Best Homemade Tacos Ever - Chicken Birria Tacos

It’s Thursday Squadies, and your day is about to get a whole lot better with these chicken birria tacos!! Brodie, the fam, and I tried out this recipe for Cinco de Mayo, and we are now OBSESSED! 

It’s so easy to make and is packed with flavor, protein and much-needed carbs to set you up with a full belly and tons of energy heading into the weekend!

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What are Birria tacos?

Birria tacos were first made in Mexico back in the 60s, and have been trending recently on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, so you know we had to see what all the hype was about! 

These are special because they are not just your run-of-the-mill tacos with a soft tortilla, they are made with a slow-cooked stew (Brodie and I used the instant pot to speed things up) that you dunk the tortilla in and then pan-fry to perfection.

What’s so good about this recipe?

While making these tacos, we really wanted to keep it close to the authentic recipe so we could really appreciate the goodness, however, we did have to put our own lean spin on it. 

Rather than using beef, we decided to use chicken as it is a much leaner meat, and we kept everything else the same. Now you might be asking... “Phil, that's so many carbs in the tortilla and the cheese?”, you may be right, but carbs are extremely necessary for every diet. 

Carbs are one of the main sources of energy and fuel for your body as they play a key role in replenishing your glycogen stores to restore and re-energize your muscles.

For the recipe we used an Instant pot which cooks the stew at really high pressure for a shorter amount of time (45 mins), however, you can also use a slow cooker (or even a traditional stovetop) and let it do its thing for a few hours while you go about your day. 

This recipe is great for families as you can adjust the spice however you want! You can set up the stew and leave it for hours, and dress the tacos with whatever toppings are super fun for the kids! 

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Our family loves spice so we added an extra guajillo pepper, and Hudson found it a bit too spicy, but after a bit of water to cool him off, he demanded more because it was THAT good! 

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If you would like to see how I made this birria tacos recipe, you can check out my insta post here. As for the ingredients and instructions, keep reading below! Happy eating Squadies!!

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P.S. MY NEXT LEAN CHALLENGE STARTS MONDAY. If you want to feel confident, healthy, and energized this year then join me! 

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LEANGREDIENTS

• 4 chicken breasts
• 3 dried guajillo peppers (can add more or less depending on spice preference)
• 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo 
• ¼ cup water 
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes 
• 10 cloves of garlic 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin 
• 1 tsp cinnamon (can be replaced by one cinnamon stick)
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 2 bay leaves 
• Chicken stock (900ml)
• 4” corn or flour tortillas 

Toppings (optional)

• 1 bunch cilantro 
• 1 chopped yellow onion 

LEANSTRUCTIONS

Marinade

1. Bring a medium pot to a boil, once boiling add in the guajillo peppers, and remove from heat. Let the peppers soak for 15 minutes.
2. While the peppers are soaking, add chipotle peppers in adobo, crushed tomatoes, 5 garlic cloves, dried oregano, smoked paprika, cumin, and water to a blender (do not blend yet)
3. Once the guajillo peppers have soaked, hold each up by the tip (upside down) and cut off the top. This will remove the stem as will allow all the seeds to fall out. 
4. Add the guajillo peppers to the blender and blend the mixture. 
5. Wash and dry the chicken and place in a bowl dish.
6. Combine the chicken and the mixture and let marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight if desired. 

Stew

7. Set your instant pot on saute high
8. Add oil, then saute the onions until golden and translucent. 
9. Add the marinated chicken, bay leaves, cinnamon, and the rest of the garlic cloves, and pour in the chicken broth until everything is covered. 
10. Set the instant pot to high pressure for 45 minutes. If you are using a slow cooker, set it to low heat for 4-6 hours 
11. Once the instant pot is finished, release the pressure and allow the air to exit on its own until it is all out. 
12. Remove the chicken breasts, shred them, and set them aside. 

Tacos

13. Heat up a non-stick skillet to medium heat 
14. Dunk tortilla in the stew and place on the pan 
15. Flip so it gets color on both sides and then add cheese, shredded chicken, and your desired topping (we put a sprinkle of chopped onions and cilantro)
16. Then fold your taco and pan fry each side a little longer to really crisp it up
17. Enjoy with limes, and a side bowl of the stew that you can dunk the taco in for extra flavor and juiciness!

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