Chili Colorado, Jonathan's version

A simpler take on this hearty Mexican dish.

In the mid-90s, my family moved from the Los Angeles area to Tucson, Arizona — two starkly different parts of the country. We went from a Disney Land-adjacent, suburban sprawl landscape to a town with big mountains and a lot of poisonous plants and animals.

One of my first food memories of Tucson was at the Christmas Eve party of one of my dad’s colleagues. It was a fairly casual party and there was only one thing on the menu: a giant pot of a deep red, roasted green chili-flecked, shredded beef chili. It came in a hot or mild variety, and was served with Sonoran-style tortillas. It was my first introduction to Tucson’s Mexican food: heavy on the chilies and flour tortillas like nowhere else.

For years, that party became part of our Christmas Eve ritual. As we got older, our traditions changed, but I always fondly remember “the chili party” and it’s always remained in my memories.

There had been a number of previous attempts to recreate the chili, but because the recipe is a closely guarded secret, we had to rely on recipes found online and nothing really came close. My brother constantly tinkered with the recipe until he got a helpful piece of advice: you’re over thinking it. Most traditional Chili Colorado recipes start with dried chilies, hydrating them and blending them into a sauce that’s later mixed in. This version skips all of that and relies on canned enchilada sauce, which still packs a chili punch, but eliminates a bit of work.

When I set out to make this for the newsletter, my brother’s instructions were, “Brown meat, onions and spices. Dump in the enchilada sauce, stew 6-8 hours or whatever. Add chopped green chili for the last 30 minutes.” This recipe builds on that and it freezes well — if it even makes it that far.

Chili Colorado, Jonathan’s Version

This is absolutely not a traditional Chili Colorado because it’s not made with dried chilies. This takes a short cut and uses canned enchilada sauce to achieve a similarly rich, chili-forward flavor. Use in tacos, burritos, or for a Mexican-inspired steak and eggs.