Have you ever had Beef Chili Colorado? Next time you’re in the mood for chili, take my advice and try the real deal. No beans, just meat and chili sauce, served up with brown rice and tortillas.
And if you want beans with your Chili Colorado, they’re served on the side…..Cowboy Style.
Growing up in Tex/Mex household in San Antonio set my taste buds to a level most kids my age wouldn’t have experienced. And I am eternally grateful for all the deliciousness my Mexican grandmother, aunts and uncles fed my cute little chubby face during those impressionable years. It taught me how to venture outside my comfort zone when it came to food.
What do I need to make Beef Chili Colorado?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make the Sauce for Beef Chili Colorado. In chef speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Once you’ve gathered the ingredients for the chili sauce, the first step is toasting the deseeded chili peppers.
This will enhance and deepen the flavor of the chilies. Just be careful not to scorch the peppers, which will make them bitter.
Chef Dennis Tip:
If possible wear plastic gloves when you handle the chilies. Also make sure to clean all the surfaces and wash your hands thoroughly.
Can I toast the Chilies in the oven?
Yes, you can. Place the chili peppers on baking sheet and toast in 350-degree oven just until fragrant and puffed, about 5-6 minutes.
Can I use different Chili Peppers in the Red Chili Sauce?
Yes, you can. Depending upon your tolerance for heat, you can use hotter peppers. The peppers I’ve chosen are mild.
These are some of the other peppers you can use:
- Cascabel – Round, tropical, fruity, relatively mild heat.
- Puya – Similar to guajillos but smaller and spicier, earthy, fruity but with some acidity, medium heat.
- Chipotle – Medium-sized, tough-skinned, smoky, medium heat.
- Chiles de Arbol – Small, nutty, earthy, very spicy.
- Morita – Petite, smoky, sweet dried fruit flavors, medium to high heat.
- Pequin – Tiny, a little smoky, a little fruity, very spicy.
Chef Dennis Tip:
When you toast the chilies make sure to have your hood fan on and open a window if possible. The lower heat peppers won’t be a problem, but if you use the spicier varieties the aroma coming off the peppers can easily choke you.
Sauté the onion in a little olive oil for 2-3 minutes then add the garlic and continue cooking for an additional minute.
Place the remainder of the ingredients for the chili sauce into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover and allow too steep for 45 minutes.
Reserve one cup of broth for later use. Place the remainder of the ingredients into a blender and blend at its highest setting.
Depending on the power of the blender it may completely puree all the ingredients. If it has bits and pieces remaining, run the sauce through a sieve to take out and pieces that didn’t get pureed.
Gather the remaining ingredients, and let’s get started making the Beef Chili Colorado!
Season the beef with sea salt and black pepper. Then seer the beef in a hot pan with a little olive oil. Make sure to sear all the sides of the beef cubes.
Don’t overcrowd the pan, do the beef in two batches if you don’t have a big enough pot.
Add the chili sauce to the seared beef along with the reserved beef stock. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Let the beef simmer covered for 2 hours.
After simmering for two hours, uncover the pot. Mix the masa harina with 2 tablespoons of the broth to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the pot and stir well, making sure to have and lumps from the slurry.
Continue cooking the Chili Colorado for about 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Serve Beef Colorado with seasoned rice (and beans if desired) and grilled (or heated) tortillas of your choice. I can never decide whether I like corn or flour tortillas the best, today I went with flour tortillas.
The rich smokey flavor of the chilies with the fork-tender beef will soon become one of your favorite dishes. I love using brown rice with this type of dish, it adds a nuttiness that you don’t get with white rice. It takes a little longer to cook than most of my dishes but trust me when I tell you it’s well worth the effort!
Did you know that Beef Chili Colorado wasn’t named after the state of Colorado? The name “Colorado”, which means “colored red”, is derived from the deep red color of the chili sauce.
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like these:
- Oven Roasted Perfect Pulled Pork
- Dry Rub Grilled Baby Back Ribs
- Grilled Dry Rub Chicken Wings
- How to Grill a Steakhouse Style Steak
- The Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Beef Chilli Colorado
Ingredients
Chili Sauce
- 3 dried Guajillo chilies stems removed and seeded
- 3 dried Ancho chilies stems removed and seeded
- 2 New Mexico chilies (or pasilla) stems removed and seeded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ sweet Vidalia onion chopped
- 3 clove garlic finely chopped
- 3 cups beef broth 1 cup reserved (chicken or vegetable broth can be substituted)
- 3 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
- 1½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup fire-roasted tomato
Beef
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds beef chuck cut into 1 inch squares
- 1 tablespoon masa harina
Instructions
Red Chili Sauce
- In a large sauté pan or wide bottom pot, toast the chilies over medium heat for 1-2 minutes to bring out the flavor of the peppers. Remove from the pan until needed.
- Add olive oil to the hot pan and sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes then add in the garlic and continue to sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the toasted chilies, fire-roasted tomatoes, seasonings and beef stock to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Turn off heat, cover the pot and let it steep for 45 minutes.
- Reserve one cup of the stock. Add the remainder of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth at the highest setting. Add additional liquid if the mixture is too thick for your blender. Reserve the remainder of the liquid till needed.**Depending on the power of the blender it may completely puree all the ingredients. If it has bits and pieces remaining, run the sauce through a sieve to take out and pieces that didn't get pureed.
Beef
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil and half of the meat and brown on all sides so they have a good sear, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the browned beef into a bowl and repeat the process with the remaining uncooked meat.
- When all the beef has browned, return all the meat to the pot. Add in the red chile sauce, and reserved beef broth. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture has begun to boil, reduce the heat to simmer. Cover the pot and continue to simmer for 2 hours.
- Uncover, taste and reseason as necessary.
- Mix the masa harina with 2 tablespoons of the broth from the pot to make a slurry. Add the slurry back into the pot and mix well.
- Raise to medium heat and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. If you prefer a thicker sauce, cook longer.
- Serve with rice, tortillas and beans and enjoy!
Nutrition
Marie W
My husband’s favorite meal is Chile Colorado. He loves only the one at one of our local restaurant. I’ve tried making it in the past with different recipes. They were just ok. Tonight I used your recipe. Wow!! It was delicious. He loved it. Kids loved it. I loved it. I didn’t have ancho chiles so I subbed chipotle in adobe sauce.
The only bummer to this is that he will now expect me too cook it more often.
Michelle
I made this today and it was absolutely delicious! My family was amazed and it honestly tastes like it was from an authentic Mexican restaurant. The aromas in my kitchen from the variety of chili’s is incredible.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed making the chili Colorado, I love the flavors of the chilis
Sapana Behl
All those Mexican chilies sounds so flavorful and tasty. I am sure they must have given a unique and exquisite taste to the beef chili colordao.
Marysa
Never heard of this before, but it sounds like a wonderful and hearty dish! Sounds like my kind of chili.
Ramona
Wat a delicious recipe packed with amazing flavours of all kinds! i especially love the different kind of dried chillies that you showed, i love chillies! thank you for sharing this recipe.
Gail Montero
Looks so tasty and perfect dinner option for fall’s chilly nights! Adding this to our must-try list!
Kushigalu
What a delicious recipe packed with full of flavors. Love all the tips shared. Thanks for sharing.
Kerri
Oh Chef! This looks delightful! Packed with so much flavor! My family are BIG fans!
Daniela
Love all the info about the different kind of dried chilies and your in process shots make following the recipe so easy! Looks so delish :).
Gunjan
My brother is making this tonight. So far the aroma is absolutely appetizing. Will update you once it’s ready.
Sam
Yum!! This beef chili colorado looks so cozy and comforting. Just what I was looking for in this cooler weather. Love the flavours in there.
Sondra Barker
OMG this looks delicious! I have never tried something like this, I cant wait to make it. Thanks for the recipe and tips.
Alex
I wish we had any of those peppers here in Germany! If I ever make it back to Texas, I’m totally bringing back some of those peppers with me to try this because it looks amazing.
Tim H
Hi Alex, I’m in the UK and ALL those chillies ARE available in Europe.
This truly is the ultimate Chilli recipe. I’m making it right now for the second time and the aromas are amazing when you step outside the house and then step back in again!
Chef Dennis Littley
thanks for letting me know you’ve enjoyed my recipe Tim. It really is amazing how much flavor those chilis provide.
Erin
That’s a great idea to use gloves when handling the peppers! I had never heard of Colorado chili but it sounds great. So easy and flavorful!
Robyn
I have never come across been chili colorado before now, but it sounds such a delicious warming family meal. Can’t wait to try it!
Swathi
This is my kind of chili with touch of spices, I would love to try it. I like good chili.
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
What a great recipe for fall! SUch a cozy family meal and everyone asked for seconds. Can’t wait to make again.
Jacqueline Debono
This beef chili Colorado looks so good. I’ve only ever made chili with ground beef but definitely want to try this recipe asap! That beef looks fantastic!
Sarah James
I haven’t come across Beef Chili Colorado before. It looks delicious, my husband isn’t keen on beans so this is the perfect recipe for me to try. Thanks for all the tips on which chillies to use.
Alexis
I love Chili Colorado, this dish is amazing! I’m looking forward to sharing this with friends this weekend.
Alex Ryder
Oh yum, this chilli looks great! I love spicy food too and am lucky not to suffer from heartburn!
Capri
I love the earthy flavors of this chili! So good
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
You’re making me hungry… I think I just heard my tummy growl. hahaha!
Emily
This beef chili Colorado recipe looks legit! Full of flavor and restaurant quality! Can’t wait to try!
Alexandra
Another delicious recipe – and so much flavour! I appreciated your tips on the different chilies!
Jakab & Haley
Looks so good!!
Michele Peterson
Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to get the Omeprazole for my husband – hard to imagine a guy from Guatemala can’t eat tomatoes or chilis or anything spicing without suffering.
Kasy Allen
I came for the recipe, but leaving with the tip to try Omeprazole! My husband has heartburn issues to the point he can’t do spicy foods at all. I hope that Omeprazole helps him too. Oh, and yes, can’t wait to try the recipe.
Andrea Howe
Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my computer screen! This beef chili looks insanely delicious. Thanks for the step by step photos too I’ve never worked with these peppers so super helpful!
Nyxie
Sounds amazing! This is certainly something my partner would love to make. He’s always trying out new recipies and loves to experiment with spice!
Sunrita
What an interesting use of all types of chillies . Will struggle to get few of them here but will keep and eye out for them.
Emily Flint
This looks so mouthwatering I can’t wait to make it!! My man is going to devour this beef recipe!!
Sue
I am loving this “cowboy style” chili!
Sue
This is making my mouth water Dennis! I love all those roasted chiles, that juicy beef, and no beans to get in the way!! Great recipe, pinning. PS my husband gets heartburn so I’ll check out the meds.
Joce
Wow, my family would love this! Will be trying soon, thank you!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
Oh this sounds and looks amazing! Definitely perfect for a comfort food dinner at home. And I love the tip you gave on heating the peppers to bring out the flavor. I can’t wait to try this as my mouth is watering!
Lesli Schwartz
Love all these dried peppers in this chili. And I also like how chunky this is! Looks very appetizing!
monica y
That recipe looks delicious. I just started taking Omeprazole lately and it helps a lot with my digestive issues
Leslie
I have a deep love for all this chili flavored! I have got to try this, it looks beyond amazing!
Kathy
I have never had this before, but this looks amazing. I have been looking for new recipes to make, and I think I just found one. I really can’t wait to try this. It looks so good.
Lynndee
It’s fall and it’s time for chili. We have a fave chili recipe but I’d like to try yours. Looks good!
Jennifer Van Haitsma
This looks so good! We are big meat and rice combo people here. My husband is also a chronic heartburn sufferer, and I suffer from it while pregnant. it’s the worst!
Kita Bryant
This looks like such a delicious chili recipe. I love cooking things the way they should be.
Catalina
This is the kind of dish I love during the cold season! A must try recipe for sure!
Nikki Wayne
Such a tempting dish,I love trying different cuisines. Thanks!
Amy Liu Dong
Definitely giving this recipe a 5 star rating, it looks really delicious and seeing this making my mouthwatering!
Terri A Steffes
My family adores chili of all kinds. This is new to us, so we will be making this when we are all together. We grow and purchase all kinds of chiles throughout the year.
Tasheena
This recipe look so savory. Perfect for those cold fall nights.
Brandy
This is such an interesting recipe to try! I haven’t seen beef chili colorado before, but I’m pretty confident it’s a dish that I will enjoy attempting to make and eat!
Ben
Aww yeah. That looks really good. I’m a huge fan of chili. I do tend to have to have a chaser of antacid with it, though. LOL
Amber Myers
I haven’t tried chili like this. It looks tasty. I’m sure I’ll love it–it’ll be perfect for when it’s cold out.