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Tres Tacos Night — Meal Plan & Shopping List
Birria, tinga, picadillo — master list and cook order
Three proteins, one night: beef birria/quesabirria, chicken tinga, and ground-beef picadillo. The one call that makes or breaks it — cook the birria the day before. It improves overnight and lets you skim the chile fat you fry the tacos in. Tinga and picadillo are same-day, about an hour each. Scaled for 12–18; adjust down if it's smaller.
How it's made
1Tonight
Birria is a day-ahead dish. The flavors meld, the meat reabsorbs the consommé, and the fat sets into a cap you lift off clean the next day — that red fat is what you fry the quesabirria in.
- Make the birria start to finish (see the Birria de Res recipe). About 4 hours, mostly hands-off.
- Chill the pot overnight with the fat cap intact.
2Tomorrow — Afternoon
Everything except the birria is same-day. Salsas actually improve sitting an hour or two, so make them ahead and don't rush.
- Chicken tinga — about 1 hour. Holds well on low.
- Picadillo — about 45 minutes. Holds well.
- Salsa roja and salsa verde (both already on the site).
- Sides: start beans early if dried; rice about 30 minutes before service.
- Prep toppings: dice onion, chop cilantro, cut limes and radishes, pickle the red onion (needs 30+ min), grate the Oaxaca cheese.
3Service
Quesabirria is best straight off the griddle — fry it in rounds as people eat. The other two just need warm tortillas. The trinity of raw onion, cilantro, and lime is what cuts the rich meat — don't skip it.
- Lift the fat cap off the birria; reheat the meat and consommé.
- Warm the tortillas, set out the toppings.
- Fry the quesabirria à la minute in the reserved red fat. Tinga and picadillo go straight onto warm tortillas.
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