Vegan Birria Tacos

Vegan Birria Tacos are basically Birria Tacos with meaty, savory, robust, and earthy Portobello Mushrooms instead of beef chuck roast.

Basically, what we are doing here is making a savory, spicy, herby, and flavorful Mexican stew and stuffing it in our tortillas. Once it's stuffed in a taco shell, it is battered in the stew and then it is deep fried (both sides) until crispy, and then served with loads of vegan cheese, pickled red onions, cilantro and lots of fresh toppings.

When making Vegetarian Birria Tacos you can also use Jackfruit or crispy Oyster Mushrooms.

For an authentic experience enjoy this with some good tequila and some traditional Mariachi music. 🎸🪗

More Mexican tacos I think you'll like:

• Chipotle Chickpea Taco
• Tofu Fajita Taco
• Black Bean and Corn Taco
• Cauliflower Tinga Taco

Jump to:

• Super Easy Birria Tacos Recipe with Consomé
• 🤩What's in it for you😎
• 👩‍🎨Origin of Birria Tacos
• 📈The Birria Trend
• 🌮Ingredients for Vegan Birria Tacos
• 🥘How to Make Vegan Birria Tacos
• 🍲Can I make this in the Slow Cooker
• 🍴Can I make this in the Instant Pot
• 🎩"BONUS" TIPS
• What to do with remaining Birria sauce
• What is Consomé
• 🍳Cooking Variations for Tacos de Birria
• ☑️Is there a way I can store this?
• 📖Recipe Card
• Vegan Birria Tacos

Super Easy Birria Tacos Recipe with Consomé

Birria de Res is basically a meat stew, that is bursting with flavors. But, today we'll be making Birria Quesatacos with consomé.

Generally, Birria Tacos are made with goat meat 🐐. But, due to unavailability of goat meat, people use beef 🥩 or lamb 🐑 or pork 🥓 these days. You can also use chicken to make chicken birria tacos. 🍗

🤩What's in it for you😎

• Juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.🌮
• Warm and comforting 🥰
• Loaded with melty, cheesy, vegan cheese and pickled red onions 🧅

👩‍🎨Origin of Birria Tacos

Let me take you back in time to the 16th Century during "The Conquista".

Due to cultural exchanges between native Mexicans and the Spaniards 🇪🇸 the food culture of Mexico 🇲🇽 saw some significant changes.

The Conquistadors - one that conquers - brought new spices and animals that was not common on the other side of the Atlantic.

From sugarcane to rice 🍚 to wheat 🌾 to animals like goats, pigs, sheeps, donkeys and etc.

One such notorious animal was goats 🐐 which are called "chivos" in Mexico.

Soon enough goats became a source of nuisance for causing devastation to land and crops. They multiplied fast their meat was quite gamey.

As a result, Vallarta eats that's when people started using goat meat and that's exactly how “birriero” (birria maker) came into existence.

But, due to the intense smell and gamey flavor of goat meat (especially older goat) people started using a lot of spices and herbs. 🌶🌿

The Mexican State of Jalisco is where all this magic happened and it is where Birria tacos originated.

So, this style of cooking came to be known as Birria style of cooking.

Finally, people started using this as a taco filling and that's how "tacos de birria" was born.

Eventually they moved North to the state of Tijuana and by 2019 Birria made it's way the United States of America 🇺🇸

Landing into Los Angeles they took the internet by a storm.

📈The Birria Trend

Trending weeks over weeks these cheesy, crispy, and crunchy Birria tacos soon became a sensation on the internet.📉

And, for a good reason.

These crispy Birria tacos dripping with sauce conquered the heart and soul of America.

See this article by Eater and learn about The Great Birria Boom

These days you'll find Birria tacos trending all over the internet.

But, defying all meat, we'll be making Vegan Birria Tacos or Vegetarian Birria Tacos today. 🌱

🌮Ingredients for Vegan Birria Tacos

• Olive Oil
• Onions
• Garlic
• Mexican Oregano
• Ground Cumin
• Cayenne Pepper
• Ground Cinnamon
• Smoked Paprika
• Peppercorns
• Chipotle in Adobo Sauce
• Dried Guajillo Pepper
• Vegetable Broth
• Apple Cider Vinegar

Vegan Birria Filling

• Portobello/Oyster Mushrooms/jackfruit
• Onions
• Garlic

Tacos

• Corn Tortillas - either store bought or homemade corn tortillas.

Toppings

• Lime Wedges
• Fresh Chopped Cilantro
• Red/White Onions
• Sliced Jalapenõs
• Sliced Avocados

🥘How to Make Vegan Birria Tacos

STEP 1: ➤ Make Birria Sauce

Sauté onions and garlic in a skillet with some olive oil. Transfer it to a high speed blender. Add in Mexican oregano, Ground Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, Ground Cinnamon, Smoked Paprika, Peppercorns, Chipotle in Adobo Sauce, & Dried Guajillo peppers. Blend into a smooth paste.

Open the lid and scrape the sides. Add in Vegetable Broth and Olive Oil. Close the lid and blend again until smooth and velvety.

Stir in Apple Cider vinegar and pour half of it into a flat bottom dish.

• STEP 2:➤ Make Vegan Birria Filling

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté Portobello/Oyster Mushrooms or Jackfruit until light brown and smells toasty.

Add in diced onions and garlic and cook until onions are transparent.

Stir in the remaining Birria Sauce that you have saved in step 1.

• STEP 3:➤ Dredge Tortillas in Birria Sauce

This is one of the authentic trademark step of Birria Taco. You have to toss your fresh corn tortillas in a flat plate with Birria sauce. Coat your tortillas in the sauce on both sides.

• STEP 4:➤ Fry in a skillet with filling in the center

Place the tortillas in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the filling in the middle of the tortillas. Fold from the side. And Flip. Deep fry the other side until crunchy and crispy.

• STEP 5:➤ Garnish with Fresh Toppings and Serve

Garnish with Fresh toppings such as chopped red/white onions or pickled red onions, freshly sliced jalapenõs, fresh chopped cilantro, and lots of melty vegan mozzarella cheese.

Serve with the leftover Birria sauce or with refried beans or Homemade BBQ Sauce

🍲Can I make this in the Slow Cooker

Yes. You can make your Vegan Birria Tacos in the slow cooker. Make sure you also try: Authentic Mexican Chicken Tinga (in Slow Cooker) and Crockpot Chicken Fajita

➽STEP 1: Make the Sauce

This step takes just 2-3 minutes. All you have to do is sauté your onions and garlic and then transfer it to a high speed blender. Add in all other ingredients (which are required to make Birria Sauce) and blend with vegetable broth, olive oil, and cider vinegar until smooth and creamy.

➽STEP 2: Pour it in the slow cooker

Pour half of the sauce in the slow cooker. Add shredded Oyster/Portobello Mushrooms or Young canned Jackfruit in brine (drained). Stir in diced onions and minced garlic.

Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours. Shred the jackfruit using two forks and stir it together with the sauce.

➽STEP 3: Deep Fry Tacos with filling

Coat tortillas in the birria sauce. Place it in a skillet and fry until crispy. Add vegan birria filling and fold. Flip and fry the other side. This would take just 2-minutes.

➽STEP 4: Serve

Finally, serve with fresh toppings.🌿

🍴Can I make this in the Instant Pot

Yes. If you are running out of time and you want to reduce the cooking time then you definitely can make your Vegan Birria tacos in the Instant Pot.

➤STEP 1: Make Birria Sauce

Turn your Instant Pot to sauté mode. Heat olive oil and add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Transfer to a high speed blender. Add in other ingredients including olive oil, vegetable broth, and cider vinegar. Blend until smooth, creamy, and velvety.

➤STEP 2: Cook Vegan Birria Filling

Add in shredded Jackfruit or Shredded Oyster/Portobello Mushrooms in the Instant Pot along with onions, and garlic. Pour in some of the Birria sauce. Stir to combine.

➤STEP 3: Pressure Cook

Close the lid and turn the pressure release valve from "venting" to "sealing" position. Press "Pressure cook" button and cook on High Pressure for 8-minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10-15 minutes. Once the filling is cooked, open the lid and stir well.

➤STEP 4: Assemble tacos and Serve

Now if you want you can deep fry your tortillas on both sides after dredging them in the remaining sauce and then make your tacos. Or else to save time you can simply place the vegan Birria taco filling in a fresh corn tortilla and serve with some fresh toppings such as red/white onions, or sliced jalapenõs and lots of vegan cheese.

🎩"BONUS" TIPS

These important cooking tips will help you while you are making your Vegan Birria tacos.

• Cast Iron Skillet - I recommend Cast Iron Skillet when making Vegan Birria tacos. If not this then a Non-Stick Skillet is the way to go. This helps distribute the heat evenly and fries your tortillas evenly.
• Flavorful Birria Sauce - Make sure you season your Vegan Sauce with lots of fresh lemon juice and fresh cilantro for best taste.
• Stuffing Birria Filling - When stuffing your Birria filling make sure you don't over do it. Too much filling will eventually fall off in the skillet while you are trying to fold it and flip it.
• Don't be intimidated, you'll get a hang of it - This might seem intimidating at first. But, trust me, it's like cakewalk. When you flip two or three tacos you'll get hang of it.
• Don't compromise on toppings - Although it seems quite insignificant at the moment. But, the fresh mexican toppings are super important to make a flavorful and tasty Mexican Birria taco.

What to do with remaining Birria sauce

You will always be having quite some Birria sauce. There are so many things that you can do with leftover consomé.

You can enjoy it with some refried beans and rice in the form of a Birria burrito. 🌯or You can use the same filling to make Birria Quesadillas or Birria Tostadas or Birria chilaquiles or Birria Enchiladas.

What is Consomé

Consomé is basically the Birria Sauce. Really, consomé is the heart of the recipe. It's the stock that gives this meat stew all the flavors. When making Birria Quesatacos, taco is drenched in "Birria Sauce" or the "Consomé", stuffed with the filling and then deep fried on both sides until crunchy and crispy on the outside.

Finally, the leftover birria sauce or consomé is used as a dipping sauce for the taco.

🍳Cooking Variations for Tacos de Birria

• Can I skip the frying and dipping part? Yes. If that feel too much of work to you, then you can simply skip dipping your tortillas in the sauce and then frying it again. Just serve it in a street style format with vegan birria meat.
• Red Lentil Consomé - You can combine some red lentils along with everything else to make your consomé.
• Guacamole or Avocado Crema - You can top this with some Avocado Crema or Guacamole.🥑

☑️Is there a way I can store this?

Yes. However, it is very unlikely that you'd have to store your birria tacos. These "wet" tacos don't stay on the plate for long. 😂

But, you can store the filing separately in an airtight container. This stays fresh for up to 4-5 days in the fridge.

When ready to serve, make sure you warm it enough in the oven and then complete the remaining steps.

Looking for more taco recipes? You can try these

• Cauliflower Tacos
• Grilled Chicken Tacos
• Baja Shrimp Tacos
• Salmon Tacos
• Honey Chipotle Tacos
• Shredded Chicken Taco

📖Recipe Card