Birria Grilled Cheese Recipe

Prepare chiles

Toast the guajillo, ancho, and optional pasilla chilies in a dry skillet over medium heat 20–30 seconds per side until fragrant but not burned. Transfer to a bowl, cover with hot water and soak 15 minutes until softened. Reserve soaking liquid.

Make chile sauce

Drain chilies, reserving about 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. In a blender, combine drained chilies, garlic, quartered onion, quartered tomato, apple cider vinegar, oregano, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 cup of the reserved soaking liquid. Blend until very smooth, adding up to another 1/4 cup soaking liquid if needed to reach a pourable but thick sauce consistency. Taste and adjust salt.

Sear beef

Pat beef pieces dry and season lightly with remaining salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear beef in batches until browned on all sides, about 2–3 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.

Braise

Lower heat to medium, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, pour the blended chile sauce into the pot and cook 1–2 minutes to bloom flavors. Return beef to pot, add beef broth and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, then cover and braise gently on low for 2.5–3 hours (or in a 300°F/150°C oven) until beef is fork-tender and shreds easily. During cooking skim foam and excess fat from the surface.

Shred and reduce

Remove beef to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Strain the braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl; this strained liquid is your consommé. If consommé is thin, simmer in a saucepan to concentrate flavor down to about 3–4 cups total for serving. Taste and adjust salt.

Prepare filling

In a bowl, combine shredded birria meat with 1/2 to 1 cup of the warm consommé (enough to moisten but not make soggy). This makes the meat juicy for the sandwich and provides the dipping flavor. Keep remaining consommé hot for serving.

Assemble sandwiches

Butter one side of each bread slice. On the unbuttered side of four slices, sprinkle a thin layer of mozzarella, then a generous portion (about 3/4 cup) of the moistened shredded birria, then another thin layer of cheese (this helps bind). Top with remaining bread slices, butter side facing out.

Grill to golden and melty

Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Place sandwiches butter-side down and press gently with a spatula or a heavy pan. Cook 3–4 minutes until the bottom is golden and crisp. Carefully flip and cook the other side 3–4 minutes until golden and cheese is fully melted. If sandwiches brown too quickly before melting, lower heat and cover briefly.

Finish and top

Remove sandwiches and let rest 1 minute. Open each sandwich and top the exposed meat with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro and diced onion, then close. Cut each sandwich diagonally into two triangles.

Plate

Ladle hot consommé into small bowls (about 1 cup per person). Place two grilled-cheese triangles on each plate alongside a small bowl of consommé and a handful of potato chips for dunking. Offer lime wedges.

Optional fries substitution

If substituting fries, cook fries according to package or fry fresh potatoes until crisp. Serve fries on the side and use consommé as a dunking broth, or sprinkle fries with a little consommé-flavored oil: toss hot fries briefly in a pan with 1 tablespoon butter and 2–3 tablespoons of reduced consommé until hot and slightly glazed.

Storage

Store leftover shredded birria in its cooking liquid in the fridge up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. Reheat meat in its consommé gently to avoid drying before assembling sandwiches.