Chile colorado is a red chile sauce seasoned with a little cinnamon and Mexican oregano, and thinned with a little broth. There are many, many variations on this sauce, so use this recipe as a guide. One tip: Don't use overly hot dried chiles, or the stew will become inedible. If you want more heat, add it with hot sauce at the end. The sauce stores really well in the fridge, so if you make a big batch it will keep.
Recipe by Hank Shaw on May 31, 2012
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT180M
Total time: PT210M
Rating
4.89 stars (26 reviews)
Keywords
beef, chiles, elk, pork, venison
Ingredients
2 pounds beef, pork, (venison, pheasant or turkey legs, etc.)
Salt
2 dried chipotle chiles ((or chipotles in adobo))
4 dried ancho chiles
4 dried guajillo chiles
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, (minced)
1 quart of the appropriate stock, (pork, beef, chicken, etc)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
Categories
Main Course
Cuisine
Mexican
Steps
Cut the meat into large stewing pieces about 1 to 2 inches across. Salt well and set aside.
Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles, tear them into pieces and put into a large bowl. Pour boiling water over them and cover. Let this stand until the chiles are rehydrated, about 30 minutes. Once the chiles are soft, put them in a blender with enough of the chile soaking water to make a puree the consistency of ketchup. If you want -- and I recommend this -- push the sauce through a fine-meshed strainer (into another bowl) to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin.
In a heavy, lidded pot or Dutch oven, heat the lard over medium-high heat. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and brown it well. Do this in batches and take your time. Remove the meat as it browns and set aside.
Add the onions to the pot and cook them, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to brown on the edges. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Return the meat to the pot and mix in all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the meat is tender.
Serve with tortillas or over rice, garnished with queso seco, cilantro, maybe some raw onion, avocado and hot sauce.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 283 kcal
Carbohydrates: 21 g
Protein: 31 g
Fat: 9 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 68 mg
Sodium: 136 mg
Sugar: 11 g
Reviews
Chad on 2023-09-07 (5 stars): Made according to the recipe. No deviations needed - it's perfect as is! If you are hard pressed to find dried ancho and gaujillo chiles in your local stores try Penzey's Spices.
Evan on 2023-03-08 (5 stars): I've done this one a few times now, it's great,. I've altered it a tad, I use my shanks and bone in shoulder roast and simmer it until fork tender. All that wonderful connective tissue make the sauce almost silky imo.
Will on 2023-01-06 (5 stars): Went out of my comfort zone and tried it with beef. I would do it again.
Chris H on 2022-08-09 (5 stars): Glorious in a burrito or tacos. This is among my favorite treatments for boar or venison (with some added fat on the latter). A great recipe for chili colorado every cook should have in their baxk pocket
Matt N. on 2021-08-02 (5 stars): Another Shank Shaw recipe that gets me out of my comfort zone. Made this last night out of elk stew meat that was planned for the grinder. Chile Colorado was a better choice than burgers or meatloaf even with the daytime high being 90F. I am enthusiastically looking forward to the leftovers for lunch. The stew was served over the cauliflower rice.
All the ingredients store well in the pantry and you probably have them laying around already. I would describe it as an easier chili recipe. Surprisingly only limited ingredients are needed. Two seasonings, allium bulbs, canned tomatoes and you can start cooking. Dried Chipotle chiles was the only item hard to find. I even went to the neighborhood taqueria/grocery to no avail. I did find a delicious torta and a dozen tamales though. I ended up using canned in adobe sauce and just used the peppers not the sauce. Still used dried ancho and guajillo chiles. The smell of cinnamon filled my kitchen as I cooked but was not overpowering in the sauce. One critique is the sauce is limited in its spiciness and depth. With it being my first taste of Chile Colorado though, that may be spot on for the dish.
Ideally, I would like the sauce a bit thicker to be easier to contain on tortillas. This could be done by simmering with the lid off near the end of your cooking time or even adding cornstarch. With no times in the recipe, one should use their own judgement.
As to those who say you will not find this in the U.S. State of Colorado, that is true because it is not a U.S. dish, it is an authentic Mexican one. The Colorado in the recipe's name describes the color of the sauce, red; not the geographically location. I did make it in Colorado, the U.S. State, though so it is here now.
Overall, you should make this as soon as possible. It is great even during hot weather. Make it if only to add another authentic Mexican dish to your repertoire.
Thanks again for a delicious recipe Shank Shaw!
Veronica Nessler on 2021-01-30 (5 stars): Or a green poblano tomatillo chili’s?
Veronica Nessler on 2021-01-30 (5 stars): Is there a way to make a chili using venison shanks in Dutch oven. We have so many this year and don’t want to waste them. There is plenty of meat on them.
Dan Gerzina on 2020-09-27 (5 stars): Hi Hank, excellent recipe as usual (the Mexican stuff always seems to knock it out of the park)! One thing I noticed is that my sauce turned to a darker red after the long braising time, and was a little thinner as I had to add some extra stock to get the liquid level at the right height for the meat. Since I was using this for tacos and wanted to keep that bright color and have a thicker sauce, this got me thinking if it would still work to braise the meat in another pot of liquid and assemble the sauce on the side to coat the meat with, much like your Mole Coloradito recipe - or is this one of those ones where I just shouldn't mess with it?
Owen Hackleman on 2020-01-23 (5 stars): I made this with an older boar that had been eating a lot of coast live oak acorns, and it was fantastic! The traditional strong flavored sausages are great for a stronger flavored boar, but don't turn the whole thing into sausage. Make sure to save some cuts to make this stuff!
Tom Hickerson on 2017-10-05 (5 stars): Great recipe
Christopher Moltisanti on 2017-10-01 (5 stars): This is a great way to use feral hog. The only addition I would make is to add some domestic pork shoulder for the fat content.
Krystal on 2015-02-24 (4 stars): Made this during a recent snow day with wild boar. A really flavorful and filling dish. Didn't have the exact chiles on hand but used chipotle chiles in adobe, a dried Tabasco pepper and one other dried pepper and it was great. Thanks!
