These spicy and fragrant vegan birria tacos are going to change the way you eat tacos forever. A mixture of shredded oyster mushrooms and jackfruit is simmered in a sauce of dried chiles, spices, and roasted tomatoes, then served in warm corn tortillas.
A History
Birria is a type of barbacoa, this particular recipe is one the star dishes of the state of Jalisco. The northern states like Chihuahua have a slightly different version. Traditionally it is made by marinating the protein in the sauce then wrapping it in maguey leaves and cooking it in an underground pit until tender. It is a celebration dish made for weddings, quinceañeras, baptisms, and family Sunday meals.
Ingredients
To make this vegan birria I decided to substitute the meat with a mixture of jackfruit and shredded oyster mushrooms, but you could do all mushrooms or all jackfruit. You could also substitute with your favorite meat substitute.
- Jackfruit- make sure it’s canned young green jackfruit
- Oyster mushrooms- maitake mushrooms will also work for this
- Dried Chile Ancho, guajillo, pasilla- are commonly find in grocery stores in the Mexican section
- Chile morita- is a small smoky and can be found in Mexican markets or online
Serving
There’s three ways to serve this. You can serve in a big bowl with lots of broth with a side of lime and diced onions.
Serve in tacos: Strain some of the mushroom mixture and fill warm corn tortillas topped with cilantro and onion, and a side of the broth.
Serve in quesabirrias: Make quesadillas filled with the mushroom mixture, and brown in a pan with some of the broth. Instructions in recipe card below.
Storing
You can store in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer 6 months.
Related Recipes
Vegan Potato and Chorizo Tacos
Vegan Birria Tacos
Ingredients
Jackfruit:
- 1 can (20 oz.) Young green jackfruit in brine, drained
- ½ White onion, peeled
- 1 Bay leaf
Sauce:
- 2 Chile ancho, dried, deseeded, destemmed
- 5 Guajillo chiles, dried, deseeded, destemmed
- 1 Pasilla chile, deseeded, destemmed
- 2-3 Morita, chiles dried (depending on how spicy)
- 4 Roma tomatoes, medium
- 5 cloves Garlic, unpeeled
- ½ White Onion, peeled
- 5 Allspice, whole
- 10 Black peppercorns
- 2 Cloves, whole
- ½ tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1 stick Ceylon cinnamon (1 inch long)
- ¼ tsp. Marjoram, dried
- ¼ tsp. Thyme, dried
- ½ tsp. Oregano, dried
- ¼ tsp. Ground ginger
- 2 Bay leaves
- ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Vegetable oil
- 2 lb. Oyster mushrooms, pulled into shreds
- 3 -4 cups Vegetable broth or stock
Serve:
- ½ cup Chopped cilantro
- ½ cup Diced white onion
- 12 Corn tortillas
- 4 Slices vegan cheese (optional)
Instructions
To make jackfruit:
- Drain the jackfruit and rinse it with water. Cut the core of the jackfruit (tip of the triangle pieces). Remove the seed pods and shred them with your hands. Place in a medium pot and cover with water. Add the half onion and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, and simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool slightly. Squeeze all the water out with your hands or by placing it in a towel. Set aside
To make the sauce:
- Set a cast-iron pan or comal at medium-high heat. Toast the chiles for a couple of seconds on each side until they began to change color. Place them in a pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil and turn the heat off. Let soak for 10 minutes.
- In the same cast-iron pan, place the tomatoes, garlic, and ½ an onion and let char on both sides until they are slightly blackened on all sides. (The garlic will take less time than the rest of the ingredients.) Peel the garlic and place these ingredients in the blender.
- Toast the allspice, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, and cumin seeds in a small sauté pan set to medium heat until fragrant. Add to the blender.
- Add the marjoram, thyme, oregano, ginger, bay leaves, and apple cider vinegar to the blender. Drain the chiles, but reserve the liquid. Add the chiles to the blender and 1 ½ cups of the chile soaking liquid. Blend until smooth. If necessary add more liquid to get a smooth puree. Strain and set aside.
- Set a large pot to medium-high heat, add oil. Sauté mushrooms in batches until they are golden brown and slightly crispy. Remove from pot and set aside. Add more oil to the pot and sauté the jackfruit until golden brown. Add the mushrooms back into the pot, lower heat, and pour in chile puree. Stir. Let simmer for 2- 3 minutes, then add the vegetable stock. I like mine very brothy, but if you like your thick add less veg stock. Bring to a simmer, and let cook for 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve:
- To serve in tacos: Drain some of the mushroom meat, heat tortillas, and make tacos. Sprinkle them with cilantro and onion, and serve with a bowl of broth to dip in.
- To serve in quesabirrias: Drain some of the mushroom meat and set aside. Heat a sauté pan to medium-high heat and add 1 tsp. of oil. Dip the tortilla in the hot broth and place in the sauté pan immediately, place a slice of cheese on one side of the tortilla, and add 1 tbsp. of mushroom meat. Use a spatula to fold over the other side of the tortilla to form a quesadilla. Let cook for 2 more minutes then flip it. Cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is slightly blackened. Sprinkle them with cilantro and onion, and serve with a bowl of broth to dip in.
Notes
I did the quesabirria preparation and they turned out fantastic!! What incredible flavor, both omnivorous partner and I loved these. Oyster mushrooms are pretty expensive at my grocery store, so I went with cremini mushrooms instead, and probably added closer to 2 tablespoons of mushroom meat to each taco. I had to use a bit more oil to prevent sticking when frying the quesadillas. Sliced half moons of Miyoko's mozzarella worked very well as the cheese. I'm in love! Will definitely be making this again :)
Do you ever have an issue with the jackfruit in your recipes tasting line the brine? I've always had to boil and rinse the jackfruit to remove the saltiness.
Yes, I like to rinse it then simmer it for 10 minutes. I drain it then squeeze all the water out
If I am not able to find Ceylon Cinnamon, is there another type that can be used? Or are we able to cook the recipe without it?
Hi, if you can't find ceylon cinnamon, add another type of cinnamon stick to the pot while the stew is cooking. Don't try to blend it in the sauce. Ceylon cinnamon sticks break apart easily in the blender, but other varieties don't.
¡Hola de Guanajuato! I made this for my Spanish teacher here are he liked it. Since I cannot eat the birria sold in the stands here, I had nothing to compare it to. We had it with bolillos and beans. I used yaka that I processed myself (since I could not find it canned) so there was no brine to wash out. My 2 questions are: 1.) What do you do with the half onion from when you boil the jackfruit in step one of the recipe? (I just left it in with the jackfruit but removed the bay leaves) 2.) The sauce is a little bitter--which I understand is from the chiles. Did I not roast them long enough or did I do it too long? Or, it is supposed to be a little bitter?
Finally, there is a little typo you might want to fix. The label in the recipe box states it is "Birrira."
Thanks so much for posting your recipes
Hi Scott, thank you for letting me know about the typo. If the sauce is too bitter, you might have roasted the chiles too long. If you still think the chile flavor is too strong I would reduce the quantities to 1 morita chile, chile ancho, and 4 guajillo chiles. I usually just throw away the onion I cooked the jackfruit in or I eat it.
I didn't have Chile Morita, so I used a dried chipotle. Delicious! I made the quesabirria. I really loved the flavor of the tortilla dipped in the broth and then browned in the hot pan. I want to drink that broth straight.
At what point do you shred the mushrooms, and whenever you say mushroom meat you me the mix of jackfruit and mushroom correct? For the stock would you sub vegan chicken or vegan beef stock?
Shred the mushrooms before you start cooking. Yes when I say mushroom meat I mean the combination of mushrooms and jackfruit. I would use vegan chicken stock