Red Enchilada Sauce

Why buy pre-made sauce at the grocery store, when this homemade red enchilada sauce is quick and easy and has way more flavor.

Have you ever made enchilada sauce? Me neither until today! I was browsing some Mexican recipes and one called for a homemade enchilada sauce. As you all know, I love Mexican! Immediately I was intrigued.

I'll be honest... I've never even thought about making a sauce that can be easily bought at the store. I didn't think it was worth the effort but after reading reviews from Gimme Some Oven's sauce, I figured why not give it a try. And to my delight, it couldn't be easier to make. No this isn't the same as hers! Like usually, I adapted to make my own version.

I actually ended up using this sauce my spiralized sweet potato enchilada skillet, which was fantastic! What I liked about the sauce, is you can control the amount of heat you want in it by how much chili powder you add.

The real secret however is the tomato paste. At least the enchilada sauces (well red sauces that is) I grew up on seem to have some tomato flavor to it. A little goes a long way in adding great flavor.

So if you like enchiladas as much as I do, I'd definitely consider this recipe. Now I'm not saying I won't ever buy canned sauce again, but this homemade red enchilada sauce will definitely be used if a recipe calls for it.

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Can I Make this Vegan/Vegetarian?
• Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Sauce Recipes
• Red Enchilada Sauce

Recipe Ingredients

• Olive oil - the needed fat for the sauce.
• All-purpose flour - helps thicken the enchilada sauce.
• Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, cinnamon, black pepper - where the flavor comes from.
• Tomato paste - adds a rich tomato flavor.
• Chicken stock - low-sodium is best.
• White distilled vinegar - adds some acidity.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Heat olive oil in medium-sized pot over medium heat and stir in dry ingredients. Whisk for 1 minute then stir in tomato paste.
3. Slowly add chicken stock, whisking constantly.
4. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar.

Can I Make this Vegan/Vegetarian?

Yes, just replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. It will give the sauce a slightly different flavor, but still way better than store-bought.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Check your spices and make sure they aren't expired. In order to have great flavor, you want to make sure your spices aren't too old.
• Add cold oil to a cold pot and let heat up to proper temperature before adding the spice mixture. You’ll know it is ready when the oil starts to shimmer.
• When adding the spice mixture, whisk constantly so nothing burns while also cooking out the flour.
• Simmer for at least 5 minutes but the longer you simmer the thicker the sauce will get. You can control how thick you want the sauce by how long you simmer it.
• Add vinegar after removing the sauce from heat so it doesn't cook out and helps amp up the flavor of this homemade enchilada sauce.

Other Sauce Recipes

• Easy Marinara Sauce
• Kale Pistachio Pesto
• Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
• Easy Mole Sauce
• Roasted Red Pepper Pesto
• Homemade Pizza Sauce
• Cilantro Garlic Sauce

If you’ve tried this red enchilada sauce or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.