Birria Pizza
Juicy, flavorful beef pizza inspired by Birria stew.
Servings 8
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds chuck roast
- 1 white onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 12 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 lime
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ⅓ cup cilantro
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Pizza Dough
- ¾ cup warm water
- ¼ teaspoon granulated white sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- First, start the birria meat. Pat the meat dry and liberally season with salt. Sear the meat on both sides. Then add it to your slow cooker.
- In a blender or large food processor, add half the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, diced tomatoes, cumin, paprika, pepper, brown sugar, oregano, cloves, cayenne, lime juice and 1 cup of beef stock. Blend into a thick sauce.
- Pour this sauce over the meat in a slow cooker. Add another cup of beef stock, so the meat is covered. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Reserve the stew but remove the meat to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Yes, it should be so tender you can easily shred with forks.
- For the pizza dough, measure out the warm water and stir the sugar, if using, into it. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water and allow to activate for a few minutes. It should look foamy.
- In a medium to large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and olive oil. Pour in the yeast water and stir until a loose dough ball forms. Lightly flour a surface and your (clean) hands and knead the dough for a couple minutes until it begins to feel almost elastic-like in your hands.
- Add just a little more oil to the bowl, coating the sides, and place the dough ball back in the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel. Allow to rise until it’s nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a circle. If you want to try tossing it in the air like they do in the movies, feel free, but I usually just use a rolling pin. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet.
- Brush with the stew from the slow cooker and then add the shredded beef and cheese. Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 15-16 minutes. Top with chopped onion and cilantro.
Notes
If you are able to find dried chilies such as ancho chiles or guajillo chiles, these make great additions that will elevate and make this recipe more authentic. But I could not find any at the grocery store I usually shop at, so I didn’t include them here.
Use Mexican oregano and cinnamon sticks if you are able.
While I used chuck roast, you could use other cuts of beef or even lamb for this recipe.
I like white onion for this recipe, but yellow or red onion will work as well.
I like to cook this for 8 hours on low, but if needed you can cook the birria meat for 4 hours on high. It’s also best to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature if you are unsure.
This will make enough meat for 2-3 pizzas, or more. So, the nutrition facts listed here are not quite right as they do not take this into account.