Traditional Dutch Oven Lamb Birria

Last Updated on May 6, 2024 by Carne Diem

Protein:

Origin: Mexican, North American

Method: Dutch Oven, Stovetop or Grill

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This hearty and rich Mexican stew is loaded with tender shredded lamb in a spicy and flavorful consommé. This traditional Mexican dish is the perfect recipe to make in your Dutch oven at home.

During our search for the best tacos in Kansas City, we fell in love with quesabirria. Our favorite versions of this trendy taco were those made with lamb or goat. Even for those that do not typically care for lamb, like my wife, agreed that the lamb birria stood out from the rest, and when my daughter began requesting to drink the birria consommé (often spelled consomé on Mexican menus) I knew it was something I had to make at home.

What is Birria?

Birria is a hearty meat stew originating from the Mexican state of Jalisco. Originally the dish was made with goat meat, but over time lamb has become increasingly common. In the United States, beef birria has become common, though in Mexico you are more likely to find, lamb, goat, or mutton used. Authentic birria recipes will call for marinating the meat with a paste of white vinegar, chilis, and classic Mexican spices overnight or longer, before slowly cooking the meat until tender.

How to Make Lamb Birria in a Dutch Oven

Making authentic lamb birria at home is a bit of an involved process, but it is so rewarding and definitely worth the effort. You just need to make a marinade for the lamb, then slow cook the birria until the lamb is fall of the bone tender.

Ingredients for traditional birria

Authentic Jalisco style birria is packed with flavor and the list of ingredients is fairly extensive, but most are pretty common ingredients or easy to find. Other than sourcing the lamb, quality dried chiles are the biggest key to making the best birria. You will also need white vinegar, garlic cloves, white onion, ginger, tomato, and a variety of seasonings and spices.  

Lamb: we use a mixture of cubed lamb and bone in lamb chops to make our birria.  You can substitute a leg of lamb, lamb shoulder, or cheap cuts of lamb if desired.

Seasoning Mix: Our homemade lamb birria recipe is seasoned with marjoram, whole cloves, Mexican oregano, cinnamon stick, cumin, black pepper and allspice.  Make an effort you use authentic Mexican oregano if possible.  If it is unavailable, you can substitute regular or Greek oregano.

Chiles used in authentic birria

Traditionally ancho and guajillo chiles are the most commonly used chilis for flavoring birria. Other dried chilies such as de arbol and pasilla chile, or ancho may also be used. We typically use dried chilis as they are the most easily sourced but look for fresher dried chiles that are still soft and pliable.  Dried peppers that crumble when bent are typically old and lacking in flavor.

Grill the onions and lamb chops

While it adds an extra step, our favorite way to start the lamb birria is by briefly grilling the lamb chops and onion. Browning the meat gives the birria another layer of flavor that we find is hard to beat. If you are planning to cook the birria in a Dutch Oven indoors, you can brown the lamb chops and onion with a little oil in the Dutch Oven or pan.

Once the lamb chops are nicely browned (but not cooked though), remove them from the grill or pan. Remove the onion from the grill or pan and place in a food processor.

Love lamb recipes? Check out our South African Sosaties: Lamb and Apricot Kebabs and Korean Style Beef and Lamb Lettuce Wraps.

Prepare the Marinade for the Dutch Oven Lamb Birria

The first step in making the authentic birria recipe is to prepare your birria marinade. This flavorful marinade will ensure that your lamb birria is packed with flavor.

Toast the chilis and garlic

In a heavy bottomed pan, or your Dutch oven, toast the dried chiles and garlic over medium-high heat. You want to toast until they are pliable and fragrant, but do not allow them to burn. This helps the peppers release more of their fantastic flavor.

Rehydrate the chiles for the birria marinade

Next, rehydrate the chiles by placing them in a bowl with about 3 cups of very hot water. Allow to soak for about 30 minutes. Remove the toasted garlic from the pan and place in the food processor with the onion. Add the minced ginger and pulse until the veggies are finely diced.

After about 30 minutes, remove the peppers from the hot water and remove as many of the seeds and stems as possible. Place the rehydrated chile peppers in the food processor along with about ½ cup of the water the chiles soaked in. Reserve the rest of the water.

Blend until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure the chiles are chopped as small as possible. Next, add in the tomatoes, spices, seasonings (except for the bay leaves), and vinegar. Process until well blended.

Place the browned lamb chops, cubed lamb and bay leaves in a large bowl and cover in the flavorful birria marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Making birria on your grill or smoker

The next day, or when you are ready to cook, preheat your grill or smoker to 250-300 degrees and set up for indirect heat. Allow the Dutch oven to preheat in the smoker. We made the Dutch oven birria recipe on our Big Green Egg, but the lamb birria can also be made on a pellet smoker like a Traeger or Yoder. Once the grill or smoker has come to temp, place the meat, along with the marinade in the cast iron Dutch oven. Stir in the 2 cups of the beef broth or just enough to fully cover all of the meat.

Cook the authentic lamb birria on your grill or smoker, uncovered for about 2 hours. After 2 hours, add some addition beef broth if needed to cover the meat. Cover the Dutch oven and continue cooking until the lamb meat is tender, about 1-2 more hours.

Of course, this homemade lamb birria can also be cooked in your home oven or stovetop if desired.  If making the birria on a stovetop, cook over medium-low heat, covered, for about 3-4 hours.

How to Serve Lamb Birria

Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and Bay leaves from the Dutch oven and place in a bowl. Discard the Bay leaves and shed the large pieces of lamb, removing the meat from the bones of the lamb chops. Skim the fat from the birria and reserve.

At this point you have a couple of options, you can serve the lamb birria as a hearty stew, or you can jump on the quesabirria bandwagon.

Serving Dutch Oven Lamb Birria as a stew

To serve lamb birria as a stew, simply pour the rich broth into several bowl and place some of the shredded birria meat in each of the bowls of consommé. Top the birria with diced onions and cilantro, if desired. Finish with a little squeeze of lime juice or hot sauce. Garnish with fresh lime wedges. This lamb birria stew is our favorite way and the most authentic way to enjoy this dish.

You can adjust the consistency of the lamb birria consomé by cooking down the consomé a little if you desire a thicker consistency or adding in a little more beef broth if you need a thinner consistency.

Serve your Dutch Oven Lamb Birria with a side of Charro Beans With Hickory Smoked Bacon, fresh guacamole, and a couple glasses of Mango Habanero Margaritas or a Mezcal Paloma.

Making lamb birria tacos

To make Jalisco style lamb birria tacos con consomé, you will want to place the skimmed fat from the Dutch Oven Lamb Birria in a skillet. At this point follow our directions for our Brisket Quesabirria Tacos to make the lamb birria tacos. If needed, thin the consomé de birria with a little more beef broth and stir in some diced onions and cilantro.

For more great Dutch oven recipes, be sure to check out some of our favorites:

• Texas Red Chili with Smoked Chuck Roast
• Cochinita Pibil on your Grill or Smoker
• Beer Braised Beef Cheek Barbacoa
• Brazilian Feijoada: Meat and Black Bean Stew
• Over the Top Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast
• Hatch Chile Verde

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