StewsMediumFree

Beef in Guajillo Chile Sauce

Name: Beef in Guajillo Chile Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 cloves garlic; 1 to taste salt and pepper; 0.5 tsp ground cumin; 6 guajillo chilli; 0.5 white onion; 300 ml beef stock; 1 tsp dried oregano; 3 tomato; 600 g beef (chuck or flank); 2 tbsp vegetable oil

60 min (20 prep + 40 cook) Medium 4 servings Nacional

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 27 Mar 2026 · Updated: 30 Mar 2026

Beef in a deep guajillo chilli and charred tomato sauce, served with rice and tortillas.

About this recipe

Beef cooked slowly in a deep, velvety guajillo chilli sauce with charred tomato and spices. Guajillo is the king of Mexican dried chillies: with its moderate heat, brick-red colour and flavour of dried fruit and berries, it builds sauces of an elegance few ingredients can match. Served with red rice and corn tortillas, this is Mexican home cooking at its most essential.

History & Origin

Beef in guajillo sauce is the weekday stew that defines cooking in millions of Mexican households across central and northern Mexico. Guajillo - called 'mirasol' when fresh - is the most widely consumed dried chilli in Mexico, the soul of the salsa industry and the secret ingredient of fondas and restaurants nationwide. Its use in meat stews dates back to pre-Hispanic times, when the Aztecs marinated meat in chilli sauces to preserve it from the heat. The technique of frying the sauce in hot oil before adding stock - known as 'moler y freír' (grind and fry) - is a direct culinary legacy of seventeenth-century New Spain, when cooks in the Bajio region perfected chilli sauces into an art form. Today, in any Mexican market, the fragrance of frying guajillo announces that something extraordinary is about to be served.

Estimated cost

£19.00

Total cost

£4.75

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

450

Calories

40g

Protein

15g

Carbohydrates

25g

Fat

Fibre

600mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Devein and soak the guajillo chillies in hot water for 15 minutes until softened. Char the tomatoes and garlic on a dry comal until blackened in spots.
2
Blend the drained chillies with the charred tomatoes, garlic, onion, cumin and oregano. Strain the sauce to remove the skins.
💡 Save the chilli soaking water; use it to thin the sauce if needed.
3
Cut the beef into 3 cm cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Brown in hot oil over high heat on all sides. Remove and set aside.
4
In the same pot, pour in the strained sauce and fry over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the stock and browned beef.
5
Cook over low heat with a lid for 30 minutes until the beef is very tender. Adjust the seasoning. Serve with red rice and warm corn tortillas.