heat and bring it to a simmer. On another burner, put a skillet on medium-high heat. Crumble the queso fresco into a bowl.
- Use your hands to grab a tortilla. Dip it into the saucepan with the consome, then flip it and dip the other side, and grab it in a different part of the tortilla so the whole thing is covered with the sauce. Add it to the skillet. Depending on your skillet, you can probably do 3 or 4 at once.
- Put about 1/4 c queso fresco onto each tortilla. Use tongs to put about 2 Tbs of beef on half of each tortilla and let sit about 20 seconds until the cheese starts to melt. Use a spatula to fold the empty side of the tortilla over the beef and let cook another minute or so, then carefully flip to brown the other side. Remove the tacos to a plate and continue with the rest of the tortillas.
- Serve topped with more crumbled queso fresco, with a cup of consome for dipping!
Calories
208.59Fat (grams)
13.00Sat. Fat (grams)
5.49Carbs (grams)
3.24Fiber (grams)
0.61Net carbs
2.63Sugar (grams)
1.49Protein (grams)
20.18Sodium (milligrams)
158.39Cholesterol (grams)
66.29