This Chile Colorado recipe combines tender pieces of beef with a rich and flavorful red chile sauce. Serve with rice for an authentic Mexican dinner!
Chile Colorado makes my heart skip a beat and I’m super excited to be sharing it with you today!
Made of tender pieces of beef simmered in an rich and flavorful red chile sauce, chile colorado is one of my favorite things I ate growing up. I have fond memories of coming home from school and eagerly walking to the kitchen to see what my dad had cooked for me that day. If it was chile colorado, I was a happy girl.
I didn’t need all the extra stuff like rice and beans and tortillas – all I wanted was a bowl of chile colorado, some tortilla chips and life was good.
Those were the days.
This dish is an attempt to recreate those childhood memories as best as I can. This dish will never taste as good as my Dad makes it, but I think I came pretty freakin’ close!
The most important part of this recipe is the red chile sauce. To make it, you’ll need some dried chiles that can often be found in the Mexican aisle at your local grocery store or a specialty Mexican grocer. If you can’t find any close to you, I recommend ordering from Amazon. Here are the three types of chiles you’ll need.
They’re pretty inexpensive, especially when you consider how many chiles come in a bag, and they’ll last forever! Okay, not literally forever, but they’ll last in your pantry or cupboard for up to a year.
I served myself a good helping of this chile colorado alongside some authentic Mexican rice and I felt like I was back at home. So good, so comforting and oh-so satisfying.
Here are some ideas for sides to eat with this dish.
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- with some corn tortillas
- Mexican rice
- Mexican refried beans
- with some flour tortillas
- Cilantro Lime Rice
Or you can be like my 13-year-old self and enjoy it an a bowl with some tortilla chips. Highly recommend.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe if you make it!
INGREDIENTS
For the red chile sauce
- 8 dried Guajillo chiles, stems removed and seeded
- 2 dried Ancho chiles, stems removed and seeded
- 1 dried Arbol chile, stem removed and seeded (or more if you like spicy food)
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
For the meat
- 2 pounds beef stew meat (like chuck shoulder or roast), cut into 1/2 inch squares
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cups beef broth, divided (or chicken or vegetable broth)
- 2 bay leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
For the red chile sauce
- In a medium pot, add dried Guajillo chiles, Ancho chiles, Arbol chiles, and onion to a medium pot. Cover with water until chiles and onions are completely submerged and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove from heat, cover and let it sit for 20 minute to soften the peppers.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles and onions into a large blender. Add in 1 cup of the chile-soaked water, the dried oregano, salt, garlic and cumin. Blend until smooth. Add some of the beef broth from the meat ingredients as needed if the mixture is too thick for your blender.
- Once the red chile sauce is as smooth as possible, pour it through a strainer into a bowl, pushing down on the solids that accumulate to get as much moisture out as possible. Discard the solids.
For the meat
- In a large bowl, add the beef, flour, salt and pepper. Toss together to coat.
- Heat a large pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add in half of the meat and brown on all sides so they have a good sear, about 5 minutes. Transfer the browned beef into a bowl and repeat the process with the remaining uncooked meat.
- Once the second batch of meat has browned, return all the meat into the pot. Add in the red chile sauce, beef broth and bay leaves. Stir to combine and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
- Uncover, taste and add more salt as necessary. Raise to medium heat and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. If you prefer a thicker sauce, cook longer.
- Discard bay leaves and serve with Mexican rice and beans.
ISABEL'S TIPS
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Ethan R. says
Exactly what I’ve been trying to find. I made chile colorado once and knocked it out of the park, but didn’t save the recipe! I couldn’t remember what chiles I used and I’ve been searching for that same flavor ever since. I FINALLY FOUND IT! This is the way it’s meant to taste. Thank you!
Robert Moya says
I made this for the first time for a party of 8 and I must say it came out awesome. I have to admit I did add a little more spices that it asked for but it was awesome everyone loved it and my wife said it had a hint of spice to it. I wanted to make it spicier but I held back.. I am going to make this again and again..
Ken says
A family favorite, we have 7 grown kids and a giant pot of this is their unanimous choice for family dinners, left overs are used on nachos later that evening to snack on.
Diana says
By far the best Mexican dish I have ever made! The four food critics in my house loved it!
Stacey Parzik says
This was my 1st time making this and my fiancé is from a very traditional Mexican family so I was a little nervous. He LOVED it. In his words it was “spot on”. The markets were out of the Chiles listed so I used a combination of California and japones and the spice level was perfect. I don’t eat meat so I reserved a bit of sauce and had with some vegan beef less tips. I don’t think it had the same depth of flavor, but it was still tasty in case there are any other vegetarians Curious to try this,
Bradley says
I’ve been looking all over for a great colorado recipe. This is it. This is the one. Perfecto! I’m keeping this and making it often. Thanks!
Rachel Ann says
I made this dish, substituted pork shoulder, since my family doesn’t eat beef. It was perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Michelle S says
I made this last night and let me just say YUYMMM. What a delicious recipe. I would say even better than a restaurant and tastes just like my tias cooking. Love it! I added extra heat and garlic. Amazing!
Linda says
Very good. I will definitely make it again with a bit less salt.
Marty says
I’ve made this about 10 times now and it is always delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Melinda says
Aye dios mio! Was that a awesome recipe! Best dish ever! I didn’t use as many chilies (hubster is recovering from chemo) but full of flavor city! Gazooks that was good! Bless you and thank you for sharing. Happy 2020
Isabel says
So happy you loved the recipe! Happy 2020 to you and your husband is in my thoughts.
Lisa says
Quarantine has me missing our favorites! This was awesome and easy once Amazon came with the peppers. Will definitely make again.
Diane Arredondo says
This was so good! I made two modifications, though. I omitted the chili arbol (didn’t want the extra heat) and added two tablespoons of tomato paste. I made it for my husband’s birthday and he loved it. Thank you for this excellent recipe.
Jessie says
Excellent recipe… I made it with a few changes (added 2 pasilla chillies, a dash of cinnamon and additional garlic. Also sautéed half an onion, I chopped carrot, garlic and one red bell pepper before mixing the meat and sauce) and it turned out so well. Thank you so much for the recipe- jessie
Cindy says
Hi Isabel! I made the recipe last night and it is amazing! I browned the beef in my instant pot on saute and then I added everything in as your instructions to the pot. I place my instant pot in manual and set it for 25 minutes. It was tender and so delicious. I love this recipe thank you for sharing.
Isabel says
Thanks so much for sharing, Cindy! I need to try making this in the Instant Pot now!
Leslie says
This recipe is spot-on! I love Chile Colorado and this detail the types of chillies better than any other recipe I’ve seen. I was going to make pot roast and this is just so much better. This reminds me of my favorite restaurant recipe for chili colorado. It’s really good.
Kirsten says
So good!! My husband loves Chile Colorado, but I had never made it. Tried this recipe and nailed it! This is a great recipe!! I just downloaded your book and can’t wait to try more of your recipes:) Thank you!
Isabel says
Thank you, Kirsten! I’m so glad you two loved it!
Laura says
Hello, I love Chile Colorado, but my chile paste has come out sandy and gritty the last two times I’ve made it. I saw someone else mentioned this here last year, and you didn’t really have an answer for her aside from straining it. In my case, straining didn’t have any effect. Still sandy and gritty. Have you since heard about this problem happening to anyone else? It’s not spices, as I didn’t use any. I used dried ancho chiles, de seeded and de stemmed, soaked, blended, etc. I’ve made Chile Colorado about 15-20 times before, with no gritty texture. Last month i made it and it was gritty. Today I made the Chile paste and tasted a spoonful before I added it to my meat. It was gritty again! Agggh! What could be causing this?
Isabel says
Hi Laura, I’m so sorry this is happening! I’ve never had that issue so I’m not sure what’s happening. The only thing I can think of is that some of the tiny bits of blended chiles are getting through the strainer. It could be that the chiles aren’t softening enough, making it tough to completely puree them in your blender. Maybe once the chiles come to a boil, let them boil for a few minutes (2 or 3) and then remove them and cover them to soften.
Cindy says
Make sure your using a fine strainer.
Rudy says
Use a finer strainer.
Dave Maynard says
Tried it and it was good. First time cooking anything just establishes the boundaries. Next time I’ll double or triple the recipe and freeze some for later use.
Keep on sharing!
Jennifer says
I made this a couple months ago and it is wonderful. Making it again today. Not terribly spicy so I will be adding a bit more heat this time.