This Homemade Colorado Sauce recipe is easy and delicious! Use it with chicken to make Colorado Chicken Tacos, Colorado Chicken Tamales or Colorado Chicken Quesadillas.
Ready to do something really impressive?
This week, you’re going to make your own homemade Colorado Sauce.
It’s so simple, you’ll be asking yourself why you never made it before!
So, first of all, what is Colorado Sauce? Generally speaking, Colorado Sauce refers to a sauce that is red in color.
It’s a simple sauce made from chilies, spices, broth, and oil.
So, how do you make this chili Colorado sauce, you ask?
Preparing the sauce is as easy as soaking some dried chilies, pureeing a bunch of ingredients in a blender, then simmering the sauce on the stove until it thickens up a bit.
Active time is about 20 minutes total!
You may be wondering what you’re supposed to do with this recipe.
Well, I have shared an awesome recipe for Chicken Enchiladas in Colorado Sauce, so that’s at least one recipe you can use it for.
I also like to make Huevos Rancheros in Colorado Sauce, so that makes two.
You can also use this sauce in this delicious Queso Fundido Colorado recipe, so that makes three recipes for you.
Let’s see, what other ideas can I come up with…
How about making a Mexican Colorado Sauce Smothered Burrito?
Why not slow-cook some chuck steak in a bath of this delicious chili sauce?
You can also keep it simple by shredding some leftover chicken and tossing it with this sauce to make an easy filling for:
- Colorado Chicken Tacos
- Colorado Chicken Tamales
- Colorado Chicken Quesadillas
There are a lot of ways you can use up this sauce, but if you find yourself with leftovers you can easily freeze it in a mason jar for future use.
You can find dried chili peppers on the Hispanic foods aisle at your local grocery store.
Enjoy!
Here’s the Colorado Sauce Recipe!
Homemade Colorado Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 dried New Mexico chili peppers
- 2 dried Ancho chili peppers
- 1 dried Chipotle chili pepper
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled
- 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 cup grapeseed or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Remove the stems and seeds from all of the chili peppers and tear them into small pieces. Wash hands, then fill a bowl with hot water. Soak the chili peppers in the hot water for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Drain, reserving ¼ cup of the soaking water.
- Transfer the soaked peppers to the bowl of a blender and add the garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander, oil, and salt. Pulse the blender a few times, then add in the stock and reserved soaking water. Puree until liquid.
- Place a large saute pan over medium-heat on your stove top. Holding a fine mesh sieve over the top of the pan, pour the contents of the blender through the sieve to strain out any remaining solids. Discard solids.
- Bring the sauce to a soft boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until it reaches your desired consistency.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Easiest recipe for Chile Colorado!
Thank you Mary for your comment and 5 star review!
This is VERY MUCH the base of my recipe for traditional pork Posole!!! It’s almost exactly your sauce, with chicken broth, the liquid after I pressure cook the pork, shredded pork/hominy/onions/garlic/serranos (or habaneros/poblanos/anaheims/ any other pepper you want, based on heat!). Serve over rice (my daughter actually loves it over smashed potatoes, but I usually do it with rice that I saute with cumin seeds/onion/garlic, and use chicken broth instead of water)… Ahhhhhhhmazing!!!
This looks fantastic! Do you have any recommendations as to the spice and chilli brands you use?
Hi Christine,
I typically use Simple Organic, Frontier Organic or McCormick Organic for bottled spices like the cumin and coriander.
For the dried chilis, if you can’t find them in your grocery store, you can find them on Amazon.
I have added links to my preferred spices and chilis into the recipe card for this recipe, so check them out there.
– Linda
I think I could come up with about 5000 things to put this sauce on, not the least of which would be my spoon. Yum!!
I’m so glad you like it, Karen! I completely botched posting my enchilada recipe (blonde moment) but intend to get it up later this week!
Never heard of Colorado Sauce before. But I’m totally down. Can’t wait to try it!
You’re going to love it! It’s sooo yummy 🙂