Chicken Birria Quesadilla

Chicken Birria Quesadilla

from nutrient-matters.com
70 min

These chicken birria quesadillas feature tender, slow-cooked chicken in a spicy hearty birria broth, made with a shorter list of peppers than traditional birria but delivers that same burst of flavours. Tender birria chicken is paired with melty cheese on a crispy tortilla. Served with a side of consommé for dipping to elevate the experience.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbspavocado oil
  • 1 lb.boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 2yellow onions
  • 1tomato
  • 3guajillo chilis
  • 1 canchipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 8garlic cloves
  • 1 ½ tsporegano
  • 1 ½ tspthyme
  • 1 tsppaprika
  • 1 tspcumin
  • 1 tspcoriander seeds
  • ¼ cupwater
  • 4 cupswater
  • 1chicken bouillon cube
  • 1cinnamon sticks
  • 2bay leaves
  • ½ tspsalt
  • ½ tspblack pepper
  • 1 tspsugar
  • tortillas
  • white onion
  • limes
  • mozzarella cheese

Directions

  1. 1

    Remove the stem and some or all the seeds from the guajillo chillis depending on the preferred spice level.

  2. 2

    Bring a small pot of water to boil. Take off the heat and add in the dried chills, cover with a lid and allow to soften for 5-10 minutes.

  3. 3

    For the birria mixture, in a blender, add roughly chopped yellow onion and tomato, whole peeled garlic cloves, the softened chillis, a can of chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, spices and water. Blend until smooth.

  4. 4

    Add some oil to a pot/dutch oven on medium high heat and sear chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes on each side until slightly golden.

  5. 5

    Place a strainer on top of the pot and pour the birria mixture on top using a spatula in circular motions to squeeze all the liquid through. You can pour in 1 cup of the required water over the strainer to help this process. Once youve got all the liquid in the pot and you should be left with a paste like crumbs in the strainer, simply discard that.

  6. 6

    Pour in the remaining cups of water along with a chicken bouillon cube, salt, pepper, sugar, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks.

  7. 7

    Bring this to a boil, cover with a lid then reduce to heat to medium/medium-low heat and keep on a gentle simmer for 45 minutes.

  8. 8

    Remove the chicken from the broth once tender and shred with your hands or using a fork. Pour 2-3 ladles of the birria broth over the shredded chicken. Make sure to scoop the birria broth from the bottom because we want to save the fat on top for dipping our tortillas.

  9. 9

    Get a large pan on medium/medium- high heat and heat for 2-4 minutes. Dunk tortillas into the top layer of fat sitting on the birria broth then lay the tortilla in the heated pan. If you used chicken breast and have little to no fat on top of the broth, use a little ghee or neutral cooking oil in the pan to fry the tortilla to help it get crispy.

  10. 10

    Add a layer of shredded mozzarella, the birria chicken and fold over. Optionally add another small ladle of the birria fat on top of the quesadilla. Once the tortilla is crispy to your liking, remove from the pan.

  11. 11

    Use the remaining broth for the dipping consome. You may include diced white onions and cilantro in the broth if preferred.

  12. 12

    Once ready to eat, add diced white onions and a squeeze of lime juice in the birria quesadilla.