Tacos are a favorite dining option no matter the night of the week. Stuff them with chicken, ground beef, shrimp, or more, and load up your toppings of choice for a tasty dinner that’s easy to customize.
Ingredients
For the marinade
4 dried guajillo chiles, ends trimmed and de-seeded
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
½ cup crushed tomatoes
For the stew
1 ½ pounds beef chuck roast
2 pounds beef short ribs, bone-in
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 (32-ounce) carton beef stock
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
For the tacos
12 white corn tortillas
½ cup diced white onion
¼ cup minced cilantro
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Optional Ingredients
Oaxaca or mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions
Add guajillo chiles to a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water and allow to soften, approximately 10 minutes.
Add softened guajillos and remaining marinade ingredients to a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth.
Place chuck roast and short ribs in a sealable container and season with kosher salt.
Add marinade to meat, cover, and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, or ideally overnight.
Preheat oven to 300 F.
Add olive oil to a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add yellow onion and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the meat, marinade, beef stock, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves. Stir well.
Bring to a boil, then cover the Dutch oven with a lid. Transfer to the oven and cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender.
Remove the meat from the broth and take out the bones. Shred the meat using two forks
Add meat to a bowl, and top with 1 cup of the broth the meat braised in. Reserve the rest of the broth for dipping tortillas.
Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Dip a tortilla into the broth and add to the skillet. Add some shredded meat, fold the tortilla over, and fry for 1 minute. Flip and fry for 1 minute more until both sides of the tortilla are lightly browned. (If you want extra cheese, try the quesabirria taco option by adding shredded Oaxaca (or mozzarella) cheese to the meat before folding over the tortilla.)
Transfer tacos to a plate, top with onions, cilantro, and jalapeños. Serve with more broth to dip.
