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5 from 4 votes

Birria Pizza

Looking for a delicious way to use your leftover birria de res? Make super cheesy birria pizza! Using my classic chewy pizza crust recipe brushed with melted garlic butter, it's topped with juicy beef birria, super flavorful consommé, and tons of oaxaca cheese. This is a family friday movie night favorite at our house!
Course: Kid Friendly
Cuisine: Mexican-American
Servings: 2 large pizzas
Calories: 612kcal
Author: Eden Westbrook

Ingredients

Pizza Crust (makes 2)

  • 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast 1 packet
  • 1 ½ cups warm water no more than 115 degrees F
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 ½ to 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Birria de Res

  • 2 tablespoon neutral high smoke point oil (grapeseed, vegetable, canola, etc)
  • 2 lbs boneless chuck roast cut in half
  • 1 lbs short ribs English cut
  • 6 cups beef broth or stock
  • 1 large white onion peeled and quartered
  • 1 head garlic peeled
  • 4 dried guajillo peppers deseeded and stems removed
  • 4 dried ancho chile peppers deseeded and stems removed
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
  • 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano fresh or dried
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 28 oz can pureed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3 bay leaves

Pizza Toppings

  • 1 cup shredded oaxaca cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Garlic Butter for Crust

  • ½ stick 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  • Make the Pizza Dough
  • In a small bowl, mix together the yeast, warm water, and sugar. Let bloom for 10 minutes until foamy and smells very 'yeasty'. If this does not happen, get fresh yeast and try again.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment(or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), add the cups of flour, the extra virgin olive oil, and salt to the bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix on low until the dough just comes together.
  • Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook, then knead the dough for about 5-7 minutes, or until the dough is only slightly tacky and detaching from the sides of the bowl. At this point I like to hand knead it on a lightly floured work surface, kneading until the dough is barely tacky at all, springs up when touched, and is nice and smooth.
  • Lightly coat a large mixing bowl with olive oil and shape dough into a ball. Place ball into the bowl and make sure to lightly cover all sides of the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm area.
  • Let your dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  • Punch the dough down, then divide the dough into two. Shape both halves into balls and let rest in separate bowls covered in plastic wrap for 25 minutes.

  • Make the Birria
  • Bring the meat to room temperature for about 30 minutes and then sprinkle liberally on all sides with kosher salt.
  • In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the high heat oil. When the oil is shimmering hot, add the chuck roast, making sure not to crowd the pan, and sear on all sides until browned. Repeat with all the pieces of chuck roast and the short ribs until every piece of meat is well browned. Set meat aside on a plate or in a large bowl for later.
  • In a clean, medium sized pot, add the dried guajillo and ancho chiles, chipotle peppers and the adobo they come in, the large white onion quarters, garlic cloves, pureed tomatoes, all the spices, bay leaves and pour enough cold water in to cover everything.
  • Place it over medium-high heat; once it comes to a simmer bring it to medium heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Pour through a mesh strainer and discard the liquid, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves (they don't puree!), then transfer all the solids to a high powered blender. Blend until nice and smooth.
  • Add the seared meat, the blended sauce, and cups of beef broth to the dutch oven and stir well. Let simmer over medium heat, covered, for about 3 to 3.5 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender, stirring to ensure the bottom doesn't burn every half an hour.

  • Make the Birria Pizza.
  • Preheat oven to as hot as it goes with a rack on the lowest rung in the oven and a pizza pan or baking sheet on the rack.
  • Turn out pizza dough onto a clean, lightly floured counter space or work surface or a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle with more flour if needed so you can stretch and flatten the dough into your desired size, making sure the dough is thin everywhere except on the edges. Patch up any holes by pressing dough back together.
  • Place pizza on a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal (to be easily transferred into the oven) and top with the birria consommé, smoothing desired amount evenly over the dough, leaving the edges plain. Top the sauced areas with cheese and shredded birria meat, generously.
  • Once the oven is to temperature, carefully transfer the pizza to the hot pan. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and bubbly and crust is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven.
  • Mix together melted butter, garlic powder, oregano, and salt, then use a pastry brush to brush the garlic butter onto the crust.
  • Slice the pizza and serve hot.

Notes

This recipe was originally created for using up leftover birria de res, but I have included instructions on how to make both the pizza crusts and the birria for those who want to make everything fresh.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 612kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 546mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g