Birria Quesa Spring Rolls

Birria quesa tacos have been really trendy lately and for good reason, and these Birria Spring Rolls put a whole new spin on them! The meat has such a deep flavor, and when the tacos are fried up on the edges with that crispy cheese and flavorful dipping sauce… SO GOOD. I did a ton of research into birria before making this recipe. What I mean by that was I needed an excuse to eat birria quesa tacos every day!

How I came up with this recipe

I thought it would be fun to put a new spin on this dish, but I wanted to retain the dipping sauce, the crispy elements, and that super tender flavorful meat. I decided birria spring rolls would be a great way to keep the essence of the original dish intact but serve it in a unique way. I have seen some people do egg rolls, but I like the thin crispy flaky spring roll wrappers over egg rolls. I grabbed the Birria recipe from A Cozy Kitchen as a baseline but tweaked it a bit based on what I had on hand, and started cooking!

Make the birria

Any good recipe starts with a plate of dried chiles. I used arbol, chipotle, and guajillo.

Break up the dried chiles and toast them in the pan. Make sure you open the windows! Toasting chiles creates a strong aroma in the kitchen and if you aren’t careful you will be sneezing for the next 2 hours. Either way, it’s worth it when you taste the birria spring rolls!

After toasting the chiles, add them to hot water to soften. Then sear the meat and remove it from the pan. Then saute the aromatics, and add in the spices, broth, and chile water. Cook it a bit, then blend it all smooth! Add it back to the pan along with the meat and cook slow and low until it’s falling apart.

Make the birria spring rolls

After the meat cooks, separate the meat and the sauce. After the meat cools a bit, it’s time to roll up the birria spring rolls! Add some cheese and roll it with the meat in two layers of spring roll pastry.

I just use some water to seal the wrappers.

Frying the Birria Spring Rolls

Preheat the oil to 350 and fry for about 3 minutes until crispy! I usually hold them with tongs at first to make sure the birria spring rolls don’t unravel.

Serving the Birria Spring Rolls

Cut the birria spring rolls on the bias and pile them on a plate. Grab that tasty broth and add some onions and cilantro to it. Put it into a little bowl with all the spring rolls.

Amazing! Georgina and I had no problem eating a huge plate of these birria spring rolls in minutes. So flavorful and delicious.

It’s nice to have the dipping sauce, cause you need the beef to be somewhat dry to stuff it into the wrappers. These birria spring rolls are flavorful on their own but when they hit the sauce its next level.

Twists on this recipe

You could definitely do egg rolls instead of birria spring rolls if you would rather! Another benefit of using egg rolls is you can make them bigger so it takes a bit less time. You could also do this with lamb shoulder instead of beef, and it is a bit more traditional too!

I love making spring rolls! Check out my bacon jalapeno popper rolls, or my sweet potato sausage rolls!

Birria recipe adapted from A Cozy Kitchen

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5 from 1 vote

Birra Quesa Spring Rolls

A twist on birria quesa tacos, the tender flavorful meat is served in a crispy spring roll complete with the cooking liquid as a dipping sauce.

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time3 hours hrs

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American, Mexican, Thai

Keyword: fried, Mash-Up, Spicy, stuffed

Servings: 20 rolls

Calories: 162kcal

Equipment

• fryer

Ingredients

BIRRIA

• 7 arbol chiles trimmed and de seeded
• 3 chipotle chiles trimmed and de seeded
• 3 guajillo chiles trimmed and de seeded
• 2 cups water hot
• 2 pounds beef stewing meat
• 1 onion diced
• 1 head garlic about 10 cloves, peeled
• 3 to matoes quartered
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 sprigs fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon clove
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon red vinegar
• 2 cups beef or chicken broth

ROLLS

• spring roll wrappers
• chihuahua cheese
• diced onion
• diced cilantro
• oil for frying

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325
• In a large heavy bottom pot over medium heat, add the pepper pieces and cook about 3 minutes until they slightly change color. Beware, this step will always make the kitchen a little hard to breathe in! Add the chiles to the hot water and allow them to steep while you continue the next steps.
• Add some oil to the same pan and add in the meat. Sear to brown on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan and add them to a baking dish.
• Add the onion to the pan the meat was cooked in and saute for about 5 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure all the brown from the meat is incorporated. The onions will start to brown on the edges if you keep the pan on high heat. Add in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes.
• Add in the pepper, both oreganos, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, and vinegar. Pour the chiles and chile water in as well. Stir to combine and scrape the bottom of the pan again to make sure everything is incorporated into this delicious liquid. Bring to a strong simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer about a half hour.
• Pour the mixture into a blender, or you can use a hand blender right in the pot. Blend until smooth. Strain this mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any grittiness and pour it over the meat. Add in the stock and stir to combine. Cover and put in the oven. Bake about 3 hours until the meat is falling apart.
• Remove the chunks of meat from the pot and mash them up to shred. The meat mixture should be fairly dry with a decent amount of liquid left in the pan. Allow the meat to cool and store the broth until ready to use.
• Follow package instructions on the spring rolls for thawing and holding. (Usually thaw for about an hour on the counter and then remove from package and place under a damp paper towel so they don't dry out.) Put a spring roll wrapper onto your work surface. Add some cheese and meat. Make sure not to overfill! Roll it up like a thick cigar and brush on a little water on the last corner to help seal. Continue until you have made as many as you want.
• Preheat oil to 350. Fry the spring rolls for about 3 minutes until crispy and a few shades darker on all sides.
• Pour some of the birria broth into a bowl and top with diced onion and cilantro. Serve the spring rolls with the sauce for dipping.

Nutrition

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 346IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg