Enchilada sauce

Updated at: Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:42:38 GMT

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Ingredients

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3 tablespoons olive oil

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3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour blends all work!)

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1 tablespoon ground chili powder (scale back if you're sensitive to spice or using particularly spicy chili powder)

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1 teaspoon ground cumin

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½ teaspoon garlic powder

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¼ teaspoon dried oregano

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¼ teaspoon salt, to taste

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Pinch of cinnamon (optional but recommended)

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2 tablespoons tomato paste

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2 cups vegetable broth

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1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar

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Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

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Directions

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0 of 48 seconds

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When I developed my go-to sauce (first seen on my spinach artichoke enchiladas), I tried at least five of the top sauce recipes on Google, all with different ingredients and techniques.

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I tried making sauce with tomato sauce, which tasted too raw and was kind of goopy. I tried making sauce with blended diced tomatoes, and it had the same issues. I tried sauce without any tomato ingredients, and it didn’t taste quite like the enchilada sauce I grew up eating, or the sauce at my favorite Mexican restaurants. I tried sauces made without any thickener (like flour or cornstarch), and they pooled at the bottom and turned my enchiladas into a soupy, texture-less casserole.

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Finally, after some experimentation and cross-referencing with America’s Test Kitchen, I landed on the perfect enchilada sauce. Vegetable broth forms the base of the sauce, but it’s only added after you make a simple roux of flour and oil. You need a full three tablespoons of each to properly thicken the sauce. I tried making this sauce with a gluten-free flour blend and that worked great as well.

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The Best Enchilada Sauce

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Four reasons to love this recipe:

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This sauce is full of authentic Mexican flavor. It comes from a combination of dried spices, which are sautéed in oil to bring out their best, and umami-rich tomato paste.

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The cinnamon is optional since some people just don’t like it in savory applications, but just a pinch adds some lovely warmth and complexity.

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The final kicker is a tiny splash of vinegar, which really amps up the flavor.

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Unlike canned enchiladas sauces, this homemade sauce is free of unnecessary processed ingredients and MSG (that’s monosodium glutamate, which gives my mom migraines).

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I love this sauce and I’m confident you will, too, since it’s gotten rave reviews on my spinach artichoke enchiladas and veggie black bean enchiladas.

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Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! Your feedback keeps me going.

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Watch How to Make Enchilada Sauce

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Homemade Enchilada Sauce

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Author: Cookie and Kate

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Prep Time: 3 mins

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Cook Time: 7 mins

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Total Time: 10 minutes

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Yield: 2 cups 1x

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5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star 4.8 from 1812 reviews

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This homemade red enchilada sauce has authentic Mexican flavor! It’s so good and easy, you’ll never go back to store-bought sauce again. You can even make a double batch and freeze half of it for later. Recipe as written below yields about 2 cups (16 ounces) sauce.

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Ingredients

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1x2x3x

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3 tablespoons olive oil

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3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour blends all work!)

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1 tablespoon ground chili powder (scale back if you’re sensitive to spice or using particularly spicy chili powder)

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1 teaspoon ground cumin

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½ teaspoon garlic powder

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¼ teaspoon dried oregano

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¼ teaspoon salt, to taste

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Pinch of cinnamon (optional but recommended)

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2 tablespoons tomato paste

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2 cups vegetable broth

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1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar

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Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

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This sauce comes together quickly once you get started, so measure the dry ingredients (the flour, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt and optional cinnamon) into a small bowl and place it near the stove. Place the tomato paste and broth near the stove as well.

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In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, warm the oil until it’s hot enough that a light sprinkle of the flour/spice mixture sizzles on contact. This might take a couple of minutes, so be patient and don’t step away from the stove!

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Once it’s ready, pour in the flour and spice mixture. While whisking constantly, cook until fragrant and slightly deepened in color, about 1 minute. Whisk the tomato paste into the mixture, then slowly pour in the broth while whisking constantly to remove any lumps.

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Raise heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, whisking often, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a bit and a spoon encounters some resistance as you stir it. (The sauce will thicken some more as it cools.)

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Remove from heat, then whisk in the vinegar and season to taste with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Add more salt, if necessary (I usually add another pinch or two). Go forth and make enchiladas!

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Notes

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