This homemade Enchilada Sauce is easy to make, and it can be made in just 15 minutes. It has the perfect blend of simple spices to make the best enchiladas ever! It’s a mild sauce, and not a hot and spicy sauce unless you want it to be. And this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you are making a lot of enchiladas.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care for the enchilada sauce that you buy in the can. It always seems to have a bit of a metal taste to it. The flavor isn’t there. It’s just not good. My tried and true red enchilada sauce has been the best recipe (and a very popular one) for a good number of years! I’ve tried many recipes, and I’ve tried making it all sorts of ways, but this simple mix of ingredients that I’m sharing with you here is perfect. The sauce is key to making great enchiladas. Skip the canned stuff and make this homemade enchilada sauce (double the recipe, if you’d like). Use it in all of your recipes that call for using enchilada sauce.
The best enchilada sauce recipe:
Here’s a quote from a reader (and if you read all of the comments below that people have left over the years, you’ll see similar sentiments!)
“I googled a recipe and this one popped up. After a quick check of the ingredients, I realized I had everything I needed, so I made it and OMG, I could not stop “sampling” it! I have now made it four times…so much flavor, but not too spicy OR mild. I will never buy enchilada sauce again – this is the BEST enchilada sauce!”
How to make Enchilada Sauce:
Traditional enchilada sauce is made with dried chiles. This enchilada sauce has a base of tomato sauce and spices. It’s a quick and easy recipe for enchilada sauce using ingredients that you might already have at home (or are easy to locate in your market). Everyone who has tried the recipe just raves and raves about it.
Homemade enchilada sauce is super easy to make. First you’ll make the roux to help thicken the sauce. Heat oil in a pan and then whisk in flour and chili powder until lightly browned. Next, you’ll whisk in chicken broth and tomato sauce. Ground cumin, garlic powder, onion salt and salt are mixed in too. All is simmered for about 10 minutes, and that’s it!
But how can it be homemade when you’re using canned?
This sauce is not made from fresh tomatoes, so you’ll see canned chicken broth and canned tomato sauce in the ingredient list. But it’s combined with the right amount of spices, and it turns out a delicious enchilada sauce! I don’t mind canned tomato sauce, but canned enchilada sauce is just awful. This sauce will have a much better flavor than canned enchilada sauce from the store.
Ingredient Notes:
- Vegetable or canola oil are listed in the recipe, but you can use any neutral-flavored oil to make enchilada sauce (avocado oil and grapeseed oil are also considered to be neutral-flavored).
- 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend may be substituted for the all purpose flour to make this a gluten free enchilada sauce.
- Vegetable broth may be substituted for the chicken broth to make this a vegetarian enchilada sauce.
- Don’t use tomato paste. Don’t use marinara sauce. Use tomato sauce!
How to freeze enchilada sauce:
Transfer the sauce to freezer-safe jars or containers. Alternately, you can put the sauce in a large freezer zip baggie and lay it on its side to press out the air and seal. Freeze for up to 3 months. Be sure to label so you know what you’ve got in there!
What I love about this recipe:
- It’s so much better than store-bought. I mean SO MUCH better!
- I love that this enchilada sauce is made from simple ingredients that don’t have weird preservatives included in them.
- As an American, I actually prefer this sauce over a traditional Mexican recipe for enchilada sauce. It’s mild and perfect!
If you’ve never been a fan of canned enchilada sauce, or if you are in a part of the world where it’s difficult to find… then this recipe is for you! It’s so easy to make, and I think you’ll be so impressed with the results. Enjoy!
Here are a few recipes that use enchilada sauce:
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion salt
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet to medium heat. Whisk in the flour and chili powder. Reduce heat to medium and continue to whisk until lightly browned. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, tomato sauce, cumin, garlic powder, onion salt and salt. Stir until smooth, and continue simmering over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Serve immediately, or keep in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN FREE– just be sure to substitute an alternative thickener in place of the all purpose flour. Some people use a good GF flour (like Bob’s Redmill), and others like to use sweet rice flour. And make sure you are using a brand of chicken broth that is designated as GF (or use water instead).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this sauce for the first time the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. My husband grew up in the city and his mom made everything from a can or a box…she worked fulltime. I grew up on a Iowa farm and everything came from the garden or the barn. 🙂 I’ve made enchilladas for years but used the canned stuff so I wasn’t sure if my hubby would like the homemade. It was a HIT. I am keeping all the ingredients on hand and storing lefttover sauce in a mason jar in the frig. Thanks for this recipe…it is excellent!
This is an amazing enchilada recipe and this sauce is soooo delish!!!! This has become a weekly dish in our house!!
YESSS! This sauce is a winner. Me and the gf survived frankenstorm thanks to this bad boy.
I made this tonight and really WOWed all of my guests. It was great! I wasn’t sure when I tested it before baking, but it really transformed with the baking and cheese. It was awesome! Thanks!
I rarely leave a review but this enchilada sauce was AWESOME! I had to make chicken enchiladas for some friends, so I went to the store and bought some sauce. After reading the recipe, I thought let me try it and see. Well, it was great and my enchiladas were a HUGE success. I truly believe the chicken broth and onion salt make it very flavorful. However, the recipe does’t make enough for 10 enchiladas, so the second time I added 2 cups of broth and added more spices.
Enjoy!!
I live in Australia and absolutely crave GOOD Mexican food. I have stop going to Mexi here, its is always a huge disappiontment!!!
I tried this enchilada sauce recipe and my zucchini beef enchilada’s were to die for!!!!!
I am looking forward to tasting this one. I used to buy Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce but the quality has diminished so much that I refuse to buy it. I’ve been looking for a good recipe without luck so far but this one looks like exactly what I’ve been wanting. Thank you for posting!
I got some inspiration from your recipe and some others that I found on Pinterest. I went ahead and linked yours to my post :0)
We increased the amount of spice that the recipe called for and added smoked anaheim and jalopeno peppers for some more heat
Fabulous sauce. I threw this together with the ingredients in my cabinet. The only thing I was missing was onion powder, but it was still very good. My boyfriend and I loved it. This will be added to my mexican food repertoire.