Chicken Birria Tacos Recipe
Lori Walker, MS, RD
Chicken birria tacos are a Mexican dish made with slow-cooked and shredded chicken that is served in warm corn tortillas.
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 hours hrs
TACO ASSEMBLY 35 minutes mins
Total Time 2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 16 people
Calories 12 kcal
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 2 roma tomatoes quartered
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 dried guajillo chiles
- 2 dried chiles de arbol or more if you like spicy
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon neutral high-heat cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 16 corn tortillas
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 1 cup shredded Mexican melting cheese like Monterey jack
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
Place a medium-sized pot over high heat and add the cooking oil. Once it’s hot, add onion, tomatoes, garlic, guajillo chiles, arbol chiles and bay leaves. Stir for a few minutes until everything starts to soften up.
Add the chicken and all of the spices to the pot. Stir everything together, then add enough chicken broth to cover up the chicken. Bring this mixture up to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Once the chicken is cooked through, use a fork to shred the chicken directly in the pot. Once it’s shredded up, add another cup of chicken broth if needed and bring it back to a simmer for about 10 minutes. This will help infuse all of those flavors into your tacos.
Warm up your corn tortillas on a hot skillet or comal to assemble the tacos. Place two tablespoons of chicken birria onto each tortilla and top with cheese, onion and cilantro. Serve immediately.
- When shredding the chicken, make sure to scrape all the meat bits off the bone and discard the bones.
- If using store-bought tacos shells, you don’t need to preheat them on a skillet or comal fill.
- The filling can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just warm it up before assembling the tacos.
Keyword Chicken Birria Tacos, Chicken Birria Tacos Recipe