The Best Smoked Birria Beef Tacos Ever
Find me someone who doesn’t love tacos. It’s hard to do. In Toronto, taco places have been cropping up over the years and people just flock to them. There is even a festival here in Toronto entirely dedicated to tacos, aptly called Taco Fest. When I had my restaurant and food truck, we participated in Taco Fest for many years, even winning best taco a couple of times. Tacos were also a staple of my food truck and when I had my catering kitchen and was doing the food program at a local brewery, we started making the best tacos ever and serving up my Birria Beef Tacos – they were an instant hit. You really can’t go wrong with smoked and braised beef shoulder, melty cheese, topped with diced onions, cilantro and a fresh and spicy green sauce.
What I love about making this recipe on the Alchemy grill, is that I can smoke my beef shoulder in the lower smoker compartment while simultaneously grilling up my onions and tomatoes that will be part of my braising liquid. I can also grill up my poblano peppers and tomatillos at the same time for my green sauce. This recipe is a labour of love though, and you have to be patient enough to wait a good 4-5 hours for your beef to braise. Once you pull your beef out of the smoker and get it into your beef broth with roasted onion and tomatoes, you just let it cook down for hours, leaving you with pull apart, juicy, smoky, delicious meat.
If you want to find out how to make the best tacos ever, keep reading or jump to the full recipe for the Best Smoked Birria Beef Tacos Ever.
Set your smoker to 275F. Drizzle your beef shoulder with canola oil, salt and Alchemy Green Rub. Place in the smoker for about an hour and a half.
Cut your tomatoes and onion in half and place on the plancha to grill.
Once nicely charred, place a large pot on your plancha and put your grilled onions and tomatoes in the pot and add in the beef broth. Put the lid on the pot and let cook while your beef smokes.
Once the beef is done smoking, transfer directly to your pot of broth and allow to braise, about 3-4 hours.
To make your sauce, cut your poblano peppers and tomatillos in half and place on the grill.
Once grilled, add your peppers and tomatillos to the bowl of a blender (make sure your blender can blend hot food), add the cilantro, avocado, jalapeno, olive oil, lime juice and salt.
Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Pour into a bowl or container and set aside.
Once your beef is done braising, it should pull apart easily. Shred the meat in the pot and keep it in the broth to stay juicy.
To build, dip your tortillas into the broth and place on the plancha. Allow to crisp up a bit, about 1-2 minutes.
Add your shredded cheese onto the tortillas and let the cheese melt.
Add your shredded birria beef to the cheesy tortillas.
Top with chopped onions, fresh cilantro and remove from the grill, transferring to a plate or platter.
Drizzle your birria beef tacos with your green sauce and enjoy!
And now for the full recipe...
The Best Smoked Birria Beef Tacos Ever
Makes 4 regular tacos, 6 mini tacos
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 lbs Beef shoulder
Canola oil
Alchemy Green Rub
1 tsp salt
2 Tomatoes
1 yellow Onion
1L beef broth
For the sauce:
3 Poblano peppers
5-6 Tomatillos
½ cup Cilantro, chopped
1 avocado
1 jalapeno
½ cup olive oil
4 limes
Salt
To build:
Corn tortillas
Shredded cheese
Onions, finely chopped
Cilantro, finely chopped
How to Make It:
Set your smoker to 275F.
Drizzle your beef shoulder with canola oil, salt and Alchemy Green Rub. Place in the smoker for about an hour, hour and a half.
Cut your tomatoes and onion in half and place on the plancha to grill. Once nicely charred, place a large pot on your plancha and put your grilled onions and tomatoes in the pot and add in the beef broth. Put the lid on the pot and let cook while your beef smokes. Once the beef is done smoking, transfer directly to your pot of broth and allow to braise, about 3-4 hours.
To make your sauce, cut your poblano peppers and tomatillos in half and place on the grill. Once grilled, add your peppers and tomatillos to the bowl of a blender (make sure your blender can blend hot food), add the cilantro, avocado, jalapeno, olive oil, lime juice and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl or container and set aside.
Once your beef is done braising, it should pull apart easily. Shred the meat in the pot and keep it in the broth to stay juicy.
To build, dip your tortillas into the broth and place on the plancha. Allow to crisp up a bit, about 1-2 minutes. Add your shredded cheese onto the tortillas and let the cheese melt. Add your shredded birria beef to the cheesy tortillas. Top with chopped onions, fresh cilantro and drizzle with your green sauce.
