Enchilada sauce is one of my very favorite things, ever. I love when it soaks into tortillas while baking and makes everything all tangy, spicy, and good. Mmmmm. 🤤 But when the selection of enchilada sauce at my local grocery store was less than impressive, I decided it was high time to make some red enchilada sauce myself. This Easy Red Enchilada Sauce is a total game-changer and now I can never go back to store-bought. It has ten times more flavor than anything I’ve ever had from a can and literally takes minutes to make. It’s a total winner.
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Quick Method, Big Flavor
This EASY enchilada sauce is not an authentic enchilada sauce made with dried chile peppers that you’ll find in Texas or Mexico, but it’s a quick and easy version that anyone can whip up in their kitchen using basic pantry staples. But I promise, once you taste it, you won’t regret the shortcuts. It’s still bursting with flavor and you’ll want to pour it over everything. If you want a made-from-scratch with dried chiles enchilada sauce, check out this Authentic Enchilada Sauce recipe from Isabel Eats.
How Spicy is Red Enchilada Sauce?
The “chili powder” listed in the recipe below is a store-bought mix of spices used to season chili. It is not straight chile powder, or pure ground chile peppers, which can be extremely spicy. The brand of chili powder I use is completely mild, but other brands can sometimes carry some heat. If you are using a spicy chili powder, simply reduce or eliminate the cayenne powder from this recipe to compensate. The heat level of the recipe below, using McCormick’s chili powder, is medium spicy, like a medium salsa.
How to Use Enchilada Sauce
Enchilada sauce is not just for Enchiladas! Here are some other great ways to use red enchilada sauce:
- as a simmer sauce for meat (in a slow cooker or skillet)
- as a rich sauce to smother burritos
- combined with eggs and fried tortillas for Migas
- combined with sour cream to make a creamy and spicy dip
- as a replacement for taco sauce
- a soup base (Chicken Enchilada Soup or 30 Minute Posole)
- to sauce up casseroles like Mexican lasagna, enchilada casserole, or Taco Stuffed Shells
But if you do want to use it for enchiladas, make sure to check out these great enchilada recipes: Cheese Enchiladas, Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiadas, Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas, and Weeknight Enchiladas.
Easy Red Enchilada Sauce
Servings 8 ¼ cup eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.27)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 3/4 tsp salt or to taste ($0.03)
Instructions
- Add the cooking oil, flour, and chili powder to a sauce pot. Turn the heat on to medium and whisk the ingredients together. Continue to whisk as the mixture begins to bubble. Whisk and cook the mixture for one minute once it begins bubbling.
- After one minute, whisk in the water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper until smooth. Allow the sauce to come up to a simmer. Once it reaches a simmer it will begin to thicken slightly.
- Starting with a 1/2 teaspoon, add salt to taste. I used about 3/4 teaspoon total. The sauce is now ready to use!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Enchilada Sauce – Step By Step Photos
Start by adding 2 Tbsp flour, 2 Tbsp chili powder, and 2 Tbsp oil to a pot. I use McCormick’s chili powder, which is not spicy, just flavorful, so don’t be frightened by the large quantity in the recipe. All of the heat comes from the cayenne pepper.
Whisk these ingredients together and allow them to come up to a bubble over medium heat, whisking the whole time. Whisk and cook for one minute. This will toast the flour and chili powder, adding to the flavor depth and making sure that the flour doesn’t taste like paste.
After one minute, add 3oz. tomato paste, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and whisk in 2 cups water (or broth).
Let the sauce come up to a simmer and it will begin to thicken. Taste the sauce and add salt to your liking. Start with about 1/2 teaspoon and add more if needed. The salt will really help bring out the flavors. If you’re using broth in place of water, you might not need to add any at all.
And now you’re good to go! Drizzle this thick and flavorful enchilada sauce over all of your favorite foods and enjoy!
This is my go -to enchilada sauce too. I love it. I have all the ingredients on hand, and tastes way better than any store bought one. I sustituted one tomato soup this time with one can of water, becauae I didn’t have any tomato paste on hand. It still turned out delish! Thanks for sharing.
How do I make this sauce with fresh tomatoes?
You’d have to cook a lot of them down until they’re as concentrated as tomato paste. :)
Naw..just select 3 or4 maters, boil til skin slips off, stew them up and add..back off on water/liquids to accommodate texture in needed. gotta love fresh tomatoes in anything :)
The homemade sauce was SO delicious!
I have made these many times. Today, I squeezed some lime on mine! Perfection!
Im going to try this recipe
Thank you for posting this recipe! I’ve always wanted to make my own enchilada sauce and due to convenience I always used store bought. NO MORE!!! I’ve taken this recipe and bookmarked it! It turned out exactly how you pictured it! I can’t wait for my husband to try it give him the surprise of knowing it’s homemade! Thank you!!
Can you use this enchilada sauce as a red sauce for a burrito? Otherwise, what is the red sauce served over an individual burrito?
Yep, I would use it that way. :)
This was delicious! I substituted gluten-free flour for regular and added extra cayenne.
This enchilada sauce is so good and easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Beth. I made this for my parents who have been talking about homemade enchiladas. Hint. Hint. I did the best I could. Made a fresh double batch of sauce using your recipe, using vegetable broth and no cayenne pepper. At first they acted as though the enchilada sauce was okay. Yet I noticed when I checked on tjem today, they had eaten all the enchiladas and the extra sauce. They used it to micro some enchiadas.. Theu just couldn’t wait for me to get there to fry the tortillas and put them in the oven. That’s because they were only okay 😃
This was a delicious lifesaver! I’m allergic to onion- carry an epipen kind of allergic. We just moved, and the one brand of packaged sauce I could use is not available here. I was thrilled with this recipe- and my significant other said this is even better than the sauce I was purchasing. I used ancho chili powder and whole wheat flour, because I didn’t have any all-purpose flour- worked perfectly. Thanks again for a delicious recipe!
I’ve always done ground dried New Mexican Red Chiles so I know what chile I’m getting. Chile powder often times has other spices in it. I used to use the brand you show on the recipe, but one time it had so much sand in it to prevent caking, that I could have used it to refinish furniture. I wrote the manufacturer and told them the lot number to help them out and received a terse note saying that the amount of silica in that lot met government standards. Need I say I have never bought McCormick spices again.
WOW! That’s just crazy. Definitely a manufacturing error, but still frightening!
Amazing flavor! I usually buy Fromtera enchilada sauce because it has authentic flavor and does not contain red dye. I will be using this recipe instead from now on. It’s loaded with great flavor and super easy to make. I used the chicken broth.
I made this because I could not find my tried and true recipe. My family and I didn’t care for it. I did make exactly as stated, but a double batch. Wasted money. Thankfully I have found my recipe and will stick to it.
Made this sauce months ago. I loved easy it was it make! also tasty! I hear it will taste even better using chicken broth. Has anyone else tried this?