Cheesy Birria-Style Tacos on the Traeger

In Partnership with Rocky Mountain Ace Hardware Stores

If you keep an eye on food trends, you’re likely to have seen that one of the current trends is a type of slow-cooked meat called Birria. Taco trucks are popping up with it, here in Denver there is one that has fusion food– Pho and Birria– and it’s becoming common on restaurant menus too.

So I figured, why couldn’t we make Birria at home, on our Traeger Grill from our neighborhood Ace Hardware store, to achieve a similar tasty result? Smoke the meat for a while, then slow-cook it in the rich and flavorful broth until fall-apart tender on one of my D2 Traeger grills. Then use my Traeger Ranger with the cast iron griddle to whip up some amazing, super-cheesy tacos for family and friends to enjoy.

This is the ultimate backyard comfort food. Perfect for a meal in summer or winter, but if you’re able to enjoy it on a warm summer evening with a cold beer, you might just think you’re on vacation.

Using my Grills from Ace Hardware

For this cook, I used two different Traegers that I got from my local Ace Hardware store. It’s easy to buy a grill and start cooking right away with Ace’s free assembly and delivery on grill and accessory purchases over $399. As an Ace Rewards Member, this service is such a great bonus and available to you, too!

While this cook could easily be done on one grill from start to finish, I decided to use two different Traeger models to demonstrate the versatility of them. The first two steps– smoking the meat and cooking low and slow– happened on my Traeger Ironwood 885. It’s great because I can control the temperature of my grill using my phone or Apple Watch– so for those longer cooks it’s the perfect device to get cooking and then go about your day. I kept an eye on my cook while we ran some errands where we grabbed some pellets from the store– buying online and picking up curbside!

For the third step in this recipe– cooking the tortillas, melting cheese and assembling the tacos, I used my Traeger Ranger. It’s small, compact, and gets super hot. Perfect for sizzling and searing. But I sometimes just put a Lodge Cast Iron griddle in my Ironwood and it can get equally hot and effective for this step!

The great part is that your neighborhood Ace Hardware stores will have all the grills and accessories you need to create an amazing meal in your backyard in no time. Find your local Ace Hardware store here!

Filling up the Food Airwaves

We’ve seen Birria recipes popping up everywhere lately, including a feature in the NYT food section this week.

There have also been articles in a number of other publications if you want to read more about the trend.

Bon Appetit, Denver Westword, Texas Monthly, 303 Magazine

Really Flavorful Ingredients Make it Great

While the list of ingredients seems fairly long, almost all of it is stuff you have in your kitchen. It’ll take a short amount of time to prep the sauce, and then you simmer the smoked meat in the sauce for several hours until you have the perfect tender meat.

Our Birria recipe includes:

• A large piece of chuck roast
• Juice of a lemon and a lime
• A good dose of flavorful beef rub, to season the meat
• 12-15 large dried peppers (found in the spice or Latin foods aisle of most grocery stores). We used a mix of Chiles de Arbol, Guajillo, Ristra, and Birds Eye.
• 1 large white onion, sliced in quarters
• 1 whole fresh jalapeno
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 of a can of Chipotles in Adobo
• 1-2 cups of beef broth
• 1 cup boiling water
• Whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• A handful of cumin seeds
• Mexican oregano
• A splash of apple cider vinegar

THE PROCESS FOR BIRRIA TACOS

We began by starting up our Traeger Grill– the Ironwood 885 with D2 technology– to 225*. While the grill got hot, we prepped the chuck roast by coating all sides first in a mixture of lemon and lime juice and then a heavy seasoning of our selected beef rub. The one we chose had a Mexican-bent, with chili powder, garlic, cumin and lots of pepper. We then put the roast right on the grate in the grill and shut the lid– allowing it to bathe in the Traeger wood-fired smoke for about 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes of smoking, we added to the grill our dried and fresh peppers and the onion, cut in large rings. We used a cookie sheet to keep the peppers from falling through the grates. Everything cooked for another 30 minutes, which softened the onion, warmed and softened the peppers and gave everything a little more smoky boost.

After about 30 minutes on the grill, we transferred the peppers and onions to a large cast iron Dutch Oven (the one we’d use later for the meat) and submerged them in boiling water. If the peppers won’t stay in the water, use a small plate and something heavy to keep them in the hot water. They need about 20 minutes to soften. Leave the meat on the smoker while you prep the sauce.

MAKE THE SAUCE

We pulled out our Vitamix blender and used that to make the sauce. Use scissors to snip off the stems from the soaked peppers, then combine the peppers and onion, the juice from the pot, the tomatoes, Chipotles in adobo, apple cider vinegar, beef broth and garlic and blend it all up until very smooth.

Transfer the sauce back to the Dutch oven, and add a little more beef broth to thin it out if necessary. Then submerge the smoked Chuck Roast in the sauce. Then we stirred in the whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and cumin seeds. Give everything a good mix and put on the lid.

SIMMER UNTIL FORK TENDER

Back in the smoker it all goes for 2-4 hours until the sauce has reduced and the meat is fork tender. For this step, we cranked up the heat of the grill to 300*. Our 3-pound chuck roast took just about 3 hours to become tender enough to shred– let it go a little longer if you want it to really fall apart.

We carefully transferred the Dutch oven out of the grill and moved the meat to a separate pan to shred it in. Then we strained the sauce through a mesh strainer, which left us with a smooth, broth-based consomme, which is typical of a traditional Birria recipe.

TIME FOR TACOS

These tacos are really easy to assemble and enjoy– and make a lot, because your family and friends will devour them.

• Fresh handmade flour tortillas from Caramelo
• Lots of shredded Qaxaca cheese
• A little oil or cooking spray
• Chopped white onion, cilantro, jalapenos and tomatoes for garnish

ASSEMBLY

Once the beef is shredded and the sauce is strained into a consomme, you’re ready to assemble the tacos. We did it on our Traeger Ranger, which has a great cast-iron griddle, perfect for making these tacos.

Begin by putting about half the consomme sauce in a wide, shallow bowl. Heat up your Ranger to high and spray the griddle with just a touch of oil.

Using tongs, dip the uncooked tortilla in the bowl of sauce, covering both sides, then put it right on the hot griddle. Once the tortilla starts to bubble, flip it over to cook the second side. Cover it in a generous handful of shredded cheese and then a scoop of shredded beef. Fold the tortilla in half and grill both sides until the cheese is melty.

TIME TO EAT

We loaded up these tacos on a big platter with a bowl of the hot consomme on the side for dipping. Garnish them with chopped onions, jalapenos, tomatoes and cilantro and a bunch of wedges of lime. Be sure to dip them in the sauce and enjoy!

NO TIME FOR LONG BIRRIA?

If you’re short on time but interested in ultimate flavor, try out this recipe I recently shared for quick birria tacos on the Traeger Flatrock!