American Lamb Birria Tacos

Serves: 8-10
Cooking time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

For the lamb birria
● 3 each dried guajillo and ancho chilies, stems and most of seeds
removed
● 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
● 5 whole cloves
● 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
● 1 small white onion, chopped
● 2 vine ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
● 4 large garlic cloves
● 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
● 1 teaspoon dried thyme
● 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
● 1 tablespoon brown sugar
● 2 cups beef broth
● 2 teaspoon, kosher salt, divided
● 3 pounds lamb stew meat
● 2 bay leaves

For the tacos:
● Corn tortillas

● White onion, chopped
● Cilantro
● Cojita cheese

Instructions:

1. Prepare sauce
Toast chiles in a large dutch oven over medium heat, turning as needed, until
fragrant and starting to darken, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add whole spices and toast for another 2 minutes. Add onion, tomatoes,
garlic, thyme, cinnamon, vinegar, brown sugar, broth, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Cook over medium heat for 12 minutes until softened. Allow to cool for 10
minutes and then process in a blender until smooth, adding up to 1 cup water
if needed.

2. Prepare Lamb:
Preheat oven to 300°F.

Season lamb with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and black pepper.

Add sauce back to dutch oven. Add lamb and bay leaves, mixing to coat and
spreading evenly.

Bring mixture to a boil over high heat.

Cover and place in the oven for about 3 hours. Once lamb is fork tender,
remove from the sauce, which you’ll use for dipping the finished tacos.

3. Serving:
Pull the lamb and serve it with warm grilled tortillas, white onion, cojita cheese,
and cilantro.

Serve the sauce alongside for dipping.

The USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 145oF.