Cabeza
Beef cheeks steamed low and slow until they surrender into rich, gelatinous shreds — the home cook's honest stand-in for the whole-head vaporera at a Guadalajara street stand. Soft, steamy tortillas only; this is not a crispy taco.
- Time
- 4 hr
- Heat
- Yield
- 12 tacos
- Region
- Jalisco
Ingredients
Cabeza
Salsa taquera
To build
Per-100g nutrition (9 ingredients verified)
| Ingredient | kcal | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef cheeks, trimmed | 233 | 28.2 g | 12.5 g | 0 g |
| Bay leaves | 0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Mexican oregano | 0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Kosher salt | 0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Tomatillos, husked | 32 | 1 g | 1 g | 5.8 g |
| Salt | 0 | 0 g | 0 g | 1330 g |
| White onion, finely diced | 29 | 1.2 g | 0 g | 7.1 g |
| Cilantro, chopped | 23 | 2.1 g | 0.5 g | 3.7 g |
| Corn tortillas | 188 | 3.1 g | 1.6 g | 40.6 g |
Values are per 100 g of the listed ingredient. Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central (snapshot 2026-09-11). Ingredients without a verified match are omitted.
Method
Season the beef cheeks all over with salt and oregano and let them sit while you set up a steamer — a rack over a few inches of water in a heavy pot.
Scatter the onion, garlic, and bay over the cheeks, set them on the rack, cover tightly, and bring the water to a steady simmer.
Steam gently, topping up the water as needed, until the cheeks pull apart with no resistance.
- Advertisementslot: recipe-midsteps
While the meat steams, char the tomatillos and árbol chiles on a comal, then blend with garlic and salt into a rustic salsa.
Shred the cabeza with two forks, moistening it with a few spoonfuls of the fatty steaming liquid, and taste for salt.
Warm the tortillas until soft and pliable, double them up, and fill with cabeza, salsa, onion, cilantro, and lime.
Build the plate
Round it out
Recommended Cookware & Gear
Cast Iron Round Comal (10.5")
Essential for blistering tortillas and charring chiles evenly.
Heavy Duty Cast Iron Tortilla Press (8")
Engineered leverage for uniform, paper-thin corn masa discs.
Volcanic Stone Molcajete (8.5")
Basalt texture shears cell walls for superior salsa emulsions.
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