Cola Braised Beef Birria Tacos - This delish gluten friendly recipe for slow braised brisket tacos with a rich and flavorful broth for dipping is "set-it and forget-it" easy. The flavor from the Coca Cola provides a nice caramel like sweetness to the dish that is addictive!
Tacos are one of those foods that are great for just about any meal, and any time of year, especially in the Season Two Taste household. Brisket is a favorite cut of meat in our kitchen, combine that with the convenience of a slow cooker brisket recipe, and this one is a real winner.
Our slow cooker chicken enchilada recipe has been so popular, that we wanted to share some more Mexican crock pot love with y'all. If you're looking for the perfect beverage to pair with these yummy quesabirria tacos, try our hibiscus margarita mocktails.
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What You're Going to Need!
- Beef Brisket - We love the rich flavor from brisket that results from it's unique fat to lean ratio. This recipe can also be made with beef chuck roast if that's what you have or prefer.
- Roasted Green Chilies - Here in Colorado, we throw these guys into just about anything. The mild heat and roasted flavor is great here. You can use frozen, fresh, or canned, depending on what is available in your area. If you want to use fresh, look for Anaheims or poblanos. Instructions for roasting and peeling them can be found in our chicken enchilada post.
- Yellow Onion, Tomato, and Garlic - These are the only fresh ingredients that you'll need to use a knife for, and chopping them into large pieces only, as they will get blended anyway.
- Dried Chiles - Guajillo chiles, Ancho chiles, or chile Colorado are all fantastic, very mild heat, a beautiful, dried fruit smoky sweetness. You can substitute a high-quality chili powder if you cannot find dry chilies, or if you would prefer not to use them.
- Spices/Herbs - Coriander, oregano, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and black peppercorns.
- Tomato Paste - Not only does this contribute to the tomato sweetness, but it also give some body to the beef broth/sauce.
- Ingredients not Shown - Apple cider vinegar, shredded Mexican style cheese, yellow corn tortillas, Coca Cola, (Mexican type is ideal since it contains cane sugar versus corn syrup), and any garnishes you would like.
See recipe card for quantities.
Recipe
Cola Braised Beef Birria Tacos
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat a large skillet on stove over high.
- Season brisket on all sides with salt.
- Add veg. oil to pan.
- Once pan is hot enough to make the meat sizzle, place one piece of the brisket in to sear.
- Sear all sides until browned, and repeat this process with the other piece.
- Place meat into slow cooker.
- Combine all remaining ingredients except for cola in saucepan and place on stove over high heat.
- Once the saucepan boils, remove from heat.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and the bay leaves from the pan and discard.
- Put everything from the saucepan into the blender and carefully puree until smooth.
- Pour the sauce into the slow cooker with the brisket.
- Add the cola to the slow cooker.
- Cover the cooker and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours, until the meat has started to soften.
- Remove the beef separate from the broth, allow to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
- Chop or shred meat.
- Heat a heavy bottomed skillet to medium, (about 4 minutes)
- Spray the inside surface of the pan with a light layer of the pan spray.
- Sprinkle a layer of cheese in the center of the pan approximately the same size and shape of the tortillas.
- Allow the cheese to melt and begin to lightly brown around the edges, (about 2 minutes)
- Using tongs, dip a tortilla into the broth and remove.
- Place the dipped tortilla on top of the melted cheese to adhere to it and heat.
- Place a small heap of brisket in a line in the center, followed by the cilantro and a little more cheese.
- After the cheese has uniformly adhered and crisped on the bottom of the tortilla, (about 3 minutes), fold the taco in half with a metal offset spatula.
- Carefully remove the taco from the pan, repeating this process for each one.
- Serve with desired condiments and/or accompaniments, (see post).
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Why You'll Love Cola Braised Birria
- Simple and Convenient - The vast majority of this recipe is passive simmering in the slow cooker. Even the knife work is quick and easy, since the sauce is pureed in the blender.
- Versatility - The meat in this recipe can be used as the protein for just about any Mexican specialty, (burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, nachos, etc.).
- Fun and Tasty to Eat - Birria is kind of like the Mexican equivalent of the French dip sandwich. You not only have crisp cheese wrapped corn tortillas filled with succulent beef, but also a sumptuous broth to dip them in.
- Gluten Friendly - None of the ingredients in this recipe contain gluten. With a few simple substitutions, (see below), you can make it completely gluten free.
How to Make Beef Brisket Birria Tacos
- Combine spices, dried chilies, water, and vinegar.
2. Add the tomatoes, green chilies, and onion.
3. Bring the broth to a boil and turn off to cool slightly.
4. Season and sear the brisket in a hot skillet.
5. Put the contents of the saucepan into your blender, (NOTE: remove the cinnamon sticks before blending).
6. Pulsing the blender carefully on the lowest setting and then increasing the speed until fully pureed.
7. Add the seared meat and the sauce to the slow cooker.
8. Add the Coke, close the lid, and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.
9. Using tongs, remove the brisket and let it rest for about 15 minutes to relax and soften up. Pour the finished broth into another container.
10. Chop or shred the finished beef.
11. In a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, sprinkle some shredded cheese in roughly the same shape and size as the tortilla.
12. Once the cheese has started to melt and brown a little around the edges, quickly dip a corn tortilla in the broth and lay it on top.
13. Top the tortilla with some beef, cilantro, and a little more cheese.
14. Using an offset spatula, fold the taco over and remove from the pan, repeating this process for each taco.
15. Nice garnishes to serve either in or with the tacos: sliced radishes, cilantro, avocado, diced tomato, and lime wedges.
16. Serve with a bowl of the broth for dipping.
Chef Tip
We included the braising time for the cola braised brisket tacos meat as a range in this recipe. There is good reason for this. The timing is almost always going to vary. The meat, the cooker, the size and shape of the cuts, as well as multiple other things can be different, and will affect the cooking time. What never will change, though, is the results. Pull the meat out of the cooker when it has started to soften, and is easily chopped or torn apart, whichever you prefer. I always tell all of my students, following timers will not teach you how to cook, learning to recognize the results that you are looking for will.
Substitutions & Variations
This recipe is able to suit several dietary considerations. Use this recipe as a template that you can vary to suit your tastes!
- Gluten Free - These tacos are already "gluten friendly", meaning that the ingredients do not contain gluten in them inherently. The corn tortillas and the beef base do not guarantee that they are gluten free because they are processed alongside gluten containing products. Either substituting those products for gluten free ones or omitting them entirely would make this celiac safe.
- Dairy Free - The only dairy in this recipe is the cheese, so either use a plant-based cheese of your choice or eat them without cheese.
- Spicy - You can add more green chiles to the braise to increase the heat slightly, or go all out and toss in your favorite hot pepper, (habaneros, serranos, ghost, you get the idea!).
- Other Formats - Just use the beef to make melty quesadillas, nachos, burritos....
Storage & Helpful Hints
Store any left-over tacos tightly wrapped in the fridge for 2 days at the longest for best quality. To avoid them being soggy, re-heat them in the oven on 400 degrees for 10 minutes. They can also be microwaved for a couple of minutes, but they may be more like enchiladas, as they won't be crisp. The braised brisket should be stored in the broth so as not to dry it out. When covered tightly and refrigerated, it should remain fresh for up to 5 days.
Control of heat is very important when making these "crisped cheese" tacos. Make sure to use a heavy bottomed pan, so that the heat will remain relatively constant. When you toss the shredded cheese into the pan, it should start to melt quickly but not burn or ooze. If this is happening, the pan is too hot. Scrape it out and reduce the heat.
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You absolutely can have the meat cooked and ready for making the tacos! Just cut or shred the meat when it's still warm and store it in a tightly sealed container with some of the braising liquid, in the refrigerator.
Jason Miller says
Mexican French dip.