Birria Pizza – A Beautiful Mess

I love pizza. Dare I say it’s one of my favorite foods ever! And while I’ll never turn down a classic cheese or pepperoni pizza, sometimes I’m in the mood for something a little different. This birria pizza recipe is very much inspired by my birria tacos. In fact, you likely can use the birria meat from that recipe for both of these meals. And I LOVE an easy slow cooker recipe that can easily become two delicious meals—double win!

Birria, also called Birria de res, is a traditional stew from Mexico made of meats such as beef, lamb and goat, as well as spices and dried chilies. This pizza is inspired by this stew in that it has tender, flavorful beef and we use the stew it cooks in for both the sauce of this pizza as well as a dipper on the side, or consommé. And I use my classic pizza dough recipe, which makes a large hand-tossed-style pizza.

Related: If you love the flavors of this, then next up try our mole sauce, chipotle sauce or pico de gallo.

Birria Pizza Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Water
• Instant dry yeast
• Granulated white sugar
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Chuck roast
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Diced tomatoes
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Brown sugar
• Oregano
• Cloves
• Cayenne
• Lime
• Beef stock
• Bay leaves
• Cinnamon stick
• Mozzarella cheese
• Cilantro

How to make Birria Pizza

First, start the birria meat. Pat the meat dry and liberally season with salt. Sear the meat on both sides. Then add it to your slow cooker.

In a blender or large food processor, add half the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, diced tomatoes, cumin, paprika, pepper, brown sugar, oregano, cloves, cayenne, lime juice and 1 cup of beef stock. Blend into a thick sauce. Pour this sauce over the meat in a slow cooker. Add another cup of beef stock, so the meat is covered. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Reserve the stew but remove the meat to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Yes, it should be so tender you can easily shred with forks.

For the pizza dough, measure out the warm water and stir the sugar, if using, into it. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water and allow to activate for a few minutes. It should look foamy.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and olive oil. Pour in the yeast water and stir until a loose dough ball forms. Lightly flour a surface and your (clean) hands and knead the dough for a couple minutes until it begins to feel almost elastic-like in your hands.

Add just a little more oil to the bowl, coating the sides, and place the dough ball back in the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel. Allow to rise until it’s nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a circle. If you want to try tossing it in the air like they do in the movies, feel free, but I usually just use a rolling pin. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet.

Brush with the stew from the slow cooker and then add the shredded beef and cheese. Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 15-16 minutes. Top with chopped onion and cilantro.

Tips for Success

• If you are able to find dried chilies such as ancho chiles or guajillo chiles, these make great additions that will elevate and make this recipe more authentic. But I could not find any at the grocery store I usually shop at, so I didn’t include them here.
• Use Mexican oregano and cinnamon sticks if you are able.
• While I used chuck roast, you could use other cuts of beef or even lamb for this recipe.
• I like white onion for this recipe, but yellow or red onion will work as well.
• I like to cook this for 8 hours on low, but if needed you can cook the birria meat for 4 hours on high. It’s also best to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature if you are unsure.

More Great Pizza Recipes

As I mentioned, this recipe will likely make enough meat for multiple pizzas or you can have a birria taco night first and then a pizza night the next day with leftovers. Other options are to use any leftover meat over rice, for birria rice bowls, or in a sandwich—like a birria grilled cheese. Simply store the leftover shredded beef in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and use as you like!