Fall-apart tender chunks of beef slow-cooked in a Mexican chile sauce commonly known as Chile Colorado. Colorado means “red” in Spanish, and this makes a rich, red, savory, and complex stew. Perfect for your slow carb eating plan, this is not a labor-intensive meal for the cook. This classic Mexican dish just needs a long simmer on the stove-top to give it an incredible depth of flavor.
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What is Chile Colorado?
So, what exactly are the attributes of “authentic” Chile Colorado and how did it get its name? Is it the official chile of the state of Colorado? Or is it nothing but a different name for regular chile, the more familiar type made with tomatoes and beans?
Although they share a name, Chile Colorado has very little to do with the state of Colorado. Colorado means red in Spanish and since Colorado has so many red sandstone formations, early Spanish explorers thought it a good name for the territory they had just claimed for the Spanish crown.
Similarly, Chile Colorado gets its name from the deep, reddish-brown color imparted by a flavorful blend of dried chiles that are its most important ingredients.
And even though our minds immediately jump to tomatoes and/or beans when we think of chile, this classic version of chile derives its flavor profile from Mexican and Spanish cooking.
It includes neither tomatoes or beans. Instead, it offers tender beef chunks simmered in a sauce made from onions, garlic, cumin, oregano, and a blend of reconstituted dried chile peppers.
The most common blend of chile peppers includes anchos (for the smoky-chocolate flavor), guajillos, and sometimes mild pasilla peppers.
Dried Chiles vs Powdered Spice Blend?
There are a variety of recipes for this dish that involve making it in a crock pot, or using canned enchilada sauce, or making it with the more labor-intensive dried and reconstituted chiles.
The recipes that call for making this meal in the crockpot often call for an additional step to boil down and thicken the sauce separately. A crockpot doesn’t allow for the signature sauce to evaporate and thicken properly. And using a canned enchilada sauce for Chile Colorado, while quick, provides a flavor profile that is just wrong for this dish.
While you certainly can make Chile Colorado with dried chiles, you should be prepared for the extra time involved in cleaning (de-seeding), reconstituting, boiling, and cutting up the chiles to make the sauce, not to mention finding a source for the various chiles required.
Most grocery stores will have a small selection of common peppers, but they are often expensive. A Mexican grocery store is probably the easiest and quickest way to obtain the several varieties of chiles necessary. If you don’t have such a grocery nearby, you probably can find what you need online.
The recipe below also uses annatto powder, which is a bright red powder made from ground annatto pods. Annatto, or achiote in Spanish, is a seed that is native to the Yucatan region of Mexico and parts of Brazil. It helps to give this dish its unique red color and adds a little fruity twist to the dish.
Annatto powder can be hard to find in stores as well, and again the best bet is likely a Mexican specialty grocery store or Amazon.
If making this stew using authentic methods is what you prefer, here’s a really nice pictorial step-by-step showing how to use re-constituted dried chiles rather than a spice blend.
Making Chile Colorado Easier
When it comes to the amount of time spent on this dish as opposed to its taste, I’ve found most cooks want a compromise. They seek the hearty flavors of this stew without having to spend too long sourcing and preparing the ingredients.
My slow carb recipe below accommodates your need for ease of preparation but remains true to the spices and flavors that make this dish such a winner.
This slow carb Chile Colorado simmers the stew meat and sauce on low and gradually to bring out the robust flavors, but it uses a spice blend rather than dried chile peppers.
Toasted cumin, mexican oregano and carmelized onions add to the robust flavors of this simple stew.
Chile Colorado is usually served with fresh tortillas, but tortillas are not low-carb compliant so they are left out of this recipe. There are some low carb tortillas on the market now- here’s a short list I compiled as well as a homemade recipe.
If you are not concerned about carbs and want a more authentic Chile Colorado experience, serve it with warm, fresh tortillas. (Oh, and don’t forget a beer – Mexican, of course!)
Best Chile Peppers for Mexican cooking?
I’m always confused about the correct use and spelling of this word. However, as a general rule of thumb chile with an “e” at the end is the correct Spanish spelling. It refers to a capsicum pepper, specifically a spicy pepper grown throughout New Mexico.
Common chile peppers used in Mexican cooking would include ancho, jalapeno, pasilla, serrano, chile de arbol and guajillo peppers. Carne Con Chile Colorado literally means “meat with red-colored chile sauce.”
Chili spelled with an “i” at the end is the Americanized version, and usually refers to the dish or the stew rather than the fresh or dried peppers. You’ll often see a powdered spice mix in the store labeled “Chili Powder.” It seems most Americans make their stew with this powdered form of peppers.
Dishes that feature New Mexico chiles, normally use the “chile” spelling. You’ll often see this spelling as in green chile sauce, green chile stew, red chile sauce, and chile colorado.
But whether you spell it “chile” or “chili,” I guarantee you will enjoy this delicious dish!
**Tip: This is a perfect recipe to freeze. You can easily make a double batch and quickly have a warm, robust meal ready on a chilly day. This should freeze well for up to 6 months.
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Low Carb Chile Colorado
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil refined, divided
- 2 lbs beef stew meat I have also used chuck roast cut into bite-sized chunks
- 4 cups water
- 1 large onion minced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp smoked chile blend
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin toasted
- 1 tsp achiote you can use ground achiote seeds or a paste (the paste will have other seasonings in it however)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt taste as you go and add more if needed
Instructions
- Heat oil over med-high heat in dutch oven or large iron skillet. Sear stew meat in oil until browned and then add water. Cover and simmer over low heat for about an hour.4 tbsp olive oil, 2 lbs beef stew meat, 4 cups water
- While stew meat is simmering, saute the onion in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it is caramelized. This will take 5-10 minutes and the onion will turn translucent and golden, but not dark brown. When onion is caramelized, add the garlic to the skillet and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute, being careful not to burn garlic.1 large onion, 4 cloves garlic
- Next, add smoked chile blend, oregano and ground cumin, achiote, vinegar and salt to caramelized onion-garlic mixture and cook for about 1 minute, stirring while cooking. Set aside.2 tbsp smoked chile blend, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp achiote, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp salt
- When stew meat has finished simmering for an hour, add the onion-spice mixture to the stew pot. Cover and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Taste occasionally and add more salt if needed.
Video
Nutrition
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Looking forward to trying this recipe. If it is like the others, it will be delicious. Thank you for sharing them.
So sweet Annie. Thank you.
I made this the othe night. Question: do you snap the stems off and dump out the seeds? How did you remove seeds? Or skins?
i tried removing the seeds with a sieve after the food processor and didn’t have much luck. It tasted great, but was kind of a pain to make.
I think my dried pepper technique needs work. My kitchen was a new shade of orange by the time I finished. 🙂
Beth, My first stab at this was made with using reconstituted dried chiles. I have adapted it now (based on your comments and my own need for easy recipes) to use a smoky spice blend rather that the dried chiles. Much easier, and I don’t think it lost the flavor. The flavor punch will, of course depend on the type of spice blend you use and how fresh it is.
So actually traditional red Chile and meat is used with pork. Green Chile as well. But if you are doing a green chili stew, beef would be used. And definitely no onions never use anything but a red Chile pod that was a dried from a big Jim, Sandia or other type of mesilla valley Chile. Never ancho me or anything of the sort. And no vinegar.
Thanks Carlos! I will look back at this and see about any changes. All of my recipes are modifications to fit my best idea of taste and cooing methods of classic recipes. Certainly appreciate advice on making it better.