Chile Colorado (Northern Mexican Red Chile Beef)
Beef and potatoes stewed in a smooth guajillo chile sauce thickened with a little flour, the Chihuahua way, and spooned into warm flour tortillas.
Long before chili con carne had a Texas name, meat stewed in red chile was everyday food in Mexico. In 1849 the American traveler Theodore Taylor Johnson wrote that in San Blas, Nayarit, he ate jerked beef stewed with onions and hot pepper that locals called "carne con chile colorado" (his book is quoted at Wikipedia). Today chile colorado is the signature dish of Chihuahua, where Mexico News Daily describes it as guajillo chiles with garlic, cumin and oregano, thickened with wheat flour, often made with carne seca (sun-dried beef) and potatoes and eaten in flour tortillas (Chris Sands, December 22, 2024:). Colorado here is Spanish for red. Chile colorado is a relative of Texas chili, not the same dish: chili con carne itself is widely described as a Tex-Mex stew of Mexican origin, and Wikipedia notes it largely began with working-class Tejana and Mexican women (citing Eater). Which came "first" is DISPUTED (see Rules).
Why it works the kitchen science
Toast lightly, then strain
A few seconds in hot fat wakes up the guajillos, and pressing the purée through a strainer removes the tough skins for a smooth sauce. Bayless warns that over-toasting gives a bitter edge.
Fry the purée
Cooking the strained purée in the hot pot until it thickens concentrates the flavor and takes off the raw edge before the broth goes in, the same step Bayless uses.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat 1 tbsp of the lard in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Toast the chile pieces a few at a time, pressing and turning them for a few seconds each, until fragrant and slightly lighter on the inside. Don't let them darken. Put them in a bowl, cover with hot tap water, weigh them down with a plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Cook the garlic in the same pot over medium heat 3 minutes, until soft and spotted brown, and put it in a blender. Take the pot off the heat.
- Step 3
Lift the chiles into the blender with 1 cup of their soaking liquid, the cumin and oregano. Blend until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Season the beef with the salt. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp lard in the pot over medium-high and brown the beef in two batches, about 4 minutes per batch. Return all the beef, sprinkle with the flour and stir 1 minute.
- Step 5
Set a medium-mesh strainer over the pot and press the chile purée through it. Cook, stirring constantly, 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce darkens and thickens into a paste that coats the beef.
- Step 6
Stir in the broth, scraping the bottom. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low 1 1/2 hours.
- Step 7
Add the potatoes and simmer uncovered 30 minutes more, until the beef is fork-tender, the potatoes are soft and the sauce coats a spoon. Taste for salt, and stir in the sugar only if there is a bitter edge. Serve in bowls or spooned into warm flour tortillas.
Chile Colorado (Northern Mexican Red Chile Beef)
Serves 6 (about 1 cup each, or 12 tacos) · about 6 cups · 3 hr total
Red chile sauce
- 2 1/2 oz dried guajillo chiles (about 10), stemmed, seeded and torn into flat pieces
- 2 tbsp lard or vegetable oil, divided
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Mexican
Stew
- 2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes and patted dry
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth (or chicken broth or water)
- 1 lb potatoes (2 medium), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1 tsp sugar, only if the sauce tastes bitter
To serve
- Warm flour tortillas
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp of the lard in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Toast the chile pieces a few at a time, pressing and turning them for a few seconds each, until fragrant and slightly lighter on the inside. Don't let them darken. Put them in a bowl, cover with hot tap water, weigh them down with a plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Cook the garlic in the same pot over medium heat 3 minutes, until soft and spotted brown, and put it in a blender. Take the pot off the heat.
- Lift the chiles into the blender with 1 cup of their soaking liquid, the cumin and oregano. Blend until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Season the beef with the salt. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp lard in the pot over medium-high and brown the beef in two batches, about 4 minutes per batch. Return all the beef, sprinkle with the flour and stir 1 minute.
- Set a medium-mesh strainer over the pot and press the chile purée through it. Cook, stirring constantly, 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce darkens and thickens into a paste that coats the beef.
- Stir in the broth, scraping the bottom. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low 1 1/2 hours.
- Add the potatoes and simmer uncovered 30 minutes more, until the beef is fork-tender, the potatoes are soft and the sauce coats a spoon. Taste for salt, and stir in the sugar only if there is a bitter edge. Serve in bowls or spooned into warm flour tortillas.
The sauce method is adapted from Rick Bayless's guajillo chile sauce in "Beef Tips with Guajillo Chile Sauce and Caramelized Onions", which uses 2 1/2 oz guajillos for about 1 1/2 lb beef. Bayless's dish is a quick sauté of tender steak; we braise chuck in the same sauce and add the Chihuahua elements Mexico News Daily lists (flour as the thickener, potatoes, flour tortillas). We use fresh beef instead of carne seca, which is hard to find in the US. The braising times and the flour step are ours. We could not find a published step-by-step Chihuahua chile colorado from a Mexican cooking authority, so this recipe is our synthesis of those two sources. rickbayless.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Guajillos are mild to medium. For more heat, toast and blend 1 or 2 chiles de árbol with them.
- Leftovers make classic burritos: a spoonful of beef and sauce rolled in a large flour tortilla.
- If you find carne seca at a Mexican market, Mexico News Daily says that is the Chihuahua standard. Simmer it until tender before adding the sauce.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Guajillo, garlic, cumin and oregano, thickened with wheat flour. Documented as Chihuahua's style (Mexico News Daily).
- Carne seca and potatoes, eaten in flour tortillas. Documented (Mexico News Daily). Our fresh-beef version is a home adaptation.
- "Colorado" refers to the state of Colorado. Folklore: in Spanish, colorado means red.
- Chile colorado is the original chili con carne. Disputed: carne con chile colorado is documented in Mexico by 1849 (Johnson, quoted by Wikipedia), but chili con carne as Americans know it is widely described as a Texas or Tex-Mex dish (Wikipedia; Texas HCR 18).
- A famous 1959 Mexican dictionary insulted chili con carne. Folklore for now: the definition is often quoted online, but we could not check the dictionary itself.
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