Chile Pasado is a traditional Mexican dish from the north of Mexico, especially Chihuahua and Durango. This recipe is made with roasted chiles that go through a special drying process that turns them into chile pasado.
A delicious and easy-to-make recipe that is sure to become a favorite in your home.
Many recipes from the north of Mexico use dried chiles as main ingredients as states such as Chihuahua and Durango are desertic zones and in antique times dried food was easy to conserve.
In this blog, I will show you three different ways to make Pasado Chile
- Chile Pasado con Papas (Potatoes Pasado Chile)
- Chile Pasado con Carne (Beef Pasado Chile)
- Chile Pasado con Queso (Cheese Pasado Chile)
So grab your ingredients and get ready to make a delicious and flavorful chile pasado dish!
Chile Pasado is a popular Mexican easter recipe in Durango and Chihuahua, but it is made all year round as a side dish for carne asada arrachera, as a popular filling for burritos, gorditas or just to have for breakfast with an over-easy egg on top
What kind of Chile is Chile Pasado
I have come to a debate about this. From what I knew and being eating pasado chile my whole life we used to make it with dried poblano but have heard of people making it with dried California, chilaca chile, and some other people just mixing chilis! so I had to ask in the family WhatsApp group and turns out that chile pasado is any kind of fresh green chiles that have come through a special dried process. What makes it pasado chili is the method to dry them! so you can actually make this recipe with:
- Chile Poblano
- Chile California
- Chile Chilaca
- Chile Jalapeno
The process of Chile becoming Chile Pasado
Now that we know that pasado chili peppers are pretty much any kind of regular green chile what makes it pasado is the process to dry it. The chile is roasted to be able to take off the skin leaving the branch and the seeds intact. After getting rid of the skin the chile is exposed to the sun for around 10 days to dry it. In Mexico is something named, El Sereno, we do not feel it like it was decades ago, but in the late evening the weather would turn cold and there could be some humidity so the chile was brought inside the homes and then exposed back to the sun the next day to keep with the drying process. That is how dried pasado chili peppers are made and what gives them that amazing smoky flavor.
To be totally sincere I wouldn’t do it from scratch. You just can get it at your Mexican supermarket to make this recipe and save yourself tons of work and more than 10 days of prep. Just look for chile pasado, it is sold under that name.
How to Cook Chile Pasado
- Start by warming up water in a pot.
- Add the chile pasado inside the water and make sure it stays under the water to rehydrate.
- Leave it there for around 10 minutes.
- Take the chile out of the water, cut the branches, and get rid of the seeds.
- Cut the chile into thin slices or squares.
Now is ready to make any of these recipe variations. They are all delicious!
Chile Pasado con Papas recipe
Chile pasado with potatoes is delicious and is the perfect companion for a carne asada, it makes a delicious side dish for quesadillas, milanesa, or as a filling for burritos, gorditas, or even tacos! This recipe makes enough for about 5 portions.
Ingredients
- 10 pasado chiles
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cheese to melt, I suggest Chihuahua as I am a Chihuahuan!
- 1 cup diced potatoes
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
Note. Depending on the type of chile you’re using, check to see if it’s hot before adding it to the recipe if it’s made from jalapeños, it can be super hot! Poblano or California are mild heat and you can probably use more if you want. Pasado Chile has a concentrated flavor due to the preparation method.
How to Make
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a pot and cook the potatoes. Close the lid and leave it cooking on low heat until the potatoes are cooked.
- Add the tomato, garlic, and onion, and cook.
- Add the Chile past slices
- Mix all together and add 1 tablespoon of chicken bullion and 3 cups of water. Take to a boil, close the lid, and let it cook on low heat for around 3 minutes.
- Add salt to taste and this chile pasado con papa is ready!
This is how we make chile pasado con papas.
The other recipes for chile pasado with beef and cheese also use potatoes on them.
Beef Chile Pasado Recipe
This beef casserole just turns out delicious, the chile pasado brings the perfect spiciness and smokey flavor to this Mexican food recipe. This recipe makes enough chile pasado con carne for around 6 people.
Ingredients
- 10 past chiles
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1.5-pound Knuckle or brisket cut into squares.
- ½ cup melting cheese, optional.
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup potatoes cut into squares
- 3 cups of water
How to Make
- Add the chile pasado inside hot water and make sure it stays under the water to rehydrate. Leave it there for around 10 minutes.
- Take the chile out of the water, cut the branches, and get rid of the seeds.
- In a separate pot boil the potatoes in water for around 10 minutes or until they are cooked. We are going to use later that water where we are boiling the potatoes, so save it.
- Cut the chile into thin slices or squares.
- Warm up the cooking oil in a pan.
- Cook the beef with garlic, salt, and oregano.
- Once the beef is almost done add the onion and tomato. Let it cook together for around two minutes.
- Add the chile pasado and chicken bullion along with the potatoes and the water where they were cooked. This potato’s water will bring thickness to the stew.
- Let it all cook together for 3 minutes and add salt to taste in case it needs more!
You can have this stew with rice and refried beans. This can be eaten in burritos, check out this barbacoa burrito recipe
Chile Pasado con Queso Recipe
There are certain Mexican Foods that take me back to my origins growing up in Chihuahua. Chile Pasado is definitely one of them. This delicious recipe is very similar to chile con queso with the difference that it is made with dried chiles that go through a different drying process.
Chile pasado with cheese is delicious and is the perfect companion for a carne asada, it makes a delicious side dish for quesadillas, milanesa, or as a filling for burritos, gorditas, or even pasado chile tacos! This recipe makes enough for about 6 sidedish portions.
Ingredients
- 10 past chiles
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup melting cheese
- 1 cup potatoes cut into squares
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil.
how to make
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a pot and cook the potatoes. Close the lid and leave it cooking on low heat until the potatoes are cooked.
- Add the tomato, garlic, and onion, and cook.
- Add the Chile past slices
- Mix all together and add 1 tablespoon of chicken bullion and 3 cups of water. Take to a boil, close the lid, and let it cook on low heat for around 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the cheese, mix all together, and close the lid for a couple of minutes for the cheese to melt with the rest of the ingredient’s heat.
- note. I suggest turning off the heat before adding the cheese as we want to be able to have cheese strings and be able to see the cheese in this recipe.
- Add salt to taste and this past chile con queso is ready!
How is Different from Chile con Queso
Chile con queso is made with fresh chile chilaca in the north of Mexico and with poblano in the south of the country. Rajas or Chile con Queso has cream and milk in the preparation. Chile pasado will have cheese but not cream or milk and is made with dried chiles.
I hope you really enjoy this recipe, please let me know in the comments if you have any questions. I love to share my family heritage and Mexican roots through my recipes and is a pleasure to be able to help you thrive in the kitchen!
Some other northern Mexico recipes
Ingredients
- 10 pieces chile pasado
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ tbsp minced garlic
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp chicken bullion
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup melting cheese
- 1 cup potatoes cut into squares
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a pot and cook the potatoes. Close the lid and leave it cooking on low heat until the potatoes are cooked.
- Add the tomato, garlic, and onion, and cook.
- Add the Chile past slices
- Mix all together and add 1 tablespoon of chicken bullion and 3 cups of water. Take to a boil, close the lid, and let it cook on low heat for around 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the cheese, mix all together, and close the lid for a couple of minutes for the cheese to melt with the rest of the ingredient's heat.
- note. I suggest turning off the heat before adding the cheese as we want to be able to have cheese strings and be able to see the cheese in this recipe.
- Add salt to taste and this past chile con queso is ready!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Laura creates content in Spanish and English for a community of over 3 million followers and has been recognized as one of the most influential Latinas in the US, Latinos 40 under 40 in Chicago.
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Laura Muller says
This is my family chile pasado recipe, I love to eat it in burritos, just spread some beans on a warm flour tortilla, add the pasado chile on top and roll it up! I also love to have chile pasado with over-easy eggs and have the yolk mix with the chile. I know you will love it.