Birria Pizza Recipe
Food Recipes | Fusion | Gameday | Italian | Main Course | Mexican | Pizza | Summer
There’s a moment at every summer cookout when someone looks at the grill and thinks, we could be doing so much more with this thing. This Birria Pizza is that moment — and it starts with some very good news: you do not need a fancy pizza oven. You need a Charbroil gas grill, a beer, and the audacity to make birria on a Tuesday.
Here’s the deal: birria beef is the kind of thing that makes people stop mid-bite and stare at the wall. Rich, slow-braised chuck roast cooked down in deep Mexican spices until it literally falls apart — then piled onto a par-baked pizza crust with bubbling Chihuahua and Oaxaca cheese, pickled red onions, and fresh cilantro. It’s the flavor crossover nobody asked for but everyone is absolutely obsessed with.
The trick to grilled pizza is the par-bake — you slide the raw dough right onto oiled grates, let it get those golden grill marks on the bottom, then flip it before you add your toppings. It takes maybe 3 minutes and it completely changes the crust: crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, with just enough char to feel intentional.
Oh, and the consommé — don’t you dare skip the consommé. That rich braising liquid accumulating in your Instant Pot? It becomes the dipping sauce. It’s basically French onion soup’s Mexican cousin, and it is not optional.
Margs and mariachi, as always, are mandatory. Let’s make some pizza.
PREP TIME
10 mins
COOK TIME
2 hrs 20 mins
SERVINGS
8
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick butter
- ~4 lbs beef chuck roast, sliced into quarters
- 1 Birria Bomb
- 36 – 40 oz of pizza dough, store-bought or homemade
- Semolina flour
- 1/2 cup olive oil + more for greasing grates
- 1 head garlic
- Shredded chihuahua cheese
- Oaxaca cheese, sliced into discs about 2″ in diameter
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- Pickled red onions, for garnish
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Birria Pizza
- In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Melt half stick butter in Instant Pot on Sauté mode. Sear all sides of beef for 2-3 minutes.
- Add Birria Bomb and water according to package directions. Make sure beef is at least halfway submerged in liquid. Pressure cook on high for 20-25 minutes per pound and allow to natural release for at least 20 minutes (ideally, you’ll let it naturally release fully without forcing it). Once the beef is done, remove it, shred, and set aside. Be sure to reserve all of the consommé in the pot for serving later.
- Preheat grill to ~400ºF. Maintain this range during the entire pizza grilling process.
- Flour a workspace for dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. You’ll only be cooking 1 pizza at a time, so leave dough balls in fridge until ready to cook. Using your hands, flatten 1 dough ball into a disc shape about 12″ in diameter. Sprinkle semolina flour on pizza peel.
- To parbake pizza: Grease the grill grates with oil. Slide dough off of peel onto grates. Close grill and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown grill marks form on the underside of dough, and top of dough is no longer wet and tacky. Remove dough from grill then before topping it, flip it so that the grilled side is facing up.
- To top pizza: Spread about 1/4 of the olive oil and garlic mixture over the parbaked dough. Top with Chihuahua cheese, shredded birria beef, then Oaxaca cheese slices all to taste.
- To grill & serve pizza: Bake pizza for another 4-7 mins, or until crust is completely cooked through without being burnt, and cheese is bubbling on top. Remove pizza from grill. Slice, then garnish with pickled onions and cilantro. Serve with a bowl of consommé for dipping. Enjoy!
How to Grill Pizza Without Messing It Up
Grilling pizza feels intimidating until you’ve done it once — then it becomes your favorite summer party trick. The whole process moves fast, so a little prep goes a long way. Here’s what actually matters:
Keep your grill in the 400°F zone. Too hot and the crust burns before the cheese melts. Too cool and you get a pale, chewy dough that never quite crisps up. A steady ~400°F is your sweet spot — check it before you start each pizza, not just once at the beginning.
Grease the grates before every single pizza. Don’t grease once and walk away. Between pies, the grates cool down slightly and the oil burns off. A quick brush with olive oil before each round keeps the dough from sticking and gives you those beautiful grill marks every time.
The par-bake flip is everything. When you slide raw dough onto the grill, you’re cooking the bottom. Once you see golden grill marks and the top is no longer wet and tacky — that’s your cue. Pull it off, flip it so the grilled side faces up, and now you’re topping a partially cooked base that won’t get soggy. This step is non-negotiable.
Go easy on the toppings. We know. You want all the birria. But an overloaded pizza won’t cook through evenly — the crust takes longer than the cheese can hold up, and you end up with a burnt bottom and undercooked dough. A measured hand here pays off in every bite.
What’s a Birria Bomb?
The Birria Bomb is the reason this recipe is surprisingly doable on a weeknight. It’s a concentrated birria seasoning packet — all the dried chiles, spices, and aromatics that would normally take you 45 minutes of prep to source and blend are already done for you. You just add it to the Instant Pot with your beef and water, and it does the heavy lifting. Look for it in Mexican grocery stores or online — it’s worth keeping a few in your pantry if birria is becoming a regular at your house (which it will be).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the birria beef ahead of time?
Yes — and honestly, we’d recommend it. The beef actually gets better overnight as it sits in the consommé. Make it the day before, refrigerate everything together, then skim the fat off the top before reheating. When you’re ready to pizza, shred it warm and you’re good to go. The consommé for dipping reheats beautifully in a small saucepan.
What if I can’t find Chihuahua or Oaxaca cheese?
Chihuahua cheese is a semi-soft melting cheese — if you can’t find it, a good low-moisture mozzarella or Monterey Jack works as a solid substitute. Oaxaca is essentially a stringy Mexican mozzarella; fresh mozzarella sliced into discs pulls the same duty in a pinch. The combination of a shredded melting cheese + a fresh disc-style cheese gives you that layered cheese situation that makes birria pizza look the way it does, so try to keep that two-cheese structure if you can.
Can I make this without an Instant Pot?
Absolutely. A slow cooker works great — just set it on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. You can also braise it in a Dutch oven in the oven at 325°F for about 3-4 hours, covered. Just make sure the beef stays at least halfway submerged in liquid, and you’re golden. The only difference is timing — the Instant Pot gets you there in about 2 hours start to finish, which is why we love it for this one.
PAIRINGS:
Birria Pizza
Garnacha
Mexican Lager
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