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Beef Chili Colorado Tacos
Carne en chile colorado is a Mexican classic, and one of the delicious offerings that appear on the rotating menu at Walter Soto’s El Ruso taqueria trucks that operate in a couple locations in and around Los Angeles. “Colorado” translates from the Spanish as “red-colored,” an apt name for the succulent, stewy dish of meat, sometimes shredded, sometimes not, in a sauce of pureed dried red chilies. Pork is commonly used to make chili colorado, but this version is Paola Briseño-González's ode to El Ruso's rich, robust beef in red chili sauce. The cut of choice is a boneless chuck roast, which boasts plenty of fat and connective tissue so that long, slow cooking yields rich, tender, full-flavored meat. Either guajillo or New Mexico chilies work here; you can even use a combination. Both are a deep red color, have bright, fruity notes with subdued earthiness, and contain only mild chili heat. El Ruso also is well known for its flour tortillas, so that’s the type to serve with the chili colorado for making tacos.
6 to 8
Servings
Tip
Don’t worry if the beef is not entirely submerged in the chili puree when the chunks are added to the pot. As it cooks, the meat will release some juices. However, if, after about an hour of simmering, the beef is not covered with liquid, stir in ½ cup water to ensure even cooking and prevent drying.
3¾ hours
45 minutes active
Ingredients
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12
medium (about 2½ ounces) guajillo or New Mexico chilies, stemmed, seeded and roughly torn
-
4
medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
Directions
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01In a medium saucepan, combine the chilies and enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high, pressing on the chilies to submerge them. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand until the chilies are fully softened, 15 to 20 minutes.
Reviews
July 25, 2026
Question
can I also cook it in a pressure cooker?
April 12, 2025
loved the sauce!
These tacos are delicous! We saved 2 cups of the leftover sauce and used it to braise some chicken thighs. YUM!
April 9, 2025
One of my favorites!
Growing up on the border in El Paso, Texas, I always make my Chile Colorado with pork. . . and some potatoes. It's wonderful as a stew and later in tacos.
February 3, 2025
Flavorful
Very good and easy. Will definitely make again
June 8, 2023
LOVE CHILI COLORADO
This is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. I was introduced to this several years ago when a fabous Mexicam restaurant opened in my city. It has been a local gathering place since then. The brothers are from Guadalahara, Mexico, and went to a great expense to make their dream come true. With a major setback in the renovation process, they MADE IT WORK, and has been a go to spot in downtown Taunton, MA. Seems the family has done extremely well in Massachusetts... GOOD for them! 😊
I made this recipe today and it tasted really good. I made it exactly as written and the sauce to beef ratio was just about perfect. I don't know what happened with the previous commenter's experience, but the sauce had the consistency of heavy cream in the end as was noted here. I even added the 1/2 cup of liquid (beef broth) after the first hour to cover the meat better. I used Vulcan's Fire Salt at the end for a bit of kick. I'll definitely make this one again. Thanks Ms. Briseño-González, Ms. Hill & Milk Street team once again!
It was not difficult to make. I made it with using dry GUAJILLO. That is all my grocery store had. It does not say if guajillo should be dry or fresh? The sauce itself did not taste much like anything. I kept adding salt and pepper to bring the flavor. I have added 1 tsp of cumin, but I think it needs a lot more flavors. The meat when done did not have much flavor either. Adding back to sauce made a slight difference. Also, I did not add 1/2 cup of water after 1 hour cooking. It did not need it (too much liquid). Next, for this to make it taste good you have to add condiments to your tacos. We have added sour cream, cheese, and Amy's Kitchen Baked Beans (Organic, Traditional) and it made a big difference. The beans are a little sweet.
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Disappointing results for the time invested in this recipe. The chili puree had minimal flavor from the start, the 4 cups of water seemed to really dilute any flavor from the chilis. The final dish has a lot of liquid, perhaps there is a step missing to cook off some of the liquid in enhance the flavor?