These vegan birria tacos are stuffed with super tender, spiced oyster mushroom filling, then dipped and pan-fried until crispy. They're indulgent, satisfying, and intensely flavorful!
Are you familiar with birria tacos? I have to admit, I wasn't until recently, and I've never had a conventional birria taco.
The concept is pretty cool though! Traditional birria tacos (also known as quesabirria tacos) are stuffed with a spiced, braised meat filling. The tortillas are dipped in the liquid that the filling was braised in, known as consommé, then stuffed with the filling and fried until crispy.
One thing that varies among different recipes for birria tacos is what the filling is made of. All different types of meat can be used.
But this got me to thinking, since there's no actual rule about what the filling is made of, why not go and make it from mushrooms? That worked out great for my vegan carnitas tacos. They had just the perfect texture. And indeed, mushrooms made a DELICIOUS batch of vegan birria tacos as well.
Another thing you should know about birria tacos is that they're a bit more labor intense than most tacos, which is why they're typically served for special occasions. If you're looking for more of an easy vegan taco Tuesday recipe, check out my chickpea tacos or tofu tacos!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Dried guajillo peppers. You might get lucky and find these in the international aisle of your supermarket, if it's well stocked. Otherwise, try a Latin American grocery store, or buy them online.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Most regular supermarkets will carry these in cans in the international aisle.
- Garlic.
- Red wine vinegar.
- Fire roasted tomatoes. You can substitute regular canned diced tomatoes if that's what's available to you.
- Dried spices. Many birria taco recipes use whole spices, but in an effort to make things as easy as possible, I've developed the recipe with dried spices. You'll need ground cumin, cinnamon, oregano, smoked paprika, and cloves.
- Pearl oyster mushrooms. These are available in the produce section of most supermarkets, and might also be labelled as just plain old oyster mushrooms.
- Onion.
- Vegetable broth.
- Bay leaves.
- Salt and pepper.
- Shredded vegan cheese. I don't often use vegan cheese in my recipes, but it's an important ingredient in this one. Dairy-free cheese is what helps bind the tacos together, so don't skip it. I used Violife Mexican style shreds. Vegan mozzarella shreds would also be a great option.
- Corn tortillas.
- Accompaniments. These tacos are great on their own, but if you'd like to dress them up try adding a squeeze of lime juice, some diced red onion, fresh cilantro, vegan sour cream, or guacamole.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Begin by cutting the tops off of your guajillo chiles and shaking out the seeds. Place them in a small container and cover them with just boiled water. This will soften them up for blending. You can prep some of your other ingredients while you wait.
After about 20 minutes, remove the chiles from the water and add them to a blender or food processor, along with your chipotles and adobo sauce, garlic, vinegar, fire roasted tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, smoked paprika, and cloves. Blend everything to a smooth paste.
Place your oyster mushrooms on a cutting board and slice them up. Try to get them pretty thin, but don't knock yourself out — they'll shrink when you cook them!
Heat some olive oil in a large pot and add your sliced mushrooms. Cook them in the oil for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've softened and shrunk a bit.
Add the birria paste to the pot and sauté it with the mushrooms for just about a minute.
Add the broth and bay leaves to the pot, then simmer the vegan birria in the broth for about 30 minutes.
Once the birria has finished cooking, separate the mushroom "meat" from the liquid. You can either scoop it out with a slotted spoon, or pour it through a fine mesh strainer. Season each of the components with salt and pepper to taste.
Time to fry those tacos! Heat some oil in a skillet, then dip one side of a tortilla into the cooking liquid from your vegan birria. This is the consommé.
Place the tortilla, dipped side down, into the hot skillet. Place some mushroom birria and a pinch of cheese on top. Let the tacos fry for a few minutes.
Once the shell has started to crisp up, you can carefully fold it over the fillings. Fry the taco for a few minutes more, to heat the fillings and melt the cheese.
Your vegan birria tacos are ready to go! Serve them with consommé on the side for dipping, along with your choice of accompaniments.
Tips for Success
- Don't flip your tacos when frying them! This is a sure fire way to lose some of your filling. Make sure to get the outside of the tortilla crispy before closing it and you won't feel the need to flip.
- Make sure to place the cheese on top of the mushroom filling when stuffing your tacos. Cheese placed on the bottom will get super melty and your fillings will slide right out of there.
- These tacos are on the spicy side. I haven't tried creating a milder version, but if you'd like to give it a go, my suggestion would be to experiment with swapping the guajillos and/or chipotles with milder peppers, such as Anaheim peppers.
Leftovers & Storage
These tacos are best served immediately, while they're crispy, but leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days.
More Vegan Taco Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Birria Tacos
Ingredients
For the Paste
- 4 dried guajillo peppers
- 3.5 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (half of a 7-ounce can)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
For the Vegan Birria
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds pearl oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Tacos
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
- 12 corn tortillas, or more as needed (Note 1)
- ¾ cup shredded vegan cheese
Instructions
- Cut the tops off of your guajillo chiles, then shake the seeds out. You can cut slits up the sides of the peppers as well if this makes it easier.
- Place the peppers into a small bowl or heatproof cup, then cover them with just boiled water. Let the peppers soak for 20 minutes. You can prep your other ingredients, such as the mushrooms and onion, while you wait.
- Once the peppers have finished soaking, remove them from the water and place them into a blender or small food processor fitted with an s-blade. Add all of the remaining ingredients for the paste, and blend until smooth.
- To make the vegan birria, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until they soften and shrink a bit.
- Add the onion to the pot and cook it with the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it softens slighty.
- Add the paste to the pot with the mushrooms and onion. Stir to combine the ingredients, then sauté the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Stir the broth and bay leaves into the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are very tender and the liquid has reduced by a third or more.
- Once the birria has finished simmering, remove the pot from heat. Remove the mushroom filling (the birria) from the liquid (the consommé) either using a slotted spoon, or by carefully pouring the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Season the birria and consommé with salt and pepper to taste.
- To make the tacos, coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and place it over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, dip one side of a tortilla into the consommé, then place the tortilla, dipped side down, into the hot skillet. Repeat the process for as many tortillas as you can fit into the skillet without them overlapping. Place about 3 tablespoons of the mushroom birria filling in a strip down the center of each tortilla, then top the filling with about a tablespoon of shredded vegan cheese.
- Let the tacos cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the tortillas have gotten crispy, then carefully fold the tortillas in half over the fillings. Cook the tacos for a minute or two longer, until the cheese has started to melt, then remove them from the skillet and transfer them to a plate
- Repeat the cooking process until all of the tortillas and filling have been used.
- Serve the tacos with consommé on the side for dipping, along with any accompaniments of your choice.
Notes
- Make sure you have about 16 tortillas on hand.
- This recipe makes about 12 tacos. Each serving contains about 3 tacos.
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I’ve never made any kind of birria tacos before so there was a learning curve. I did sub guajillo peppers for California Chilli peppers but it was still spicy. I may try and find something even milder next time. Your directions were easy to follow. The end result was yummy and I will make them again. I do wish there weren’t so many pop up ads though as they covered your content. All in all, a success.
These are really fun! I couldn't get that much oyster mushrooms for a reasonable cost so I subbed half of it out with regular mushrooms. I also couldn't find guajillo peppers but get ancho and pasilla so did 2 of each. Worked great!