Chili Colorado is a traditional Mexican recipe of pork or beef stewed low and slow in a rich red chili sauce, hence the name "colorado", which means "colored red", not from the state of Colorado.
Easy Chili Colorado Recipe
I've been on a chili kick lately. I love making chili, all that wonderful flavor in a big old pot, cooking low and slow until everything melds together.
It's hard to find a better one-pot meal. If you're a big chili fan, this is one recipe you want to have in your chili recipes repertoire. You can check out my growing collection of chili recipes here.
We're talking Chili Colorado, my friends, and it's a great one.
What is Chili Colorado?
Chili Colorado is a traditional Mexican recipe of pork or beef stewed nice and slow in a rich red chili sauce. While you might think it is a dish of the state of Colorado, that is not the case.
The name derives from the Spanish word "colorado", which means "colored red", named because of the deep red color of the sauce.
It's crazy delicious, and it's all about the chili peppers.
About the Chili Peppers
Chili Colorado is traditionally made with dried Mexican chili peppers, including ancho peppers, guajillo peppers, and chiles de arbol. You can also use pasilla peppers.
Ancho peppers are dried poblano peppers and they add a rich depth of flavor and color.
Guajillo peppers are one of the most common and popular chiles grown and used in Mexico. It is mild to moderately hot, and has dark, reddish brown, leathery skin, with a green-tea flavor or fruity flavor, with hints of berries.
Chiles de Árbol are small, red and thin Mexican peppers that add heat and spice.
Pasilla peppers refer to the dried chilaca pepper. The chilaca, when fresh, is also known as pasilla bajio, or as the chile negro or “Mexican negro” because, while it starts off dark green, it ends up dark brown. It offers a rich and smoky flavor.
Together, these peppers develop a richness of flavor you won't get with other chilis.
Let's talk about how to make Chili Colorado, shall we?
Chili Colorado Ingredients
- FOR THE CHILI SAUCE
- Dried Chiles. I'm using dried ancho chilies, guajillo chilies, pasilla chilies, and chiles de arbol. Look for these at your local Mexican grocery store or online.
- Spices. Mexican oregano, ground cumin, salt and black pepper to taste.
- FOR THE CHILI COLORADO
- Vegetables. Onion, garlic, and jalapeno peppers for some optional extra heat and flavor.
- Chuck Roast. I'm making this with beef, but you can also use pork shoulder or other cuts of meat or stew meat that benefits from low and slow cooking.
- Flour.
- Beef Stock. Or beef broth. You can also use chicken or vegetable stock.
- For Serving. Crumbly white cheese, fresh herbs, spicy chili flakes, lime juice if desired – Rice and/or warmed tortillas, if desired
How to Make Chili Colorado - The Recipe Method
Toast the Dried Chilies. Make the sauce first by dry toasting the dried peppers in pan about a minute per side, until the skins blister a bit.
Rehydrate the Chilies. Set them into a bowl and cover with hot water for 20 minutes, until they are very soft.
Make the Red Chile Sauce. Transfer the peppers to a blender with oregano, cumin, a bit of salt and pepper, and 1 cup of the soaking water. Blend until nice and smooth.
Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer and set aside for now.
Season the Beef. Toss some cubed chuck roast (or pork) in a bit of flour with a bit of salt and pepper to coat them.
Brown the Beef. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven to medium high heat and add the olive oil. Brown the beef on all sides, about 5 minutes or so. Set aside onto a plate.
Cook the Vegetables. Heat a bit more oil in the same pan to medium heat. Cook the onion and jalapeno peppers until they soften up, about 5 minutes or so.
Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Add the red sauce and stock and bring to a boil. Add the browned meat back to the pot.
Simmer the Chili Colorado. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes to let the flavors develop. Longer is better. I let mine go about an hour or longer on low, nice and slow, sometimes 2 hours or longer.
Optional Thickening. If you’d like to thicken the chili, remove the cover and increase the heat. Cook until the moisture cooks out and your preferred thickness is achieved.
Boom! Done! Your chile colorado is ready to serve! Bust out your favorite toppings, my friends! It's time to dig in.
Serving Chili Colorado
Chili colorado can be served in a bowl on its own, or served with rice. Serve it with warmed corn or flour tortillas for making tacos.
Add all of your favorite toppings, like shredded cheese, sour cream or crema, red chili flakes, fresh chopped cilantro, sliced chilies, lime juice and more.
Recipe Notes and Tips
Add Beans! This recipe does not traditionally included beans like a lot of chilis do, but I sometimes like to serve mine with butter beans. It just works for me!
Doesn't it look good with beans?
Other Dried Chili Peppers. Try making the recipe with other Mexican chili peppers as well, such as New Mexican chilies, California chilies, cascabel chilies, or other Mexican pods.
Also, if you're unable to find dried chili peppers to work with, you can make Chili Colorado with chili powder instead. Many people make it with powder instead of the dried peppers.
Use 2-3 tablespoons ancho powder, 2-3 tablespoons guajillo powder, 1 tablespoon pasilla powder, and 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol powder (or more to taste - cayenne is a good sub). If using a chili powder blend, use a bit more than 1/4 cup.
Storage and Leftovers
You can store any leftover chili colorado in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To enjoy it again, simply reheat it over medium heat in a pot on the stovetop.
You can also freeze chili colorado in freezer proof containers for 3 months or longer. I freeze batches all the time. It reheats perfectly after thawing.
That's it, my friends! I hope you enjoy this Chile Colorado recipe! Chow down!
Try Some of My Other Popular Chili Recipes
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Chili Colorado Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE
- 6 ancho chili peppers stemmed and seeded
- 6 guajillo peppers stemmed and seeded
- 2 pasilla peppers stemmed and seeded
- 3 chiles de arbol stemmed and seeded
- 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE CHILI
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers chopped (optional – I like the extra heat and flavor)
- 4-5 cloves garlic chopped
- 2.5 pounds beef chuck roast cut into bite-sized chunks
- ¼ cup flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups beef stock chicken or vegetable stock are good, too
- FOR SERVING: Crumbly white cheese, fresh herbs, spicy chili flakes, squeeze of lime juice if desired – Rice and/or warmed tortillas, if desired
Instructions
- Make the sauce first by dry toasting the dried peppers in pan about a minute per side, until the skins blister a bit.
- Set them into a bowl and cover with hot water for 20 minutes, until they are very soft.
- Transfer the peppers to a blender with oregano, cumin, a bit of salt and pepper, and 1 cup of the soaking water. Blend until nice and smooth.
- Strain the sauce and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven to medium high heat.
- Toss the cubed chuck roast in the flour with a bit of salt and pepper to coat them.
- Brown the beef on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring a bit.
- Add the red chili sauce and stock and bring to a boil. Add the browned meat back to the pot.
- Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors develop. Longer is better, 2 hours or more for melt-in-your-mouth tender beef.
- If you’d like to thicken the chili, remove the cover and increase the heat. Cook until the moisture cooks out and your preferred thickness is achieved.
- Serve!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 3/19/23 to include new information, photos, and video. It was originally published on 10/17/18.
billy says
do you use the strained pepper liquid? and discard the part in the strainer?
Mike Hultquist says
Billy, you strain the sauce just to remove any hard/papery bits from it and use that sauce in the recipe. Then discard the pulp in the strainer.
Shane Keene says
Loved this one, Mike! Even strained, it makes a nice, thick, velvety smooth sauce. I didn't have passilas so I opted for a tiny heat boost and doubled the arbols. Otherwise, followed to the letter and I will be making this a regular addition to my menu.
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it, Shane! Nice.
Sarah Wahl says
I subbed all-purpose flour with coconut flour and added a tablespoon or so of tapioca starch before coating the meat. It turned out great! Will definitely make again!
Love your recipes!
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Thanks, Sarah!
Daniel says
Made this using a Juicy Marbles plant based loin and also mixed in some butter beans. Have to say this is the nicest chilli I have ever tried. I was worried about the heat with the sauce being made of pure chillies and no toms, but I wouldn’t make it any other way after trying this. I chose to omit the cayenne and jalapeños on this attempt, but next time I’d probably add 1/2 tbsp cayenne to the sauce to increase the heat just a tad.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding! Glad you enjoyed it, Daniel. I'll have to try the plant based loin.
Steve says
I had 5 lbs of beef chunks earmarked for Hungarian Goulash until I saw your recipe for Chili Colorado. I’d only had it from one source in L.A., Tito’s Tacos. We have it every time we visit our son out there. So I decided to take a stab at it. After looking at a lot of recipes online yours stood out to me so I went with it. Just fantastic. We had enough to make 3 mini- burrito meals, then extended what was left with rice and beans. Had enough to share with some neighbors who appreciate the complex flavor of the dish. On to Chili Verde.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding, Steve! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing this!
Jenny Durling says
I'm a lazy cook - think this would work in the slow cooker?
Mike Hultquist says
Absolutely. Just toss it all into a slow cooker after browning the meat and making the sauce. I would still cook the veg for more flavor, but you can just toss those in, too. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Michael says
You mention using powder. I have New Mexican chili powder from a recent trip to Santa Fe and the farmers market. Can you comment on recipe for using powder in place of peppers?
Mike Hultquist says
Michael, measurements can vary, as the sizes of peppers vary, but roughly speaking - use 2-3 tablespoons ancho powder, 2-3 tablespoons guajillo powder, 1 tablespoon pasilla powder, and 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol powder (or more to taste - cayenne is a good sub). If using only your New Mexican chili powder, use a bit more than 1/4 cup. Let me know how it turns out for you. I have a conversion post for whole/dried/powders here that you can refer to: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/frequently-asked-questions/conversions/
bijan says
Instead of coating your meat with flour to thicken the chili, throw a handful of corn chips into the blender with the sauce ingredients. It's all going over a bowl of Fritos anyway so it works nicely.
Mike Hultquist says
Nice, have fun!
Chris says
Looks great. I’m making something for a group of 20. Could you make this with a brisket then shred it and get the same sort of result?
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Chris. Yep, you could do that. The consistency would be slightly different with shredded beef, but the flavors will definitely be there, and they'd be perfect for tacos or on tortillas. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Lori Erickson says
this was a delicious chile! I was a little intimidated at first but it actually turned out to be fairly simple. I didn't have any jalapeños so I added some pueblo chiles for spice. turned out so good. will definitely be making this again soon!
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Pueblo chilies are AWESOME for this recipe!! Super happy you enjoyed it, Lori. Thanks for sharing. =)
Mike Blough says
Mike - I made this for the first time. It’s delicious, and a great way to use a mix of dried peppers. As for process, I decided to do a slow braise in the oven at 225 for 4 hours and the beef was perfectly rendered and tender (I did end up with a whole lot of sauce, however!).
Curious about straining the pepper mix….I really couldn’t do that with any strainer that I have as the mixture was more like a paste. I did not see any issue with the end result without doing this. Thoughts?
Thank you for for a great recipe.
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent, Mike. Very glad you enjoyed it. Straining isn't always necessary. Some people who don't have very good food processors can get tiny bits of the pepper skin in the sauce, which have a texture. A good processor will get rid of those. Yes, it's usually more paste-like, which you can thin with a bit of liquid as needed for straining. But really, you don't have to strain if you don't need to.
Laurie Van Unen says
Made this for dinner and it was amazing! When I go to a Mexican restaurant I try thier Chile Colorado because if it's good so will the rest of menu, but; if not....I won't go there again. This was superb. Again, your recipie did not disappoint
Mike Hultquist says
Nice!! Glad you enjoyed it, Laurie. I seriously LOVE this recipe. Took me a bit to get there, but BOOM!