Slow Cooker Chili Colorado Recipe
This Slow Cooker Chili Colorado is an authentic and flavorful Mexican stew featuring tender beef chunks simmered in a rich, smooth red chile sauce made from dried guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles. The recipe involves a unique step of steeping dried chiles in beef broth, blending and straining to create a velvety sauce, and searing the beef before slow cooking to develop deep, savory flavors and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness over several hours.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 to 8 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes to 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Scale
Chile Sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 6 dried guajillo chiles
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 dried arbol chiles
Beef
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (or any neutral oil like canola)
- 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 3 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground preferred
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Hydrate the Chiles: Bring the beef broth to a boil in a pot, then add all dried chiles (guajillo, ancho, and arbol). Remove from heat and let them steep for 10-15 minutes until softened and infused with broth flavor. This step extracts deep, complex flavors and softens the chiles for blending.
- Prepare the Chile Sauce: Remove chiles from broth with a slotted spoon, discard stems and seeds. Add chiles, soaked broth, roughly chopped onion, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon salt to a blender. Blend on high for 2-3 minutes until completely smooth. Pour sauce through a fine strainer into a bowl, pressing gently to extract liquid and leave pulp behind for a silky texture.
- Season and Coat the Beef: In a bowl, toss beef stew meat with gluten-free flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and freshly ground black pepper until evenly coated.
- Sear the Beef: Heat avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches, sear beef chunks for 2-3 minutes per side until deeply browned. Do not worry about cooking through. Transfer browned beef to a plate as batches finish. This step builds savory flavor through Maillard reaction.
- Combine and Slow Cook: Transfer seared beef to slow cooker. Pour strained chile sauce over beef and stir well. Add bay leaves and give a final stir. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. The long cooking tenderizes beef and enhances flavors.
Notes
- Straining the chile sauce is essential for achieving a smooth, authentic texture.
- Searing the beef before slow cooking intensifies the flavor via caramelization.
- You can adjust the heat by increasing or decreasing the number of arbol chiles.
- Using low setting on slow cooker is preferable if time allows for more developed flavors.
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour is used to coat beef, but regular flour can substitute if gluten is not a concern.
Keywords: Chili Colorado, Slow Cooker Chili, Mexican Beef Stew, Red Chile Sauce, Gluten-Free Chili, Authentic Mexican Recipe
Find it online: https://dishedbydana.com/slow-cooker-chili-colorado-recipe/
