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:
Nutrition Information
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I love all your recipes. They are so good!!!! Made many of them and are part of my family recipes now to. Thanks 😄
Hello Isabel, I’ve made this recipe so many times now because it is delicious and we love it. Can this be made in an instant pot?
Hi Evelyn! Isabel hasn’t tested this recipe in an Instant Pot yet but it’s most likely possible. Let us know if you try it!
Could you use this recipe for instant pot
Hi Crystal! We haven’t tried this recipe with an instant pot so we’re not sure, but you can definitely try and let us know how it goes!
We have 5 Semenarians visiting Our Church. They are here to learn, to visit Hospitals, and visit. I have been in charge of making food for them. I have made your chili Colorado recipe, I hope it is as good as yours. I cook a lot of Mexican food, but this was never one of my favorites so I’m not sure. It smells so good and tastes good to but it’s not for me it’s for my guests. Thanks for your great recipes……I love them
This isn’t just the best Chile Colorado I’ve ever made, this is one of the best things I’ve ever made period. The depth of flavor here is stunning. I got my chiles from Ole Rico and they were super high quality which I think is the key to this recipe. I used Top Blade Steak for the meat (Flat Iron Steak) and it cooked up so tender. I am totally using this recipe as my go-to from now on. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Isabel has for me in her recipes.
The recipe is fantastic. I have a recipe for it but this one used one different Chile and I really like the flavor. I added a couple more arbol chiles to make it a little spicier, but the flavor was actually perfect without the extra heat.
Can this be done in a crock pot?
Hi! This recipe hasn’t been tested that way but we’d love to know if you try it!
This was so delicious. My boyfriend loved it ! Maybe next time I’ll add more spice to it… definitely a remake ! Thank you !!
Wow! This is fantastic! I spiced it up using a handful of arbol chiles. The depth of flavor in this dish is incredible. Thank you for these fantastic recipes.
delish. i used the sauce recipe over ground beef and ground pork with black beans. used Pork bone stock as that was all I had.
dressed it up with chopped onion, cheddar cheese, cilantro and avacado. super!
Made the red chile sauce first. Nice, complex taste. My husband came over with a little smile and tears in his eyes: “My mom ordered ground chile from California, in the ’50s, and this tasted like her version, from a company called “Grandmas.” Hadn’t tasted that for many years! Thank you so much.
I used your recipe and I must say it was delicious, I thought my own was good and it was until I used your recipe. I will be using this in the future.
I made your authentic chili Colorado, and oh my gosh…DELICIOUS.
My husband was very happy.
I have loved Chile Colorado since I was a college student in Los Angeles, but I never thought to make it myself. Your recipe was simple to follow and the dish turned out exactly as I had hoped. It will now be on my regular rotation. Gracias!
My 1st time making this recipe. Very easy to follow gracias! Delisioso!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it 3 times now and always have to make extra to gift my dad bc he loves it too. I am wondering if there are any suggestions to make it a little spicier? I’ve increased the arbol chiles each time (I think most recently I used 8) and haven’t noticed an increase in heat. Is there something else I can add to give it a little more kick?
Hi! Good question. First, I recommend not removing the seeds from the chiles. That should definitely help to spice things up. Then I would just continue adding more arbol chiles until you get it just right! Hope this helps!
I add a few Sarrono peppers to spice things up. They have a nice bite, but won’t set your taste buds on fire unless you get a few seeds. 😂
I use fresh Sarrono peppers, and throw them in with the dried ones to simmer, then just follow the rest of the recipe.
Love this meal. I serve with refried beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole and tortillas fried in a little bit of butter.
I enjoyed the meal as is… however my daughter wasn’t able to handle the heat. Any tips?
Hi Lisa! I’d recommend completely removing the seeds from all of the chiles or lessening the amount of chiles you use. Just note that this might change the flavor of the recipe.
Made exactly as is. Perfection!!!
Family all loved it!! I made the mistake of using all the liquid with the peppers for the sauce but since my Dutch oven runs a little hot it thickened up nicely. We are from San Diego and are accustomed to Mexican food. Made giant burritos for the kids. My daughter said it was the best burrito I have ever made her. Thanks for the recipe. It is now a family favorite.
My word, this is fantastic! Followed the recipe exactly and I am in heaven.