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I’ve been working on my enchilada game lately, for both the cookbook and an upcoming enchilada recipe. There is an art to making great enchiladas, and the sauce is a key component.
I thought I’d share my tested and perfected enchilada sauce recipe today, in case you want to try it on your favorite enchilada recipe. It’s ready in under ten minutes, and I promise, it’s so tasty you won’t want to go back to the store-bought kind again.
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.
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.
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.
The Best Enchilada Sauce
Four reasons to love this recipe:
- 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.
- 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.
- The final kicker is a tiny splash of vinegar, which really amps up the flavor.
- Unlike canned enchiladas sauces, this homemade sauce is free of unnecessary processed ingredients and MSG (that’s monosodium glutamate, which gives my mom migraines).
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.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! Your feedback keeps me going.
Watch How to Make Enchilada Sauce
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
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- Author: Cookie and Kate
- Prep Time: 3 mins
- Cook Time: 7 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: Mexican
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star
4.8 from 1735 reviews
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.
Scale
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour blends all work!)
- 1 tablespoon ground chili powder (scale back if you’re sensitive to spice or using particularly spicy chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- Pinch of cinnamon (optional but recommended)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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!
Notes
Enchilada sauce recipe adapted from my spinach artichoke enchiladas.
Storage suggestions: Extra enchilada sauce will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, freeze it for up to 3 months. Let it cool to room temperature before transferring to a wide-mouth mason jar, leaving some room at the top for expansion (don’t screw on the lid completely until the mixture is fully frozen), or a freezer bag (remove excess air before sealing).
Make it gluten free: Just use gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. I tried with Bob’s Red Mill brand and it worked great.
Make it tomato free: You can omit the tomato paste. You might want to up the spices a bit. The sauce won’t taste quite like the enchilada sauce you might buy at the store, but it will still be good!
Change it up: The chili powder, cumin and garlic powder are essential here, but feel free to change up the other spices to suit your preferences.
If you love this sauce: Check out more of my Mexican recipes here!
▸ Nutrition Information
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #cookieandkate.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Hannah Wilson
This is the only enchilada sauce I have or will ever make… seriously! Make it exactly as written and it’s perfect every time.
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Joan P
This is the world’s best enchilada sauce, bar none! I was sampling it non-stop before I made my enchiladas! It’s far better than any commercial sauce I’ve tried, and probably a lot healthier, too!
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Kate
Great to hear, Joan!
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Kaitlyn Janzen
I LOVE THIS SAUCE. thanks kate
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Kate
You’re welcome, Kaitlyn!
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Joyce
This is the best!!! I have made it many times and have no interest in looking anywhere else!
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Kate
Great to hear, Joyce! I appreciate your review.
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Amy L Cribbs
This enchilada sauce is delicious! And so easy to make… it will surely be a new staple in our home.
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Kate
That’s great to hear, Amy! Thank you for your review.
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Jasson
Very nice recipe chef . Thank you for your effort
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Kate
Thank you, Jasson!
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Rita
Made a double batch the very first time…and am glad I did!
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Angela K
The tomato paste I originally planned to use for this was spoiled, tragically, so I subbed in some gochujang paste I had on hand and oh. my. gosh. it is soo delicious! Subtle but complex, smooth but warming and bright with the heat and acidity. Awesome recipe and perfect base for experimentation :D
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Heather Z.
OMG!!! I will definitely make a double or triple batch next time. I added a little more salt and chili powder than the recipe called for. It’s beyond easy to make and tastes amazing!!!
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Kate
Thank you for your review, Heather!
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Sarah
Tried and failed twice was just lumpy what am I doing wrong
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Kate
I’m sorry to hear that. Are you stirring it as you add the ingredients? Make sure you aren’t cooking it too hot.
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Adele Lavoie
The best, no more store bought sauce for me!
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Brigid Greenwood
See AlsoHungarian Green Bean SoupI just returned from spending 5 months along the Baja peninsula where I served this sauce on enchiladas and chilaquiles for many delicious meals. My Mexican friends loved it! We stay in a very small town of Baja Sur and tomato paste isn’t readily available but the Mexican boxed tomato sauce is — so I used a generous amount of that tomato sauce to get the tomato richness and otherwise followed your recipe to great results. The cinnamon and vinegar really make it special. Thank you!
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RR
Love the ingredients as a base but had to add way more spices of what the recipe calls for, for it to be really flavourful. I’m saving this though as it just needs to be customised to personal taste
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Victoria Young
So good and so easy thank you!
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Kate
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Victoria! Thank you for your review.
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Dana
I’m looking forward to making this but had one question about the chili powder. Can you confirm that chili powder refers to the blended spice used to make chili (the food) and not chile (just spicy)? I planned to omit or reduce if it was just for spice but want to make sure I’m not missing some key ingredient!
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Kate
This is the blended spice version we have in the US. I hope you try it!
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Taylor Larson
This sauce was SO good!!!! I am thoroughly impressed! We made it to have as the base for our taco pizza and we could almost eat it plain!
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Amanda Moran
Made this recipe tonight and it was so delicious! My family loved it and its super easy. I used beef broth in lieu of vegetable broth but I will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
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Kate
You’re welcome, Amanda! Thank you for your review.
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Evelyn Talavera
Enchilada sauce is made with dried chile guajillo and chile arbol
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Suzanne
I could eat this as a soup, it’s that good.
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Mar
This is okay if you’re in a pinch, but I prefer to make authentic enchilada sauce. This is very tomato heavy.
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Kate
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it as is. I appreciate your feedback, Mar.
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Olivia from Belgium
This recipe was my first try of enchilada (and of course a real enchilada sauce).
It was juste : perfect !!
Very tasty.
The touch of cinnamon if absolutely delicious !
Thanks for your recipe !Reply
Kate
You’re welcome, Olivia!
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Christina Skirvin
Really enjoyed this enchilada sauce! Had a can of sauce, but realized the recipe called for more than I had. I decided to supplement with this recipe. We never even opened the can and are already planning enchiladas with a different filling next week!
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Elyse
I have made this multiple times and love it more everytime! I make triple batches and freeze it so I can eat it more often! I highly recommend
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Stacey Kaplan
Hi Kate!
Are you able to recommend a good chili powder to use?I look forward to trying this recipe!
Thanks!
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Kate
Hi Stacey! I try to buy organic when I can. Frontier Co-op to Simply Organic are great options!
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Ken
I made up a big batch of this and used half on veggie black bean enchiladas and I froze the rest to use on your recipe for Christmas enchiladas that I am going to make sometime in the next few weeks.
I like this because it is not as salty as most store-bought enchilada sauces are. I have only found one enchilada sauce that is not too salty and it is at a supermercado in a part of town that I am not often in. I did not follow tis recipe exactly. I followed the one that you have in “Love Real Food” but added Mexican oregano. That is basically the same as this one except you have smoked paprika in it and no oregano (I always use Mexican oregano for my “Mexican” recipes).
I was wondering why you changed the recipe and which you prefer.
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Gry Strand Taraldsen
Oh holy mother! The best sauce I ever tasted. I used a little too much salt, but put in a little more cinnamon and a couple of pinches of sugar. I could not stop tasting.
I live in Norway and the Norwegians are terrified of spicy food. Next batch i will use less chili.
Thank you Kate.
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Kate
I love to hear that, Gry!
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John
Best recipe ever. I use it every time I make enchiladas and it turns out perfectly. Thank you!
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Kate
You’re welcome, John!
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Kate
Did you thaw it in the refrigerator and then gently reheat it on the stove?
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Abby
Thank you for the reply. I thawed in the fridge but microwaved. Will give the stove A try with a whisk.
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Cindy
I found this recipe on a random Google search for a homemade enchilada sauce. WOW is it delicious!! I used it for a chicken enchilada casserole and was it ever a gamechanger! On my next rainy weekend I’ll be making a couple of batches to freeze! Kicking the bottled sauce to the curb!!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thanks!!
Cindy
Baton Rouge, LAReply
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