Vegan Birria Tacos Recipe: How to Make Vegan Birria

Vegan birria tacos feature corn tortillas, birria sauce (a cooked paste made from dried chile peppers), onion, cilantro, and lime. Traditional birria is a goat-based soup that hails from the state of Jalisco in Mexico; in tacos, the meat gets braised until tender, then fried in a sauce made from the reduced broth.

Vegan birria, on the other hand, gets its intense meaty flavor from a mix of mushrooms. You can also serve the stewed mushrooms in tacos or quesadillas or floating in a vegetable broth or comsommé. Make these tacos into plant-based quesabirria (also known as quesa tacos) by melting your favorite vegan cheese on top of them for a creamy, salty bite.

These tacos are a star main course. Here are some foods and beverages that will heighten and offset their complex flavors.

• Agua frescas: Horchata (a naturally vegan beverage made of rice milk, sweetener, and cinnamon), iced hibiscus tea, or any frosty agua fresca serves as a sweet side to savory vegan birria tacos. Learn how to make horchata at home.
• Chopped radish: Radish is cooling and hydrating—the perfect garnish for this taco’s deeply spiced sauce. If you decide to cut radishes ahead of time, keep them in a bowl of ice water to prevent them from drying out.
• Margaritas: A match made in heaven, Margaritas and vegan birria tacos are the perfect happy hour—or any time of day—meal or snack. Learn how to make a Margarita.
• Micheladas: Beat the heat with ice-cold beers mixed with piquant tomato juice and seasonings. Think of a Michelada as a cross between a Bloody Mary and a beer.
• Tortilla soup: A bowl of vegan tortilla soup on the side adds a warming contrast to any birria tacos. Learn how to make it at home with this easy vegan tortilla soup recipe.

These easy tacos have a richly spiced sauce that comes together considerably faster than their non-vegan counterpart. Here are some tips for amplifying flavor and texture to get the most out of this irresistible dish:

1. 1. Always warm your tortillas. Corn tortillas get a gorgeous char when warmed up on a stovetop or in a cast-iron skillet. Heat makes them malleable, so they won’t tear when you add your taco fillings. Learn how to heat corn tortillas.
2. 2. Toast your spices. Heat brings out the oils and aromas of spices and seeds, enhancing their flavor and intensity. You’ll notice the difference in your cooking if you toast your spices before incorporating them into a dish.
3. 3. Replace the meat. A variety of mushrooms add intense, rounded meatiness to this dish. Jackfruit, which is shreddable, is also a terrific textural dupe for goat meat, though it has a milder, sweeter flavor than mushrooms. Learn more about how to eat jackfruit.
4. 4. Make big batches. This sauce freezes beautifully, meaning you can batch cook it and store it for later to make vegan tacos on a weeknight.
5. 5. Swap in your favorite spices. Chipotle, adobo, allspice, or pasilla chiles all make excellent, fragrant sauces—in addition to, or in place of, the spices in the recipe. Learn more about the different varieties of Mexican peppers.