Skip to Content

Carne con Chile Colorado Recipe

Carne con chile colorado is a delicious and filling Mexican beef stew simmered in a flavorful red sauce made with dried chiles.

chile colorado and rice on a green plate

What is carne con chile

Carne con chile simply means meat with chile. It can be beef or pork that’s simmered in a salsa or sauce containing red chiles. Carne con chile colorado is also known as carne con chile rojo (meat in red chile).

It is best served with rice, beans and warm corn tortillas or flour tortillas.

Ingredients needed

Stew meat

We prefer stew meat for this recipe. it’s easiest as it comes already chopped. It’s a tough cut of beef that really benefits from the long simmering time.

Dried chiles

We use guajillo and arbol chiles. The guajillos chiles are what gives carne con chile colorado it’s signature red hue. The arbol peppers provide a little heat to the stew. If you don’t like spicy foods these can be omitted.

Veggies

Roma tomato, onion and potatoes are what we use. If you don’t have tomatoes on hand you can omit it.

Herbs, spices and seasonings

Garlic, chicken bouillon, onion powder, granulated garlic, ground cumin, salt, black pepper, tio santi seasoning, and bay leaf. If you don’t have the tio santi seasoning that’s ok, you’ll probably have to use a little more chicken bouillon or salt though. Also the Tio santi does have oregano in it. So if not using the Tio Santi I suggest adding 1 tsp of mexican oregano.

How to make carne con chile colorado

The first thing we’re going to do is make our red chile sauce. Put the chiles and tomato in a pot with enough water to cover them. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Then transfer chiles and tomato to a blender along with the 1/4 piece onion, garlic cloves, chicken bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, black pepper and 1 cup of water. Blend for one minute or until smooth. Set the sauce aside for later use.

dried chilies and a roma tomato in a skillet

Put the stew meat in a bowl and sprinkle with the tio santi seasoning. Use your hands or a large spoon to make sure all the pieces of meat are coated in the seasoning.

seasoned stew meat

Heat up the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown in batches so the skillet isn’t crowded. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.

browning stew meat

You want it to look like this. Browning the meat is an extra step but it’s worth it because it gives it extra flavor.

browned stew meat

Remove the browned meat from the skillet and strain in the red salsa. Add a bay leaf to the salsa.

red salsa in a skillet

Return the meat to the skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for two hours.

Cooking carne con chile colorado

Then add 3 peeled and diced gold potatoes and 1/2 of an onion in slices. Then continue to cook for 20 more minutes covered.

The sliced onion is optional. I love onion and so I like to add it. But it’s not necessary.

chile colorado with sliced onion

The end result will look like this. Check for salt. Add a little more if you feel it needs it. But the seasoning we used for the meat and the chicken bouillon has salt in it.

It makes me hungry just looking at it. Serve with beans, rice and warm corn tortillas.

Carne con chile colorado in a skillet.

I hope you enjoy this amazing carne con chile colorado recipe as much as my husband and I did. If you enjoyed this recipe please leave it a rating down below.

Looking for more delicious Mexican recipes? Try these!

carne en chile rojo with rice on a green plate.
chile colorado and rice on a green plate
5 from 1 vote
Print

Carne con Chile Colorado

Carne con chile colorado is a delicious and filling Mexican meal made with stew meat simmered in a red chile.

Course Main Course, Mexican
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword carne con chile colorado, carne con chile rojo
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings 4
Author Carissa

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb stew meat
  • 5 guajillo chilies
  • 2 arbol chilies
  • 1 roma tomatoes
  • 1/4 piece of white onion plus 1/2 onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp chicken bouillon
  • 1/2 onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbs Tio Santi seasoning
  • 3 gold potatoes
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Put chilies and tomato in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

  2. Transfer chilies and tomato to a blender along with 1/4 piece of onion, garlic cloves, chicken bouillon, onion powder, granulated garlic, ground cumin, black pepper and 1 cup of water. Blend for 1 minute or until the salsa is smooth. Set aside for later use.

  3. Put the meat in a bowl and season with the Tio Santi seasoning. Use your hand or a large spoon to make sure all the meat is coated in the seasoning.

  4. Heat up oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the meat in batches and brown. cook for a couple of minutes on each side.

  5. Remove the browned meat from the skillet and strain in the salsa. Add the bay leaf to the salsa.

  6. Return the meat to the skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for two hours,

  7. Then add the three peeled and diced potatoes and 1/2 of an onion sliced. (The onion part is optional) Continue to cook covered for 20 more minutes.

  8. Serve with beans, rice and warm corn tortillas.

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.