Vegan Birria Tacos

Have you tried vegan birria yet? Keep reading to find out how to make the most delicious vegan birria consome and quesabirria tacos. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Vegan Birria

What is Birria

In the last few years, birria has become all the rage outside of Mexico.

If you don’t know what birria is, it’s slow cooked goat meat in a chile and spices broth. (Though many people nowadays also make it with beef.)

The dish comes from my family’s home state of Jalisco. There are many variations to the ingredients used, but it’s hard to go wrong when you’re using dried chiles and a ton of spices.

This dish is a tender stew in which the meat falls apart easily and looks like shredded meat. It’s traditionally eaten on tortillas to make tacos and often served with a bowl of some of the consomé it was cooked in.

Quesabirria Made Vegan

Quesabirria | Vegan Birria Tacos

In recent years people have created a “quesabirria” which is basically a quesadilla stuffed with the birria meat. Some of the consomé is drizzled over the corn tortilla to give it that red color. Then the finished quesabirria is served with a bowl of consomé to dip into. It’s actually quite delicious!

Traditional ingredients to make birria but with a vegan twist

What is Traditional Birria Made Of

The traditional birria in Jalisco is made using goat meat, of course we won’t be doing that in my recipe. To replace the goat, my recipe uses oyster mushrooms instead. The results are amazing and it makes a pretty darn good cruelty-free alternative.

The meat is slowly simmered until it’s tender and breaks apart easily. Broth or water are added to the meat to simmer it. As well as a long list of spices, herbs, dried chiles and seasonings. All of these are what give birria it’s unique taste.

Everything is prepared and simmered for hours to achieve that delicate texture.

With vegan birria the process is more straightforward and takes a lot less time to prepare.

Birria Spices

Birria Spices

The spices and their quantities used in making birria can differ greatly. I say start off with a base (like my recipe) then adjust from there to your own taste.

Below are some of the traditional chiles, herbs and spices used to make birria.

Other ingredients also used are onion, garlic and tomatoes. Apple cider or regular vinegar is also added by some people.

I love to add some Maggi Seasoning to my birria to help give it a deeper umami flavor to the dish. If you can’t find it you can use some liquid aminos or low-sodium soy sauce instead.

How to Make Birria with a Vegan Twist

How to Make Vegan Birria

As I previously mentioned, making vegan birra is incredibly easy…much easier than meat based one.

To start you prepare the sauce or broth ingredients by simmering the cleaned and deseeded dried chiles with onion, and garlic until everything is soft. Then using half a cup of the boiling broth the vegetables and a crushed bay leaf are blended until smooth.

Next the sauce is strained into a pot, the remaining bits are discarded. Then the spices are added to the sauce, the vinegar, some Maggi sauce and vegetable broth. This creates the consommé and is allowed to simmer while the oyster mushrooms are prepared.

While the birria consommé simmers the vegan “meat” or oyster mushrooms are shredded. Some thinly sliced onion is sautéed in oil then the shredded mushrooms are added to the pan and sautéed until soft and a little bit crispy.

The mushrooms are then added to the pot and allow to simmer for another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes you taste the broth and adjust the seasoning if or as desired. The birria is ready to serve, in any way you’d like.

How to Make Birria Consomme (Vegan Recipe)

Birria Consome

Birria consome is comfort food. It’s perfect for the cooler days of autumn, spring and those frigid winter days too.

Once you make your vegan birria you can serve it as a consome.

All you do is serve in small bowls, top with chopped onion and cilantro and serve with some warm corn tortillas and lime wedges. You can also serve with a spicy hot salsa if you’d like, but not entirely necessary.

Vegan Birria Tacos and Quesabirria Tacos

Making quesabirria and even vegan quesabirria tacos is not only easy, but a scrumptious treat.

After you’ve made the birria, you want to separate some of the “meat” from the consome. You can use a slotted spoon or a sieve to do so.

Then heat some corn tortillas on a hot comal, then place some shredded cheese onto the tortillas. Obviously for a fully vegan meal use your favorite melting vegan cheese. For a vegetarian quesabirria you use Chihuahua cheese, or asadero or even Oaxaca cheese would work.

How to make vegan quesabirria tacos

Next you can add a couple of tablespoons of the strained vegan birria over the cheese. Fold in half moon shapes and allow cheese to melt and tortilla to crisp up a bit. Then drizzle some of the broth over each quesabirria. Cook for a few minutes, flip and repeat and cook until the bottom side is nice and crispy.

Quesabirria tacos are best served with a bowl of the consome. This is so you can dip your quesabirria into the consommé. It’s incredibly delicious!!

Bowl of Mexican Birria Made Vegan
Vegan Birria Tacos or quesabirria tacos served with a bowl of the soup.

Vegan Birria Tacos & Quesabirria Tacos

Nancy Lopez & MexicanMadeMeatless.com
Have you tried vegan birria yet? Keep reading to find out how to make the most delicious vegan birria consome and quesabirria tacos. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
5 from 37 votes
Save Recipe Pin Recipe Leave a Review
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican, vegan, vegan mexican
Servings 4 people
Calories 522 kcal

Ingredients
  

Ingredients

  • 1 lb oyster mushrooms shredded (will yield 9 cups raw)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil more if needed
  • 1 medium white onion halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoons Maggi Seasoning

Broth Ingredients

  • 4 large guajillos
  • 2 whole chiles de arbol optional for a little heat
  • 2 small roma tomatoes
  • ½ medium white onion cut into 4 pieces
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • water for boiling
  • 1 whole bayleaf crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon Mexican dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
  • teaspoon ground clove
  • ½ teaspoon ground canela
  • 2 teaspoons Maggi Seasoning
  • 1½ to 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • salt to taste
  • 2 to 4 cups of vegetable broth

Quesabirria Ingredients

  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 3 cups shredded vegan cheese

Instructions
 

Vegan Birria Instructions

  • Use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe clean the chiles, then cut off the stem and deseed. In a pot place the chiles, the tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves. Pour enough water to cover them and simmer until chiles are rehydrated and the onion is soft.
    How to Make Birria with a Vegan Twist
  • Once the chiles have rehydrated, use a slotted spoon to remove them and vegetables from the pot and place into a blender. Add the crushed bay leaf and ½ cup of the boiling broth, blend until you have a perfectly smooth salsa. You can use more boiling broth if needed.
  • If you have a Vitamix or Ninja blender you don’t need to strain the salsa, but if you don’t and your blender isn’t too powerful then use a colander to strain the salsa into a pot. Then add the oregano, ground black pepper, allspice, ground cumin, ground clove, canela, remaining Maggi Seasoning, the apple cider vinegar and stir until well combined. Mix in 2 cups of the vegetable broth and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Do not add more broth yet!
  • While you wait for the salsa to simmer you can cook the shredded oyster mushrooms. In a large enough sauté pan to fit the mushrooms, heat up 2 Tablespoons of oil then add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent. Then mix in the shredded mushrooms, and drizzle the teaspoon of Maggi seasoning over them and cook until they have softened and are a bit crispy.
  • Add the mushrooms to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Then taste and adjust if desired. At this time you can add more broth if you'd like to make a thinner broth. To serve the consume top with finely chopped onion and cilantro, serve with warm corn tortilla and some lime wedges.

Quesabirria Taco Instructions

  • After you’ve made the birria, you want to separate some of the “meat” from the consome. You can use a slotted spoon or a sieve to do so.
  • Then heat some corn tortillas on a hot comal, then place some shredded cheese onto the tortillas. Obviously for a fully vegan meal use your favorite melting vegan cheese. For a vegetarian quesabirria you use Chihuahua cheese, or asadero or even Oaxaca cheese would work.
    How to make vegan quesabirria tacos
  • Next you can add a couple of tablespoons of the strained vegan birria over the cheese. Fold in half moon shapes and allow cheese to melt and tortilla to crisp up a bit. Then drizzle some of the broth over each quesabirria. Cook for a few minutes, flip and repeat and cook until the bottom side is nice and crispy. Serve with a bowl of the consume. Enjoy
    Quesabirria Made Vegan

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 4servingsCalories: 522kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 27gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 1771mgPotassium: 886mgFiber: 9gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 2470IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 504mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and tag me on social media @MexicanMadeMeatless or tag #mexicamademeatless!
How to make Mexican birria consome and quesabirria tacos, vegan recipe

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11 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi! I made this last night and it was excellent! Thank for you posting it – it was so fun to make at home after trying a version in Mexico : )

  2. 5 stars
    This is my second time making. I use jackfruit because my husband doesn’t like mushrooms. SO very good! Thank you.

  3. 5 stars
    I added a little cocoa to mine. It’s so delicious. Soy curls & JackFruit are great to use with this.

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