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.
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
Video
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!
I am eager to try this budget (and time) friendly sauce. My mother in law taught me her authentic sauce and it’s delicious but reconstituting chilis etc it’s time consuming. My only question is how you store this for future use if I want to make a large batch to use over a week or two?
HI Erica! You can portion out and freeze.
Fabulous and easy! Red enchilada sauce is hard to come by and when I do find it, it’s full of ingredients that I don’t want so it was a hit for me and I’ll be using it from now on! Thanks for this 😊
I really liked this sauce! Actually, it didn’t wow me just tasting it from a spoon, but once I put it on top of my enchiladas I loved the combination of flavors! I will be using this on enchiladas (and maybe other things — will need to experiment) from here on out! Canned enchilada sauce is not cheap, so it’s nice to have a quick and fun way to make my own. Thanks, Beth!
Can u freeze this.??
I haven’t tried it so I can’t vouch for how it holds up, but I’ve seen people comment in the past that they do freeze it.
Yes, this sauce freezes beautifully! I’ve been cooking up 2x batches of this sauce for years, portioning it into small 1/2 cup plastic containers and then I just pull them out of hhe freezer as needed.
Good recipe
Although I have not signed up to receive emails. I really enjoy budgetbytes. The recipes are always good. I’m always looking for new content. Keep up the good work.
Ever since I tried this recipe years ago I keep coming back. It’s so simple and yummy and tastes so much better than a can!!!
Is it really 2 Tbsp oil in the photos? I tried 2 Tbsp for flour and chili, but it came out as a paste.
Otherwise quick and tasty sauce recipe
Yes, I used 2 Tbsp. :)
This happens to me every time too! I wonder if we need a smaller pot so the liquid is closer together (aka deeper). I just use 3T of oil instead of 2T and it works for me!
Fantastic and so easy. What a money saver for my budget!
This was so easy to make and so delicious!! Thank you!!
This recipe is the reason I stopped buying bland canned enchilada sauce!
Sauce is very good and easy to make. We poured it over jalapeno cheese tamales on Christmas day – yum!! Did not use any salt – it really does not need it.
Skipped the stars accidentally! Five stars all the way!
Great enchilada sauce recipe! I used roasted garlic and ancho powder. If you don’t have tomato paste you can use tomato sauce, just mind the total liquid volume and use some water to keep the consistency. Also Wondra flour will assure a smooth texture. Cumino powder can be very variable in strength so use enough to know it’s there but not enough to cause bitterness. I used Knorr Beef Bouillon powder as the salt. Thanks very much Beth for a great utility sauce that is simple and open for interpretation! All the best this holiday season and hopes for a blessed new year!
Wow!! Am I ever happy that the snow kept me from running to the store to get canned enchilada sauce. I cannot believe how yummy, but also how easy this was to make!! I will forever be making it from now on. I doubled the recipe plus I had some beef bone broth opened in the fridge that needed used so replaced that with the water. It turned out amazing!!
Agreed with Rachel, I will never going to purchase another can of enchilada sauce. This recipe was not only easy to made, but it has such a lovely flavor, the enchiladas were delicious,
Thank you!