📺 Original Video: I cooked a brisket MEXICAN Style and it changed my LIFE! by Guga Foods
📅 Duration: 10:43
TL;DR
- Smoke a trimmed brisket at 300°F for 3 hours, then braise it in homemade birria sauce at 350°F for 2 more hours
- The birria marinade is built on guajillo and pasilla chilies, tomatoes, and a punch of lime juice
- The result is insanely tender, juicy brisket that works both sliced and chopped into crispy birria tacos
- Guga and his crew were genuinely blown away, calling it “one of the best ways to have brisket”
- Uses an inexpensive brisket, so this is a budget-friendly showstopper
Quick Info
| Detail | Value |
| Dish | Birria Brisket + Birria Tacos |
| Servings | 6-8 |
| Prep Time | ~30 min |
| Cook Time | ~5 hours (3 smoke + 2 braise) |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Cost | Budget-friendly (cheapest brisket you can find) |
Ingredients
For the Brisket:
- 1 whole inexpensive brisket
- Salt (generous amount)
- Guga’s rub (or your preferred BBQ rub)
For the Birria Marinade:
- Guajillo dry chilies (seeds removed)
- Pasilla dry chilies (seeds removed)
- Tomatoes (good amount)
- White onion
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Cinnamon (tiny bit)
- Brown sugar
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- Lime juice
- Boiling water (for rehydrating chilies + blending)
For the Birria Tacos:
- Corn tortillas
- Oaxaca cheese (or mozzarella as substitute)
- Leftover birria consomme sauce
- Bacon fat (for the crispy version)
Instructions
▶00:17 Step 1: Trim the brisket. Start with an inexpensive brisket and trim it up. Cut away the sealed edges (from hot water packaging), remove excess fat from the point, and shape it nicely. Leave about a quarter inch of fat on the lean side. Save the trimmings for burgers.
▶01:03 Step 2: Season it. Keep it simple. Hit the brisket with a generous amount of salt, then apply your rub all over. That’s it.
▶01:18 Step 3: Smoke the brisket. Set your smoker to 300°F and throw the brisket in. Cook for about 3 hours until it develops a beautiful golden color with bark forming on the edges.
▶01:49 Step 4: Make the birria marinade. Remove seeds from the guajillo and pasilla chilies, then rehydrate them in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Toss the rehydrated chilies into a blender with tomatoes, white onion, some of the chili water, salt, garlic powder, a tiny bit of cinnamon, brown sugar, one chicken bouillon cube, and lime juice. Blend on high until smooth.
▶02:36 Step 5: Braise in birria sauce. Pour that beautiful marinade all over the smoked brisket, then transfer to the oven at 350°F for about 2 hours.
▶02:54 Step 6: Rest and slice. Pull it out, transfer to a cutting board, and let it rest for about 1 hour. Don’t forget to save the consomme sauce left in the pan. Guga says it’s so good “you don’t even need the brisket, all you really need is a little bit of tortilla.”
▶03:26 Step 7: Slice the point, dice the lean. Slice the fatty point for serving as straight-up birria brisket. For the lean, cut it into small pieces and dice it up for tacos.
▶03:57 Step 8: Make birria tacos (two ways). Soft version: Put a little consomme sauce on the bottom of a pan, lay down a corn tortilla, add Oaxaca cheese, pile on diced brisket, fold it, and top with more birria sauce. Crispy version: Add bacon fat to the pan, fry the tortilla, add cheese and brisket, but put the sauce inside instead of on top. This keeps the tortilla super crunchy.
The Verdict
▶07:19 The tasting crew went full “wow wow wow” on first bite, and honestly it sounded genuine. Guga summed up the brisket in one word: “incredible.” The birria sauce completely transforms the brisket. Instead of the typical dry bark, you get a wet, flavorful coating that makes the whole thing feel juicier and more tender. As one taster put it, “the savory richness of the brisket gets complemented by the depth and slight sweetness of the birria. They pair together really well.”
▶09:23 The birria tacos were arguably even better. That combination of crunchy tortilla, gooey cheese, and birria-soaked brisket had them calling it “literally the perfect meat lovers taco.” The taco form packs the birria, cheese, and brisket so tightly together that every bite is packed with flavor.
The group was split between brisket and tacos as the favorite, with the smart answer being “just do both.” Hard to argue with that. This is the kind of recipe where an inexpensive cut of meat becomes something truly special, and the birria sauce does all the heavy lifting.
Tips & Variations
- Save your trimmings. All that fat you cut off makes amazing burger meat.
- Oaxaca cheese vs mozzarella. Guga prefers Oaxaca for its creamier texture, but mozzarella works fine if you can’t find it.
- Crispy vs soft tacos. The bacon fat crispy version stays crunchy longer since the sauce goes inside. The soft version needs to be served immediately or the tortilla gets soggy.
- The consomme is gold. Don’t waste the braising liquid. Use it for dipping, drizzling, or honestly just eating with tortillas on its own.
- Birria sauce is versatile. Guga points out this marinade works with any meat, so consider making a double batch.
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