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 looks delicious! I’m so lazy, I just use the immersion blender on our favorite jarred salsa and use that. :D I’ll have to give this a shot though.
This is fab, you can’t buy jarred/canned enchilada sauce in NZ in the supermarkets and so many recipes ask for it so thanks heaps for this recipe :)
Gillian – Hmm, most chili powder blends are only made with mild spices, but I suppose its possible that some brands include some spicy chiles in their mix. I would suggest tasting a bit of your chili powder to see if it’s spicy and if it is, you could probably skip the 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper that is listed in the ingredients. I hope that helps!
Mine turned out extremely spicy, and I was wondering if that is how is should be?
Thanks, Gillian
Um, just so you know, you aren’t supposed to use flour tortillas in enchiladas. Actual Mexican enchiladas use corn tortillas. A few regions in the US use flour, which makes no sense to me, because the texture is unpleasant. Corn tortillas have a much better mouthfeel when soaked in sauce.
~Kali
OMG – I just stumbled across your blog. LOVE it.
Can’t wait to try out some recipes once my freezer has been defrosted and moved to its new location.
First on the list – this recipe, the stuffed taco shell, slow cooker marinara sauce and all your Indian recipes.
Jane D.
Wow!! Wouldn’t change a thing. I was literally scraping the dish clean to get every last bite of this!!
Followed the recipe as described and it turned out great! Next time I think I’ll even spice it up a little more. Thanks for this–it is in the oven as I write–ladled it over chicken enchiladas and covered it in cheese. Will be serving with brown rice and fresh picked garden peppers. Great weekend meal!
This is the best ‘DIY’ item in the kitchen I discovered about a year ago (besides making my own cream of mushroom/chicken). Canned enchilada sauce is expensive!! I make a version of this recipe and freeze half for another meal. It freezes great! Though, after its thawed, you may have to put it back on the stove and add a little a little chicken stock/veggie stock to thin out.
Anon – tomato paste and tomato sauce are slightly different. In addition to having more water, tomato sauce also has some salt and a small amount of seasoning (usually onion powder). That being said, you could use either and I’m sure it would still be great :)
What is the purpose of using 2 cups water plus tomato paste vs using 2 cups of tomato sauce? Is it just due to the price difference? For me, I think it would be convienent just to use 2 cups canned tomato sauce if it produces the same end result.
Yep, you use the same enchilada sauce recipe that I do! It’s cheap, easy and it’s tasty!
Delicious! I used the sauce to make some cheese and onion enchiladas, and they were fantastic.
Love this!… and your sweet potato/chorizo has become a family favorite- even had it at a few pot lucks and no one believe how simple it was. With this sauce what is the storage time if we were wanting to make ahead? Thank yoU!
I made this for a small casserole of chicken enchiladas and froze the rest… It was awesome! An perfect and easy recipe made from everything I already had on hand!