This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
If you love Mexican food, then you’ll love this homemade Chile Colorado made with smoked chuck roast. By smoking the beef on the grill first, and then braising it in a mix of beef stock, Mexican spices, and dried chiles, you get the most amazing and complex, flavorful Mexican stewed beef on this side of the border!
Before we get started, a word of warning… this is not a dump-and-go, slow cooker style Chile Colorado. But the flavor is outstanding. In fact, better than anything we’ve had at any Mexican restaurant. Ever.
Can you simply cut a chuck roast into cubes and add it to a pot with broth, dried chiles, and spices? Sure. But do I believe in adding extra flavor to really elevate your dishes? Absolutely!
And that’s exactly what we did with this smoked chile colorado style chuck roast!
With a delicious, smoky sauce made from dried chile peppers and the perfect blend of Mexican spices, this smoked then braised beef is fall-apart tender and packed with flavor. And even my kids loved it, so I’m calling that a win!
What is Chile Colorado?
Chile Colorado is a popular Mexican dish featuring stewed beef in a rich sauce made from dried chiles and spices. The name comes from the Spanish word, colorado, meaning “colored red”.
Traditional chile colorado can be made with either stewed beef or pork, and it’s often served with rice and tortillas.
Ingredients for Smoked Chile Colorado
- chuck roast – We’ve made this recipe with chuck roast and beef ribs. Beef stew meat is another popular choice for Chile Colorado. However, making this recipe with a well-marbled whole smoked chuck roast is our favorite!
- dried ancho and guajillo peppers – The dried peppers are essential to the dish, giving the Chile Colorado that incredibly smoky flavor and vibrant color. There really is no substitute. If you can’t find the packages of dried chiles in the Hispanic or produce aisles of your local grocery store, then you can order them on Amazon.
- onion and jalapeno – Added to the pot to braise with the beef and the spices.
- beef stock and water – This will be the base of the braising liquid for the smoked chuck roast.
- lime juice
- spices – Paprika, Mexican oregano, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, and ground cumin pair together for the perfect spice blend. We also used our homemade Texas Rub seasoning and cumin seed to season the chuck roast before smoking.
Working with Dried Chile Peppers
If you’ve never used dried chile peppers like ancho, guajillo, or pasilla peppers before, then don’t be intimidated! Prepping these staple Mexican ingredients is incredibly easy to do.
Simply cut the tops of the peppers off right below the stem. Gently open up the hole at the top, turn the pepper upside down, and tap the sides of the pepper. The seeds should fall right out, and then your peppers are ready to be added to your cooking liquid. *You can also use your hands to gently remove the seed pod in the middle if needed.
How to Make Smoked Mexican Chuck Roast Like Chile Colorado
Step 1: Season the beef
Our smoked Chile Colorado recipe is a bit different than the authentic version which starts out by browning chunks of meat in a pot or skillet on the stovetop. We did things our way, and added major flavor with the smoke component, so bear with me.
To start, add a Tajin hot sauce binder to the chuck roast to help the seasoning to stick and add a bit of extra flavor. Tajin seasoning is a popular Mexican ingredient, and the hot sauce by the same brand has a nice hint of lime. You can substitute your favorite hot sauce or leave the binder out all together if you wish.
Liberally season the chuck roast with a mixture of kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. We actually used our own blend of these ingredients that we refer to as our all-purpose “Texas Rub”. Get our Texas-style rub recipe here.
Then, for the final touch, add a light dusting of cumin seed, and your chuck roast is ready for the smoker!
Step 2: Smoke the chuck roast on the grill or smoker
Place the seasoned chuck roast directly on the grill grates, and smoke at 250°F for about 3 hours.
The internal temperature after the smoking time really doesn’t matter, because the chuck roast will continue to cook during the braising process. Also, there’s no way that your smoked chuck roast will be tender enough after just 3 hours at that low of a temp.
Step 3: Braise the smoked chuck roast
Allow the smoked chuck roast to rest about 10 minutes before cutting it into cubes that are about 1″ in size.
While the roast is resting, add a small bit of oil to a heated griddle or skillet, and brown the quartered onion and halved jalapeno pepper until they have a nice char on all sides.
Browning the veggies is an added step that most people omit, but the char adds another depth of flavor to the dish. You can also add the seeded dried peppers to the griddle to toast briefly.
Then, add the charred vegetables and the cubed smoked beef to a large dutch oven or other pot. Pour in beef stock and just enough water to almost cover the beef – for us, that was about 1.5 cups of water. Sprinkle in the seasonings and add the lime juice as well.
Cover the pot with aluminum foil, and place in a 300°F oven to braise for about 3 hours, or until the meat is fall apart tender.
*Note – We uncovered the pot for the last 1 hour of cooking time, but use your best judgement based on the tenderness of your roast after about 2 hours of braising.
Step 4: Blend the Chile Colorado sauce
When the Chile Colorado beef nuggets are done braising, it’s time to prepare the sauce. Simply remove the chunks of beef from the braising liquid, and transfer to a separate bowl. A slotted spoon or “spider” (what we called it in the restaurant industry) works well for this.
As you’re removing the beef chunks, separate the pieces of onion, jalapeno, and peppers. Add the vegetables to a large blender cup.
When the beef has been separated out, use a spoon to skim off a good amount of the fat that has risen to the top of the pot. Then, add about 2 cups of the braising liquid to the blender cup with the veggies. Blend well until you have a smooth, thick sauce. *TIP – For a thinner sauce, you can add more of the braising liquid.
Your Chile Colorado sauce should look something like this when it’s done:
Step 5: Add the smoked beef chunks to the blended sauce
Next, add the blended Chile Colorado sauce to the tender beef chunks. Stir to coat all of the beef nuggets in that delicious rich sauce, and your Chile Colorado is ready to serve!
We served our smoked Mexican beef with warm corn tortillas, a bit of sour cream, avocado slices, and Cotija cheese. We used the tortillas to dip and scoop the beef and sauce out of the bowl. Perfection!
Chef’s Tip
This recipe will probably yield more of the Chile Colorado sauce than what you need to serve with the beef chunks (depending on how much of the braising liquid you add to the blender cup). You can reserve some of the blended sauce, let it cool down, and then add it to freezer-safe Ziploc bags. Freeze to use as a fantastic base for chili, or add a bit more braising liquid to thin it out for a homemade enchilada sauce.
Pinterest User? Do us a favor and PIN this to your board for smoker or grill recipes to try! This is a GREAT way to support us!
Mexican Smoked Chuck Roast (Chile Colorado-Style)
Ingredients
- 4-5 lb chuck roast
- 2 tablespoons Tajin hot sauce, *Optional – used as a binder.
- 2 tablespoons Texas Rub recipe
- 2 teaspoons cumin seed
- corn tortillas, Mexican rice, sour cream, avocado slices, etc for serving
For the Braising Liquid:
- ½ tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 1 jalapeno, halved, stem and seeds removed
- 4 dried guajillo peppers, stems and seeds removed
- 6 dried ancho peppers, stems and seeds removed
- 32 oz beef stock
- juice of 1 lime
- 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1-2 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat pellet grill or smoker to 250℉ with your choice of pellets or wood.
- Season the chuck roast. Rub about 2 tablespoons of hot sauce on all sides of the chuck roast as a binder (optional). Season all sides of the chuck roast with the Texas rub. Then sprinkle on cumin seed.
- Smoke the chuck roast. Place the beef roast directly on the grill grates, and close the grill lid. Smoke at 250℉ for 3 hours.
- Rest and cube the smoked chuck roast. After 3 hours, transfer the roast to a cutting board to rest for about 10 minutes. Then cut into cubes that are about 1" in size.
- Char the vegetables. While the roast is resting, add about ½ tablespoon of oil to a heated griddle or skillet, and brown the quartered onion and halved jalapeno pepper until they have a nice char on all sides. When onion and jalapeno are almost done, add the dried peppers to the griddle or skillet to toast for about 1 minute on each side. *While the vegetables are charring, preheat the oven to 300℉.
- Make the braising liquid. Add the charred veggies, peppers, and cubed beef to a dutch oven or other large pot. Pour in beef stock and just enough water to almost cover the beef – for us that was about 1½ cups of water. Add the remaining braising ingredients to the pot including lime juice, ground cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Braise the smoked beef. Cover the pot with aluminum foil, and place in a 300°F oven to braise for about 3 hours, or until the meat is fall apart tender. *Note – We uncovered the pot for the last 1 hour of cooking time, but use your best judgement based on the tenderness of your roast after about 2 hours of braising.
- Transfer beef chunks to a separate bowl. When the Chile Colorado beef nuggets are done braising, use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove the chunks of beef from the braising liquid and transfer to a separate bowl.
- Blend the Chile Colorado sauce. As you’re removing the beef chunks, separate the pieces of onion, jalapeno, and peppers and add to a large blender cup. When the beef has been separated out, use a spoon to skim off a good amount of the fat that has risen to the top of the pot. Then, add about 2 cups of the braising liquid to the blender cup with the veggies. Blend well until you have a smooth, thick sauce. *TIP – For a thinner sauce, you can add more of the braising liquid. See notes.
- Add the beef to the blended sauce. Add the blended Chile Colorado sauce to the tender beef chunks. Stir to coat. *See notes for tip.
- Serve the Chile Colorado. Serve like a beef stew with warm corn tortillas for dipping and/or with Mexican rice. You can also serve with sour cream, avocado slices, Cotija cheese, etc. Enjoy!
Notes
- Leftover Chile Colorado sauce – This recipe will probably yield more of the Chile Colorado sauce than what you need to serve with the beef chunks (depending on how much of the braising liquid you add to the blender cup). You can reserve some of the blended sauce, let it cool down, and then add it to freezer-safe Ziploc bags. Freeze to use as a fantastic base for chili, or add a bit more braising liquid to thin it out for a homemade enchilada sauce.
- Blending warm liquids – Use caution when blending the warm liquid as the heat will cause pressure to build in your blender. You should allow the braising liquid to cool some before blending with the charred peppers and onion.
- For the blended sauce – You have a few choices when blending the sauce: 1) You can add about 2 cups of the braising liquid with the charred vegetables and blend, and add more liquid as needed to desired consistency. 2) You can add the full amount of braising liquid to the blender cup, and then pour the blended sauce into a skillet. Cook over medium heat until the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency. 3) Add the full amount of braising liquid to the blender cup with the veggies, and then pour into a skillet. Add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
Yummy