Halal-conscious recipe
Halal beef birria tacos
Slow-cooked Mexican birria made with Halal braising beef and bone marrow in a smoky chilli broth, served in corn tortillas with the broth for dipping.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
Birria is braised meat, so it is only Halal with Halal-slaughtered meat and bone marrow; the recipe's splash of white wine vinegar is a scholarly difference, and the optional mozzarella depends on its rennet.
Birria is a Mexican braise of meat in a chilli broth, shredded into tacos and served with the broth for dipping. It is only Halal with Halal-slaughtered meat, and taco stands also sell pork fillings such as al pastor and carnitas, so ask which meat is in the pot (see tacos).
This version follows Karla Zazueta's birria tacos for BBC Good Food, made with Halal beef braising steak and Halal marrow bones. Its teaspoon of white wine vinegar is a scholarly difference (see vinegar); use it if your school accepts it, or leave it out. For quesabirria, choose a mozzarella whose rennet you have checked (see cheese).
The braise takes 3 hours in a low oven; by the end the meat should fall apart and the broth should have thickened.
Halal-critical ingredients
- The beef and bone marrow Both the braising steak and the bone marrow are only Halal from Halal-slaughtered animals. Taco fillings such as al pastor and carnitas are typically pork. Buy the steak and marrow bones from a Halal butcher. When eating birria or tacos out, ask which meat it is and whether it is Halal. See Tacos and Beef.
- White wine vinegar Deliberately made wine vinegar is a scholarly difference: the Hanafi school, MUI and IslamQA permit it; the classical Shafi'i and Hanbali position does not. Use it if your school accepts it, or leave the teaspoon out. See Vinegar.
- Mozzarella (optional) Cheese is set with rennet, and scholars differ on rennet from animals not slaughtered the Halal way. Use a mozzarella with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet, or skip the quesabirria. See Cheese.
Safe substitutes
- Braising steak and bone marrow of unknown slaughter → Halal braising steak and Halal beef marrow bones
Allergens
milk (optional mozzarella)
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1.5 kg Halal braising steak, in 1.5 cm cubes
- 2 Halal beef bone marrow discs (ask your Halal butcher)
- 15 g sea salt flakes
- 2 bay leaves
Chilli sauce
- 4 guajillo chillies, stems and seeds removed (or other dried chillies)
- 1 large ancho chilli, stem and seeds removed
- 4 arbol chillies (optional, for heat)
- 2 medium tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 2 cloves
- 3 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar (see the vinegar check below)
To serve
- 1 handful coriander, chopped
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- to taste spicy salsa
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- 24 corn tortillas, warmed (optional)
- to taste grated mozzarella with non-animal or Halal rennet (optional)
Method
- Brown the beef. Heat the oil in a large, heavy ovenproof saucepan over a medium-high heat and brown the Halal beef all over, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Toast and simmer the chillies. Toast the guajillo and ancho chillies in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes without burning them; add the arbol chillies too if you want it hot. Put them in a lidded saucepan with the tomatoes, onion and peeled garlic, add 500 ml water, cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.
- Blend the sauce. Lift the tomatoes, onion and chillies into a blender, keeping the cooking liquid. Add the spices, vinegar and 2 tbsp of the liquid and blend until smooth. Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1.
- Braise. Put the beef back over a medium heat with the bone marrow, salt and bay leaves. Sieve the chilli sauce into the pan, then add 1 litre water and the rest of the cooking liquid. Cover and braise in the oven for 3 hours until the meat is tender and falling apart, seasoning to taste after 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Shred and serve. Lift out the meat with a slotted spoon and shred it with two forks; the broth should have thickened. Serve the beef in bowls with the broth poured over and coriander, onion, salsa and lime, or in warm corn tortillas with the broth in a cup for dipping. For quesabirria, melt some mozzarella on a tortilla with the beef and spoon a little broth under and over it.
How this recipe was researched
Method from BBC Good Food's 'Birria tacos' by Karla Zazueta (serves 6: 1.5 kg braising steak browned in sunflower oil; guajillo, ancho and optional arbol chillies toasted and simmered 5 minutes with tomatoes, onion and garlic in 500 ml water, then blended with oregano, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, peppercorns and 1 tsp white wine vinegar; sieved over the beef with 2 bone marrow discs, salt, bay and 1 litre water and braised at 140C/120C fan/gas 1 for 3 hours; shredded and served with the broth, coriander, onion, salsa, lime and corn tortillas, or as quesabirria with mozzarella). We specified Halal beef and bone marrow, flagged the vinegar per school and the mozzarella's rennet. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Birria tacos — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
Serves 6, prep 25 minutes, cook 3 hours 30 minutes: 1.5 kg braising steak, a blended guajillo and ancho chilli sauce with spices and 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 2 bone marrow discs, braised at 140C/120C fan/gas 1 for 3 hours; served with broth, corn tortillas, coriander, onion and lime, or as quesabirria with mozzarella.
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Tacos analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Al pastor, carnitas and asada fillings, lard in tortillas and beans, and what to ask.