This family favorite combines tender pieces of beef and a silky red chile sauce. Serve Chile Colorado with Mexican rice, beans, and flour tortillas.

We try to eat plant-based meals most of the time, but truth be told, there is nothing my family loves more than a good beef guisado. With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, I thought I’d share with you one of our absolute favorites—authentic Chile Colorado.
This Northern Mexican/TexMex dish takes braised beef and slowly simmers it in a red chili sauce made from dried ancho chiles, chile de árbol, and I used dried New Mexico chiles but pasillas or guajillo chiles are also popular. This is a hearty, warming (but not spicy) meal that can’t be beat, especially when it’s cold outside.
It is awesome with beans and rice to soak up all that lovely sauce and a warm flour tortilla too for again, soaking up all that sauce. Make a big batch and serve a crowd or freeze some for later. It’s ridiculously delicious!
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What Is Chile Colorado?

Chile Colorado gets its name not from being from the state of Colorado but from the fact that it is colored red or colorado in Spanish. Dried Chile peppers are the star in this recipe and their color gives the dish its name.
Chili Colorado can be made with pork shoulder, beef or even chicken, that’s not as important as the sauce. A lot of recipes call for thickening the sauce with flour however, I prefer this method I learned from a Rick Martinez recipe that has you simmer the sauce uncovered until it is luscious and the beef is meltingly tender.
How Do You Use Dried Chiles?

If you are intimidated by dried chiles, don’t be, they are really easy to cook with.
First, select fresh dried chiles. This can be hard to tell if they are already in the package, so look for big bulk bins of chiles instead at your local Latin market. The dried chiles should bend easily without breaking. If they are brittle this means they are old and won’t have any flavor.
Wear gloves if you’d like to prevent red color from staining your hands or if you are working with spicy chiles. Tear off the stems, then open up the chiles. Shake out all the seeds then run them under cold water to wash out any remaining seeds and remove any dirt or dust.
Soak them in hot liquid (in this recipe we use beef broth) until they are very soft, about 30 minutes. Then blend with the other sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Ingredients

- Chuck roast. I buy it already cut in the form of stew meat but you could buy boneless chuck roast and cut it into 1-inch pieces.
- Dried ancho chiles. Confusingly, these are also sometimes mislabeled as pasilla chiles which are not the same thing. Anchos are dried poblano peppers and are wide at the top.
- Dried New Mexico chiles. Substitute guajillo chiles here if you’d like.
- Dried arbol chiles. These add a bit of heat. If you don’t want it spicy at all use 1 more ancho or New Mexico chile instead.
- Beef broth or chicken broth
- White onion
- Garlic
- Dried Mexican oregano or Mediterranean oregano
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- Ground cumin
- Bay leaves
- Avocado oil or vegetable oil
- Mexican rice, beans, flour tortillas (or corn tortilla), cilantro leaves, minced onion, thinly sliced jalapeños and radishes, for serving
How To Make Chile Colorado
step one
Stem and seed the chiles. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles, place in a fine mesh strainer and rinse well to remove any stray seeds and dust.

step two
Soften the chiles. Bring 3 cups of the beef broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the dried chiles and push under the broth. Remove from the heat, cover and let soak 30 minutes or until they are very soft and pliable.

step three
Make the chile sauce. Pour the chiles and broth they were soaking in into a blender. Add the onion, garlic cloves, oregano, and cumin. Blend on high until completely smooth and no bits of chiles remain.

step four
Season the beef. I like to buy pre-cut beef stew meat from the grocery store. If you bought a whole piece of beef, cut it into 1-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and toss the beef in the salt and black pepper.

step five
Brown the meat. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef (don’t crowd the pan) and cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove to a large plate and add the other half of the beef. Brown that as well then return the first batch to the pan.

step six
Braise. Add the Chile Colorado sauce to the pot with the beef along with the remaining beef broth and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and gently simmer, uncovered, until sauce is thickened and meat easily pulls apart with a fork.
The length of time will depend on the cut of meat and how gentle it simmers. This could take anywhere from 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from burning. If the sauce is getting thick before the beef is ready. Cover the pot and continue cooking.

step seven
Serve! Serve the Chile Colorado with Mexican rice, beans, flour tortillas, and garnishes like fresh cilantro, chopped onion, lime wedges, and thinly sliced jalapeños.

Freezing Tips
This is a perfect recipe for a freezer meal. It actually gets better as it sits. Let cool completely, then store in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months. Let defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then warm on the stove or in the microwave.
What To Serve With It

Use the Chile Colorado to make tacos, burritos, or as a filling for sopes or quesadillas. You can also serve it alongside:
- Sofrito Black Beans
- Cilantro Lime Slaw
- PIckled Red Onions
- Pico de Gallo
- Arroz Blanco {Mexican White Rice with Vegetables}
- Agua de Jamaica
- Calabacitas {Cheesy Mexican Zucchini}
If You Love This Chile Colorado Recipe Try:
- How To Make Mexican Chorizo From Scratch
- Vinegar and Spice Baby Back Ribs (from our sister site, Kate’s Best Recipes)
- Pork Pozole Rojo
- Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo
- Easy Beef Barley Soup (again, from Kate’s Best Recipes)
- Migas
- Caldo de Res
One Taste and You Will Fall In Love
Believe me, the flavor of this Chile Colorado does not disappoint! I hope you try it out and if you do, let me know how it went. Share a photo and tag me on Instagram using @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so that I can see your stuff (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating)! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

Chile Colorado
This family favorite combines tender pieces of beef and a silky red chile sauce. Serve Chile Colorado with Mexican rice, beans, and flour tortillas.
Inspired by Rick Martinez
Ingredients
- 6 dried ancho chiles
- 3 dried New Mexico chiles
- 2 dried arbol chiles
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 medium white onion, divided
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano or Mediterranean oregano
- 2 pounds beef stew meat or cubed chuck roast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 bay leaves
Serve With
- Mexican Rice
- Slow Cooker Borracho Beans
- Warm Flour Tortillas
- Minced onion (use the other 1/2 of the onion from the sauce)
- Cilantro leaves
- Thinly sliced jalapeños and radishes
Instructions
- Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles and rinse.
- Bring 3 cups of the beef broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chiles and push down under the broth. Cover and remove from heat. Let sit until soft and pliable, about 30 minutes.
- Pour chiles and broth into a blender. Cut the onion in half and chop one of the halves into large pieces. Add this to the blender along with the garlic cloves, cumin, and oregano. Puree really well so no bits of dried chile remain. Set aside.
- Season beef on all sides with the 2 teaspoons of the salt and the 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add half of the beef—don't crowd the pan. Cook meat until browned on all sides. Remove to a large plate and add the other half of the meat. Brown this batch as well. Each batch should take about 8 minutes.
- Return the first batch of beef to the pot along with the chile sauce, remaining broth, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up any browned bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low so the sauce is barely simmering. Cook, uncovered until the meat easily pulls apart with a fork and the sauce is silky and luxurious. If the sauce is getting too thick before the meat is cooked, cover the pot and conitnue cooking. The meat can take anywhere from 2-3 hours.
- Serve Chile Colorado with beans, warm tortillas, rice and garnishes.
- Cover any leftovers and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave or stove top fully before eating again.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 278Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 111mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 23g
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This sounds great. I was rummaging through my freezer yesterday and spotted a big bag of beef stew meat and thought to myself “I should do something with this”. This morning I see your recipe. Excellent! Thanks for posting 🙂
Cool, that’s perfect Nick! Let me know what you think.
I made this Sunday. It was amazing. I had to substitute dried Anaheim chilis for New Mexico chilis. I assumed the Anaheim chilis weren’t as hot as the New Mexico chilis, so I added a couple more arbol chilis. True story, I bought a new blender just in order to make this recipe. It has an 8-cup capacity (WOOT!).
So, I made this with your Best Ever Canned Black Beans recipe and a Mexican rice recipe from another blog.
This weekend, we’re turning the leftover chili, bean and rice into burritos for lunches.
Total do-again.
Yay, thank you!