Asado de Puerco (Pork in Red Chile Sauce)
Chile Colorado is an authentic dish from northern Mexico made with tender pork pieces simmered in a homemade red chile sauce. It is also a commonly served dish in New Mexico and El Paso.
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 1/2 pounds pork loin cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 4 cups Red Chile Sauce
- 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Water
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook 5 minutes. Add salt and garlic and continue cooking until pork is thoroughly cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add red chile sauce, tomato sauce, oregano, and cumin. Let mixture come to a boil and add water to desired consistency. Simmer for another 10 minutes to let the flavors come together.
Video
Notes
- Freeze Pork Slightly to make cubing it easier. If you’ve ever struggled with cutting raw meat into even pieces, you’re not alone. The secret is to pop your cut in the freezer for a brief 15-20-minute spell. The cold helps to harden the meat slightly, making it much easier to work with.
- Don’t Simmer Too Long. Pork tenderloin is fairly lean, so don’t overcook it. It can quickly turn from tender and juicy to dry and chewy. It’s perfectly normal (even advised!) for the pork to be a little pink inside before adding the red chile sauce to simmer.
- Leftovers. As with most soups and stews, it’s even better after the flavors have some time to meld.
- Double The Flavor, Double The Fun. While making your own red sauce is a bit time-consuming, my recipe will yield a big enough batch for leftovers. The sauce will keep for up to a week in the fridge or up to six months in the freezer and can be used to make tons of different meals.
- Make Ahead Magic: The red chile sauce can be made ahead, up to a week before if you refrigerate it, and up to six months before if you freeze it. You can also chop the pork into 1-inch cubes and refrigerate for 1-2 days for an easy throw-together meal on a busy weeknight.
- BONUS TIP: These plastic freezer-safe containers are great for freezing red chile sauce. They come in a variety of sizes perfect to freeze the sauce so you can pull out just the amount you need without defrosting a large container.
- Refrigerate: Red chile pork can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: To serve, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge, then rewarm over moderately low heat or microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 293kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 5331mg | Potassium: 529mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 133IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg