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Chicken birria-style tacos are my hacked-together weeknight riff on the classic trendy Mexican Birria dish. Made with shredded rotisserie chicken and a super-simplified savory sauce, it’s an irresistible substitute that can be made in under 30 minutes.
Birria is a classic Mexican dish typically consisting of slow-cooked beef in a stew of spices, tomatoes, and peppers. The classic dish is delicious, but a time-consuming process with some harder to find ingredients, such as dried guajillo and ancho peppers, that are rehydrated and blended to create a rich and mildly spicy sauce.
Once the beef is fall-off-the-bone tender, it’s served as is as a stew or shredded and pan-fried in a corn tortilla. To really up the flavor, the tortilla is dipped in the residual fat on the surface of the sauce from the stew (called consomé) before it’s pan-fried for extra crispiness. If you’re looking for an authentic recipe, check out these beef birria tacos from Adrianna at A Cozy Kitchen.
If you’re looking for other quick and easy Mexican-inspired dishes, check out my ground turkey stuffed peppers and my baked chicken chimichangas! If you love enchiladas, you must try my easy chicken enchiladas.
Simplified Adobo Sauce
Typically, consomé made for birria tacos takes 3-4 hours to prepare. My bare-bones sauce consists of water, tomato paste, adobo sauce, spices, garlic, oil, and corn starch (as a thickening agent). This renders a spicy concoction with some inspiration from the real dish.
The corn starch is incredibly important as it helps to add extra texture to the sauce, without it, it will be too watery and thin. I use this sauce for the chicken and tortillas, and as a dipping sauce. The sauce can also be made in advance and reheated when it’s time to fry your tacos!
Expert Tips
- These tacos are best fried in a hot cast-iron skillet with oil. A non-stick pan will work as well. I typically fry 1-2 tacos at a time and eat them on demand!
- Build and layer the tacos right in the skillet with cheese, shredded chicken, white onion, cilantro, and more cheese. Fold, sear, and press down with a spatula until golden and crispy on both sides. Flipping usually helps.
More Taco Recipes
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“Birria” Style Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 4-6 pound fully cooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
- Small corn tortillas
- 1 white onion, diced
- Fresh cilantro coarsely chopped
- 8 ounce Oaxaca, Monterey Jack, or Mozzarella cheese
- Optional lime wedges, for serving
Adobo sauce
- 2 cups water or chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons adobo sauce, I buy chipotle peppers in adobo
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Prep chicken, onion, and cilantro and set aside. Be sure to keep chicken shreds manageable so they fit in the corn tortillas. Place chicken in a bowl and set aside.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by adding cornstarch to one tablespoon of cool water. Stir until mixed. Combine remaining adobo sauce ingredients (including cornstarch slurry) in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir until thickened and smooth.
- Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the shredded chicken and toss to coat. Season all over with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Bring 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat. Dip both sides of a corn tortilla in the adobo sauce and place flat in the skillet. Top with a thin layer of cheese. On one half of the tortilla, layer chicken, onion, and cilantro, followed by a little more cheese. Fold over the other half and press down with a spatula. Sear for 1 minute per side or until golden and crisped. Add more oil to the skillet as needed
- Serve tacos with extra adobo sauce for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Quick Chicken Birria Tacos recipe looks absolutely delicious! I love how you simplified the process while still keeping all the rich flavors intact. Can’t wait to try it for taco night! Thanks for sharing!
I’m confused how you add adobo Sauce in order to make the adobo sauce? Help! I don’t understand that part.
there’s actualy adobo sauce in a diluted adobo-based sauce. it’s essentially watered down.
This is a great quick chicken birria tacos recipe! I love the flavor combination of the chicken and the spices.
This was a good base recipe however, I changed the sauce a little by sauteing the garlic and cumin (about 1 tsp) first to add more flavour. After that, I simmered the tomato paste for a few minutes as well, then added the cinnamon (the tiniest pinch), chipotle and adobo sauce, followed by chicken stock instead of water. I also added some ancho powder because I had it, but it was fine without it. In the end, I added salt and pepper then thickened it with xantham gum and used the hand blender to get it all smooth. I used the sauce with both corn tortillas and low-carb wraps.