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!
Thank you you. You mentioned mild chili powder. Do you make your own?
I really enjoy a Pepper from north of Santa Fe. Name escapes me right now but is a exelent chili and chili powder.
Nope, I just use the McCormmick blend. The ingredient is linked to the product page so you can see what I’m talking about. :) It’s chili seasoning, not ground chiles.
This recipe is so quick, easy, and delicious! I use chicken or veggie broth instead of water and I add a teaspoon of white vinegar at the end. I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY ENCHILADA SAUCE IN A CAN
Thanks Beth!
I tried it a couple times… when I combined the flour, oil and chili powder it was almost like paste. Any suggestions? We’ve made a ton of other recipes from your site and all turned out perfect. Not sure what I’m doing wrong on this one.
It should still work if it’s a bit thicker like a paste. Just keep stirring and cooking that paste for a couple of minutes to toast the flour and spices and then whisk in the water and continue as normal. :)
This is a great recipe and so easy. The only change I made was 1 tablespoon of Chile Powder and 1 tablespoon of Chipotle powder and added 1/2 teaspoon of Spanish paprika. It came out wonderful I plan on using this from now on. My Husband loved it!
I really enjoyed your recipe. Talk about quick and easy! This was my first time making enchilada sauce from scratch and it worked out really well. Thank you. I didn’t have tomato paste on hand and did use a can of Pato Sauce and used 2 cans of tomato sauce. I ended up with 4 cups of sauce instead of 2, which was fine since I wanted to make a larger quantity and it still turned out thick enough. Since I knew I was using tomato sauce in place of paste, I did add an extra tablespoon of floor in the beginning but no additional oil (trying to watch those calories). Any way, thank you very much for sharing this recipe. My family really enjoyed it! Have a great day!
Beth I’ve made this sauce so many times! As I was literally licking it off my sauce pan while dinner cooked…. I realized I had to comment. This recipe rocks!
Thanks, Angelica! I’m glad you’re enjoying it. :)
Do you have to have cummin and can you use tomato sause
Yes, you definitely want to use cumin and unfortunately tomato sauce will not work the same as tomato paste for this recipe. :(
I normally don’t comment on recipes but I had to on this one. I made this recipe exactly as stated and my husband and I agree that this is the best enchilada sauce we’ve ever had. Thanks Beth for making such a great and simple recipe!
Hi Beth! Would this sauce freeze well if I wanted to keep a stock of it on hand for quick weeknight meals?
Sometimes flour thickened sauces tend to separate after the freeze-thaw cycle, so I’m not sure. I do believe someone else mentioned that they freeze this sauce on a regular basis, though.
I have made a similar sauce recipe calling for 1-8oz can tomato sauce and 2 cups water lots of times and frozen that with good results. Just give it a good whisk or two while reheating. I am going to try the BB tomato paste version, as sometimes I have only one or the other on hand. I definitely agree that I will never buy canned red enchilada sauce again!
I’ve frozen this twice with great results!! Do itttt! I freeze everything in old jars (this’ll go in a jam jar) so I just have to shake it a bit after it is thawed in the fridge overnight.
I recently used it to marinate tofu for burrito bowls – yummmmmmm!!!
Tried this tonight and it was amazing! No more canned sauce that tastes like poison. I’ll be making this from now on. Thank you!
Omg I’m in love with this sauce ! I have celiac so instead of flour I used bobs red mill all purpose gluten free flour and a bit of corn starch !
If you have any on hand, use corn flour (Masa). It’s delicious.
We absolutely love this stuff, my boyfriend said it’s so good he could drink it. We put it on omelettes, fajitas, tacos, chili bowls, chili cheese dogs and of course when we make our enchiladas. the only change we make is decreasing the water and using el pato (mexican tomato sauce) in replace of the tomato paste.
(I forgot the stars! oh my! Since I’ve made the posole twice, and the base for posole is this enchilada sauce, I feel confident rating)
Good for you, Sylvia!!
I’m going to try this! Definitely with more dried, crushed cayenne! I’ve made Beth’s 30-minute posole to RAVE reviews (my hubby, a lady from his church, and my church!). That recipe led me to the enchilada sauce recipe. Which I’ve been craving! It looks really, REALLY good! And since the posole was so amazing, I’m going to overlook the fact that Beth is so white and thinks enchiladas are made with flour tortillas!! I have seen them that way (Stouffer’s) but in New Mexico, we used CORN tortillas, so that’s what I’ll use here in Tennessee!
THANK YOU, BETH!! Your recipes are easy enough for a new homemaker like me, so tasty I serve with PRIDE!!
This reply is six months later, but damn you sound racist! Maybe she likes flour tortillas better? Or she can get them cheaper? Possibly she is even allergic to corn. Just because she is white, doesn’t mean she doesn’t know that enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. Maybe you shouldn’t make assumptions?
Now, my past butt is gonna go make some enchiladas. And yes Latin American food queen, with corn tortillas.
I strongly agree with Veronica. You definitely sound racist, Sylvia! Beth uses both corn and flour tortillas for recipes, so who are you to judge? Although she’s white, you can’t make assumptions about a person. You don’t anything about her.
I recently made Weeknight Enchiladas using corn tortillas. It was delicious, despite what you think. No one forced you to cook recipes from Budget Bytes.
You’re good Sylvia, you don’t sound racist at all. Saying someone is “so white” and calling out the ‘error’ of flour tortillas in enchiladas is not racist, in the least. Not at all. LMAO. Sounds like the two other white women here are just super insecure and not used to hearing white people talked about, because they consider themselves the “default.” I’m white, have no problem with your comment and think the other two commentors can go suck a lime.
My insecure White self will definitely go suck a lime. :-)
LOL!!!!!
Silly question, but I’d like to make this sauce asap, but have no whisk….would just a fork do? – Thanks!
You might be able to do it with a fork. Just stir a lot and stir fast! :)