Food Recipes Dinner Stews Chili Colorado (Red Chile Pork Stew) 5.0 (2) 2 Reviews Three kinds of dried chiles give this Mexican pork stew its deep brick-red color and layers of earthy, smoky, and fruity flavor. By Edgar Rico Edgar Rico Edgar is a James Beard Award winner for Emerging Chef, a TIME 100 recipient, a Food & Wine Best New Chef, winner of Food & Wine Best New Restaurant, a Culinary Corps Ambassador for the U.S. State Department, and proud World Central Kitchen member. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines and Sara Mardanbigi Sara Mardanbigi Sara Mardanbigi is a co-owner of the James Beard and MICHELIN award-winning Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Tejas. She leads Nixta’s operations, including business development, strategic partnerships, people management, content and marketing, and more. Sara is a James Beard WEL alum, and has worked in finance, international education, and high-end event management prior to Nixta. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on September 25, 2026 Save Rate PRINT Share Close Credit: Christopher Simpson / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Active Time: 1 hr 40 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Toasting and soaking the dried chiles before blending produces a smooth sauce with concentrated chile flavor without overwhelming heat.Cutting the pork shoulder into 1 1/2-inch pieces helps it cook evenly until exceptionally tender while keeping the pieces easy to eat.Finishing the stew with lime juice and serving it with red onion and cilantro balances the richness of the pork and earthy chile sauce. Chili colorado gets its name not from the state of Colorado but from the Spanish word colorado, referring to the red color of its chile-based sauce. The Mexican dish is commonly made by braising pork or beef in a sauce of dried red chiles until the meat becomes tender and the sauce turns deeply colored and concentrated. In this version from 2023 F&W Best New Chef Edgar Rico and his wife and business partner, chef Sara Mardanbigi, authors of Nixta Taqueria Presents: From Tacos to Tahdig, pork shoulder simmers in a brick-red puree of ancho, guajillo, and New Mexico or pasilla chiles. Each chile contributes something different, and the combination creates a sauce that is earthy and smoky, with subtle fruity sweetness rather than assertive heat. Garlic, sage, cumin, Mexican oregano, and bay leaves round out those flavors as the pork cooks. 26 Chili Recipes to Cozy Up to, From White Chicken Chili to Loaded Chili Dogs The method is worth taking your time with. First, the dried chiles are briefly toasted to amplify their flavor, then soaked until pliable enough to blend into a silky puree. Meanwhile, the pork is browned in batches, creating flavorful browned bits in the Dutch oven that become part of the sauce. A long, gentle simmer tenderizes the pork; uncovering the pot toward the end reduces the sauce until it coats each piece. Don’t treat the garnishes as an afterthought. A generous squeeze of lime, crisp sliced red onion, and fresh cilantro provide acidity, sharpness, and freshness that balance the intense chile sauce. Serve the stew with warm corn tortillas for scooping up every last bit. Why toasting dried chiles is so important Briefly toasting the dried chiles before soaking is one of the most important steps in this recipe. Heat makes the chiles fragrant and helps bring out their complex flavors, but they can turn bitter if scorched. Flip them frequently and pull them from the Dutch oven as soon as they smell aromatic and become pliable. Soaking then softens the chiles enough to blend with stock into a smooth sauce without a gritty texture. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Seed the dried chiles before toasting them, and watch them closely as they toast; burned chiles can give the finished sauce an unpleasant bitterness.Let the Dutch oven cool off the heat for 1 to 2 minutes before adding the garlic and sage so the aromatics become fragrant without scorching in the hot fat.Be generous with the lime, red onion, and cilantro when serving; their acidity, sharpness, and freshness are important counterpoints to the rich pork and concentrated chile sauce. Suggested pairing Pour a glass of plummy, lush California Merlot, like Oberon Napa Valley, as a great pairing for this flavorful Mexican stew. This recipe was developed by Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi; the text was written by Ann Taylor Pittman. Excerpted from NIXTA TAQUERIA PRESENTS: FROM TACOS TO TAHDIG: Recipes and Stories from Mexico, Iran, and the In-Between by Sara Mardanbigi and Edgar Rico with JJ Goode. Text copyright © 2026 by Sara Mardanbigi and Edgar Rico. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Mackenzie Smith. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Keep Screen Awake Ingredients 5 dried ancho chiles (3 to 4 ounces), stemmed and seeded 2 dried guajillo chiles (about 0.3 ounce), stemmed and seeded 2 dried New Mexico chiles or pasilla chiles (about 0.4 ounce), stemmed and seeded Hot water 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces 2 teaspoons black pepper, plus more to taste 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste 1/4 cup vegetable oil 6 cups unsalted chicken stock, divided 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons) 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano 2 fresh or dried bay leaves Fresh lime juice, to taste Thinly sliced red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and warm corn tortillas, for serving Directions Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in 2 batches, toast chiles, flipping often, until fragrant and pliable, about 1 minute per batch. Transfer to a bowl; add hot water to cover. Weigh chiles down using a small plate to submerge in water. Cover and let chiles soften, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, pat pork dry, and sprinkle with black pepper and 4 teaspoons salt. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high until just starting to smoke. Working in 3 batches, cook pork, turning occasionally, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Transfer browned pork to a baking sheet; do not drain fat from Dutch oven. When chiles are softened, drain and discard soaking liquid. Transfer chiles to a blender; add 3 cups stock, and process until completely smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside. Remove Dutch oven from heat, and let fat cool down slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, add garlic and sage to Dutch oven; cook with residual heat, stirring until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add cumin and oregano, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup stock; return Dutch oven to heat, and bring to a simmer over medium, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of Dutch oven using a wooden spoon. Add bay leaves, reserved pork and juices, reserved chile puree, remaining 2 cups stock (swish some stock around the blender to get all the chile puree), and remaining 1 tablespoon salt to Dutch oven, and stir well. Bring to a boil over high. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until pork is mostly tender, about 1 hour, stirring once or twice. Uncover and increase heat to medium; cook at a moderate simmer, stirring occasionally, until pork is tender and liquid is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, 30 to 45 minutes more. Remove from heat; discard bay leaves, and skim off excess fat from surface, as desired. Season with lime juice and additional salt and black pepper to taste. Serve chili topped with red onion and cilantro with lime wedges and tortillas on the side. Make ahead Chili can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to four days or frozen for up to three months; reheat gently on the stovetop, adding a splash of stock or water if the sauce has thickened too much. Cook this recipe and more in the MyRecipes app. Get the App Save Rate Print Loading shell for RecipesUgcThreaded1 Vue component in Globe.