Quick Red Enchilada Sauce
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 tasted from a can and literally takes minutes to make. It’s a total #winner.
Quick Method, Big Flavor
This EASY red enchilada sauce is not an authentic, made with dried chile peppers enchilada sauce that you’ll find in Texas or Mexico, but rather 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.
How Spicy is Red Enchilada Sauce?
The “chili powder” listed in the recipe below is a mixture of spices used to season chili and other foods, it is not “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 (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: Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiadas, Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas, and Weeknight Enchiladas.
Easy Red Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable 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 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 vegetable oil, flour, and chili powder to a medium 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!
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Red 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, whisk in the 2 cups water.
Also whisk in 3oz. tomato paste (half of one of those small 6oz. cans), 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp cayenne.
Let the sauce come up to a simmer and it will begin to thicken.
See how it coats my spoon? Perfect. Now taste it 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 chicken broth, you might not need to add any at all.
And now you’re good to go! Enjoy!
Can this enchilada sauce be frozen and if so how long
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried freezing this one, so I can’t say for sure. Usually sauces thickened with a flour roux like this tend to separate after freezing and thawing, so I’m not sure it will hold up.
So easy! I’ll never need the envelope stuff again. I made it 4 times the recipe so I’d have plenty for dipping the tortillas and had plenty left over. The only thing I changed (we are total gringos and can’t handle too much spice) is I added 3.5 tablespoons chili powder instead of 4. I thickened it up even more with an extra tablespoon of flour. I also added 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar to take off some off the edge. No cayenne pepper for us!
I loved it and it was just the right amount of spiciness for us!
This was super easy to make and tasted great!
I lived (and cooked) *very* frugally for some time as a young man. I was taught an even thriftier rojo enchilada sauce by my running buddy, who grew up among brothers in a large and rather impoverished household. The ingredients are simple:
Catchup – as many catchup packages as you can come up with (the single serving type given out with fries by fast food chains)
Chili powder (not chile powder, for the same reasons)
Corn starch (the packaging in the plastic tub lasts longer then in the box, and costs less per serving, but the box is usually cheaper initially
Water
Pour about a cup of cold water into a sauce pan. H.eat pan on medium heat
Empty in as many catchup packages as you could get ahold of – five or six is usually enough, more makes the sauce a bit more tomato flavored, but also sweeter, so don’t go overboard, and do taste once the chili powder has had time to simmer in.
Add 1-2 Tbsp of the chili powder. Whisk it in. (Use a fork if you don’t have a whisk, but if you are using a non-stick pan, don’t scratch the coating with the fork tines.)
Simmer together a while. If you have salt and pepper, cautiously add a touch of each. Cumin? Garlic powder? Oh, yes, please, just a touch. But this is real po’ boy enchilada sauce, and usually, no spices other than salt and pepper are around. (And you get those from individual serving packets from that fast food place.)
How thick do you want your sauce? If you are dipping your corn tortillas in before filling and rolling them, (for enchiladas, usually) use 1 Tbsp of corn starch. If you are pouring the sauce over chips or pre-rolled flour tortillas, use 2 Tbsp of corn starch. Place the dry corn starch in a cup, and add a little COLD water. Add the corn starch water all at once to the simmering sauce, and stir once it resumes simmering until fully integrated and the sauce is fully thickened. If you have made thin sauce, and are dipping your corn tortillas before rolling the (beans, meat, cheese) filling, the left over thin sauce will have simmered down some by the time you are done rolling the enchiladas and placing them in a baking or microwave safe pan. Just pour it over the rolled enchiladas. If you made the thicker sauce, and rolled the tortillas dry (which works fine for flour tortillas with some refried bean fillings, for example), same thing – just pour it over the rolled dry enchiladas in their heating pan. Sprinkle on a little cheese if you have it. (Left over packets of grated Parmesan from a take out pizza place actually work fairly well and taste OK, too. The flaked dry red peppers from the same pizza order will add a touch more heat to the enchilada sauce, especially if added early, to give the capsicum a chance to simmer into the sauce. Total cost for this sauce? Literally just a few cents, especially if you can scrounge up the catchup and cheese packages. Now, it won’t be as good as, or as caloric (because no oil) as the delicious sauce in the article, which sounds wonderful. But you can’t beat it for cheap, and it will add a good deal to a batch of corn tortilla enchiladas, which themselves are rather frugal food as well.
Eat it all up while warm – it’s usually better that way.
Authentic sauce. Perfect instructions and measurements. I used tomato sauce because it’s what I had and it still turned out.
This is the best stuff! I always make a double batch and use the leftovers on eggs, which I awesome! I make and use for several different recipes, including your chicken and black bean SNAP Challenge enchiladas, as well as my own beef/bean/corn Mexican casserole.
I am so happy to have come across your site. Thank you for sharing these valuable recipes that quickly become the family go to standard!❤
I tried this one day this summer when I didn’t want to go back out to the store. I haven’t bought enchilada sauce since. I always make a double batch and add a little chicken soup base with the water. I like that it’s just a little thick. Since I usually make enchiladas with leftovers, I like that the sauce is worm and starts warming up the other ingredients. It’s good with leftover chicken, turkey, and pulled pork.
Loved this red enchilada sauce recipe so much better than the can kind bought in the store! Hubby and son approved!! I will be using this recipe from now on!!
Absolutely divine. And this is coming from a New Mexican family!!! Keep up the great recipes!!!
I just tried this recipe and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised! I have tried other recipes for enchilada sauce with not so great results, but this one came out perfect – by far the best i’ve tried. My son is the biggest food critic on the planet and even he gave it a thumbs up. Will definitely be my go to from now on!
Did I do something wrong? The first…the oil, flour and chili powder…did not get bubbly. It rolled up in to a ball!
Not sure why! End result was still good but didn’t thicken up as much as I would have liked it.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that Angie! Did you happen to whisk it constantly while putting it all together? It may have been too hot.
I had the same thing happen to me, I made sure the mixture was really well incorporated than added the water and started the bubbly process. From there it was fine. Very delicious.