Lazy Chile Colorado Burritos with tender cubes of beef, enchilada sauce, cheese, and beans wrapped in a tortilla and smothered with more sauce and cheese!
If you’ve never had it before, Chile Colorado is a traditional Mexican dish of beef stewed in a red chili sauce. It’s often served with tortillas and a side of refried beans.
Contrary to popular belief, Chile Colorado does not derive from the state of Colorado. Rather, “Colorado” is a Spanish word for “colored red” which is a signature aspect of this dish.
This recipe for Lazy Chile Colorado Burritos below is so simple to put together, and it tastes like you’ve been working hard to make it all day! When in reality, the epitome of laziness is adding 3 ingredients to the slow cooker, and letting the slow cooker do all of the work!
Lazy Chile Colorado Burrito Ingredients
This recipe is NOT an authentic version of Chile Colorado, but it is meant to be quick, easy, and delicious. That’s not to say the original version is not easy, but we are going for convenience here. So, please do not send me hate for not being authentic!
If you are looking for a delicious Chile Colorado recipe, made from scratch, give The Domestic Man’s recipe a try. Isabel Eats also has an authentic and delicious variation of Chile Colorado using guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles.
Red Chile Sauce
Rather, than making red chile sauce from scratch using dried chiles, this recipe calls for using canned enchilada sauce. Enchilada sauce is a great shortcut because most enchilada sauces are made from tomato sauce, ground chili powder, and spices.
For this recipe, you’ll need to use at least 20 oz. of enchilada sauce for every 2 pounds of beef used. Depending on the type of enchilada sauce you use, the final burritos will be more mild or more spicy.
The mildest enchilada sauce I’ve tried is from Old El Paso which is a great option to use if you are serving a crowd or when serving those with a milder palate.
Some spicier sauces I recommend are La Victoria Mild or Medium Enchilada Sauce, or Las Palmas Mild or Medium Enchilada Sauce.
If you do have more time on your hands, it is easy to make your own enchilada sauce. I even have delicious a low-carb enchilada sauce that may make it to the blog some day!
Meats
I love using beef in this recipe. A beef chuck (from the shoulder) or a beef round (from the butt or back leg) are both great cuts of meat to use. Although, you could substitute a pork roast if you prefer. The long cooking times will result in tender and juicy meats.
To prepare the meat, cut it into approximately 2″ pieces. Try to cut the pieces of meat into uniform pieces so the meat cooks at the same rate.
Beef Bouillon
Sometimes, cooked meat doesn’t taste very “meaty”. So, a trick my dad taught me is to use bouillon cubes while cooking meat to enhance the natural flavor in the meat.
In this lazy chile colorado burrito recipe, we are using beef bouillon cubes or beef base to bring out the umami and meaty flavor in the meat. It not only brings out the beefy flavor, but the sodium in the bouillon also seasons the meat.
For this recipe, you will only used the bouillon cubes and not the water. The beef flavor of Better than Bouillon is also SO good. If you are worried about the amount of sodium in the recipe, you can reduce the number of bouillon cubes or beef base used or leave them out all together.
Lazy Chile Colorado Burrito Serving Suggestions
Provided are directions to make burritos filled with refried beans, cheese, and the Chile Colorado. To make them more decadent, serve the burritos smothered with extra sauce and cheese!
These Lazy Chile Colorado Burritos pair so well with so many other Mexican side dishes. I highly recommend serving them with my Slow Cooker Refried Beans and Dad’s Beef Spanish Rice.
Here are a few other serving suggestions:
- Use tortilla chips to scoop up extra sauce and cheese.
- To cooked white rice, add cilantro, garlic, and fresh lime juice for Cilantro Lime Rice.
- Serve with a simple side green salad.
- Grill some corn and top with melted butter, Tajin, and Cotija Cheese.
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Lazy Chile Colorado Burritos
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Beef Roast Cubed
- 3 cubes Beef Bouillon
- 20 oz Red Enchilada Sauce
- 8, 8 in Flour Tortillas
- 1 cup Refried Beans (1/2 16 oz Can)
- 1 cup Colby Jack Cheese Grated
Instructions
Meat Preparation
- Spray the inside of a 6 qt slow cooker with cooking spray, or line slow cooker with a protective liner.
- Dice beef into 2 inch pieces (try to get all pieces roughly the same size and shape).
- Add cubed beef and beef bouillon cubes to the slow cooker.*
- Cover the beef with enchilada sauce.
- Cover slow cooker and cook, on low, for 7-8 hours until beef is tender and easily flakes with a fork.
Burrito Assembly
- Set oven to the broil setting.
- Place tortillas on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until warm.
- Warm beans in a microwave safe bowl or in a pan on the stove.
- Place one tortilla on a baking sheet, or other oven safe dish, and spread 1-2 tablespoons of refried beans down the middle of the tortilla. Top beans with 1/8 of meat (shredding cubes if desired) and 1-2 tablespoons of sauce. Add a tablespoon of grated cheese.
- Tuck in two sides of the burrito and roll the burrito securely from the other direction.
- Repeat filling and rolling burritos with remaining ingredients.
- Top the burritos with remaining sauce mixture and 1-2 more tablespoons of grated cheese.
- Broil burritos in the oven for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce begins to dry on the edges of the burrito.
