Chicken Birria

Make THE BEST Chicken Birria with juicy, tender, slow cooked chicken and a rich flavorful broth, made with chiles, tomatoes and vinegar. This authentic, flavorful recipe can be served as a soup or stew, or made into chicken birria tacos with consommé for dipping. It’s an incredibly versatile Mexican recipe that’s hearty, spicy and bursting with flavor!

Two of the most popular recipes on the blog of all time are beef birria and quesabirria tacos. After my husband and I visited Guadalajara, Mexico, the birth place of birria, I knew that I had to make this authentic Mexican dish at home. Mostly so that we could enjoy it outside of visiting Mexico, but also so that I could share the recipe with you all!

Traditionally Birria is made by marinating goat meat in a combination of chiles, spices, tomatoes, and vinegar. In Mexico, it’s called birria de chivo, translated to goat birria. My original birria recipe on the blog was made with beef, instead of goat meat, because it’s easier to find and buy in the US.

Next, I decided to make birria de pollo, or chicken birria. And let me say, it’s just as delicious as the beef birria, and you should definitely try both!

Chicken birria tacos are certainly my favorite chicken tacos ever! The slow braised chicken is so juicy and tender, and when you sandwich it in a tortilla with delicious, melty cheese, then dip it in the rich, flavorful birria broth, it’s absolutely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!

Chicken birria is easy to make in the oven, or in a slow cooker. You can cook it ahead of time, then use it for meals throughout the week. It’s delicious in tacos, quesadillas, chilaquiles or served as a soup or stew.

Ingredients

I’ve included notes and descriptions below for each ingredient in this recipe. For the exact ingredient measurements, jump to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Dried guajillo chiles – dried chiles, like these and the chile de arbol, can usually be found in the hispanic section of most major grocery stores, or on an end-cap near the spices. Guajillo chiles are mild to medium in spice. They add a rich, sweet and somewhat fruity flavor to this birria recipe.
• Arbol chilies – these little chiles are spicy! In fact, they’re about 6 times as hot as a jalapeno. I like to use 5-6 of these for a medium spiced birria, or throw in 8-10 for a spicy birria. Feel free to adjust how many arbol chiles are added for your preferred spice level.
• Vegetable oil – or another neutral-flavored oil, like canola oil or avocado oil.
• Onion – for this recipe you’ll need 1 cup of diced yellow onions. This will equal about half of a large onion.
• Garlic – I recommend fresh minced cloves for the best flavor.
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce – you’ll find these canned in the hispanic section of the grocery store. For this recipe, you’ll use the entire can of peppers and the sauce. This will also spice up the recipe, so if you’re sensitive to spice, I recommend leaving out the arbol chiles and keeping the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for the delicious flavor it adds to this recipe.
• Crushed tomatoes
• Apple cider vinegar (or white distilled vinegar) – I’ve used both to make this recipe and honestly I like them both for different reasons. If you want a more acidic, vinegar-forward flavor, go with the white distilled vinegar. If you want a more fruity, tangy flavor, go with the apple cider vinegar.
• Salt + black pepper – to season the birria.
• Mexican oregano – while there is a difference between Mexican oregano and traditional oregano, you can use them interchangeably in this recipe if you don’t have Mexican oregano on hand. Mexican oregano is a bit stronger in flavor, but their shared peppery flavor, means that you can use either one and end up with similar flavors.
• Smoked paprika – I recommend smoked over sweet paprika in this recipe because the smoky flavor pairs so well with the chiles.
• Ground cloves – the spiciness of cloves adds another layer of flavor to this dish.
• Ground cumin – this spice adds a warm, earthy layer of flavor to the dish.
• Chicken thighs (or chicken breasts) – I recommend boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. They have more flavor than chicken breasts, making an incredibly flavorful chicken birria. You can also use bone-in chicken thighs, but you will want to remove the skin. Another option is to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. While not as flavorful as chicken thighs, they will soak in so much flavor from the chiles and spices in this recipe, that it will still be delicious.
• Chicken stock – since this is the main ingredient in the broth used to cook the chicken, I recommend purchasing, or making, a high-quality chicken stock. I recommend stock for this recipe because it has a richer, deeper flavor than chicken broth. I found this Custom Culinary Chicken Base at a restaurant supply store in San Diego and am absolutely obsessed with it. You can order it online direct with a $5 shipping charge. It’s a little expensive for chicken bouillon, but oh my gosh the flavor is so good. (Not sponsored, just obsessed!)
• Cinnamon stick + bay leaves – let these ingredients simmer in the birria broth to add even more layers of flavor to the dish.

For the tacos:

• Corn tortillas – for this recipe you’ll want fresh, thick corn tortillas that can hold up to being dipped in the consomé without falling apart. Thin tortillas will not work for this recipe. And older tortillas, that are not as fresh, are also more likely to fall apart.
• Oaxaca cheese – this semisoft Mexican cheese melts perfectly in these quesabirria tacos. If you can’t find oaxaca cheese at your local grocery store, I recommend using Monterey jack or mozzarella cheese in it’s place.

Instructions

I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Rehydrate the chiles. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the dried chiles and make sure they’re submerged in the water. Place a lid on the pot, remove the pot from the heat and let the chiles soak for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles. After the chiles have soaked for 15 minutes, remove one cup of the water that they soaked in and set it aside. Remove the chiles from the water. Slice the stems off of each chili, slice it open and remove the seeds.

3. Cook onions and garlic. Before adding fresh onions and garlic to the sauce, you want to soften them by cooking them in vegetable oil on the stove over medium-high heat. Cook the onions for 4-5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.

4. Prepare the sauce. Add an entire can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to a blender. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, and apple cider vinegar to the blender. Place the rehydrated chiles in the blender, along with the cooked onions and garlic. Add salt, pepper, oregano, smoked paprika, ground cloves and cumin, along with the reserved cup of chili soaking water.
5. Blend all of the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth.

6. Sear the chicken thighs. Heat a large skillet on the stove over high heat. Season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper, then add them to the skillet and sear on both sides for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add chicken thighs to a slow cooker. Transfer the seared chicken thighs to a large slow cooker, or Crock Pot.
8. Add the sauce from the blender. Pour the tomato chili sauce from the blender into the slow cooker.
9. Add chicken broth, bay leaves and a cinnamon stick. Pour chicken broth into the slow cooker and stir to combine everything. Add bay leaves and a cinnamon stick. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

10. After the cook time, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
11. Use tongs to remove the chicken thighs from the liquid. Pace them on a cutting board. At this point, the chicken should be fall-apart fork tender. Use two forks, or meat claws, to shred the chicken. Depending on how you’re going to serve the birria, you can either add the chicken back to the broth, or keep it separate. See the section below for all of the ways you can serve chicken birria.

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