Red Enchilada Sauce
This authentic Red Enchilada Sauce is made with a simple broth, a blend of fragrant spices, and NO tomatoes. It’s a classic enchilada sauce that is better than anything you can get from a can!
Red Enchilada Sauce
Alright, I’ll admit it, I’m kind of an enchilada sauce snob, so much so that a few years ago I learned to make my own, homemade, authentic, Red Enchilada Sauce. This flavorful sauce is made with a combination of lightly cooked spices, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder, and broth, which are cooked together into a thick, delicious, sauce that you just can’t find in a can.
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What is the Difference Between Enchilada Sauce and Salsa?
Salsa is a cooked, or fresh, mixture of chunky tomatoes, onions, peppers, and an acid, such as Pico de Gallo. Enchilada sauce is a chili-based blend of spices, broth, and sometimes tomatoes, that is cooked and pureed into a thick sauce.
What is in Red Enchilada Sauce?
This authentic red enchilada sauce only uses a blend of spices mixed with broth to create a rich, flavorful sauce. No tomatoes!
- Vegetable or Canola oil
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Garlic Powder
- Onion powder
- Flour
- Beef or Chicken broth
- Red wine vinegar
How to Make Red Enchilada Sauce:
- The sauce starts with a roux made by cooking flour and a neutral flavored oil together. This roux helps to thicken the sauce to the perfect pourable consistency. Whisk the flour and oil together over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the flour begins to turn slightly golden.
- Next you’ll add your chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt, whisking them into the roux and letting them toast slightly in the skillet.
- Slowly pour in the broth, whisking continuously to remove any lumps. I want to take a minute here to talk about the broth. I have tried this recipe with beef broth and chicken broth and I find that I like the chicken broth better. The flavor of the broth is miler so it doesn’t affect the taste of the enchilada sauce. The beef broth version is still very good but it does have a slightly darker color and a stronger flavor. Try it both ways and let me know which one you prefer!
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until it thickens slightly. Make sure to whisk often so it doesn’t burn as it cooks.
- When you’ve reaches the consistency you like add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and stir it in . I have found that this splash of vinegar really brightens the flavors and brings them all together.
That’s it! Making authentic enchilada sauce is really that simple and the time it takes is totally worth it. The flavor is 100x better than anything you’ll find in a jar and it immediately improves any dish you add it to!
How to Store Red Enchilada Sauce:
Homemade Enchilada sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months! To do this I suggest letting the sauce cool completely and then portioning it out into 1 cup servings before placing it in the freezer. Make sure to leave a little space in your container for expansion as the liquid freezes!
Recipes That Use Red Enchilada Sauce:
- Mexican Pizza
- Beef Enchilada Casserole
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Chicken Enchilada Skillet Spaghetti
RED ENCHILADA SAUCE
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Red Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegetable oil or Canola oil
- 3 tablespoons Flour
- 8 tablespoons Chili Powder
- 2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 teaspoon Onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 4 cups Chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons Red wine Vinegar
Instructions
- Place the oil in a skillet over medium high heat and let it warm up.
- Add the flour and whisk it together with the oil to make a roux. Whisk the flour and oil together over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the flour begins to turn slightly golden.
- Add your chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and salt, to the skillet whisking them into the roux and letting them toast slightly in the skillet.
- Slowly pour in the broth, whisking continuously to remove any lumps.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until it thickens slightly. Make sure to whisk often so it doesn't burn as it cooks.
- When you've reaches the desired consistency add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and stir it in .
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
I made enchiladas today using your sauce recipe and they were delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it! Making a homemade sauce totally changed enchiladas for me.
Woah! This was WAY too spicy. It had great flavor, but I made the mistake of not tasting until my enchilada casserole was in the oven…had to throw it out. I used regular chili powder, but it was a new container, so maybe that had something to do with it? Will try again with 1/2 the chili powder to see if that helps. 8 tablespoons is the correct amount??
8 tablespoons is the correct amount but you can certainly adjust the amount if it was too spicy for you.
8 TBS of Chili Pepper?! I cut it back to 8 tsp and it was still WAY too spicy for me. Kind of afraid to serve it to my guests. I’m running to the store to have lots of avocado sour cream available!
Hi Suzanne, perhaps it was the chili powder you were using? I use McCormick Chili powder, which is a blend of chili peppers, herbs and spices. It is not spicy.
I could not get this sauce to thicken even tho I cooked it twice as long and followed the recipe to a T. It seemed so thin that I went back online to see how thick it should be and apparently it should actually be thich and should slightly mound on a spoon. I’m now adding a small amount of roue to attempt to thicken it.
Did it work? Mine is thin too!
Great enchilada sauce! I followed the recipe and it turned out perfect. Just the right thickness and spice!!
garciadebra2013@gmail.com
I also make my own enchilada sauce and my kids do not to this day eat them at ANY restaurant! And anyone who has had them tell me that they are very very good. At one time my daughters boyfriend would tell me that he would buy everything if I would make them for him…lol.
It is similar to yours but I add a couple of different ingredients and extras too.
Should have a warning in the recipe about how important the type of chili powder is. I wish I had read the comments prior. I used 1/3 of the amount of chili powder and it was still inedible due to spice.
I”m so sorry yours turned out too spicy. I just buy the standard “Chili Powder” at the grocery store which isn’t very spicy at all. I hope you give it another try!
When do you add the onion powder? Assuming when adding all other spices.
Yes! Thanks, I updated the recipe card.
This was very good and tasty, but the 8 tbsp (that’s half a cup!) of chili powder seemed extreme. I am glad I followed my gut!! (And read comments). I went with 2 tbsp instead (this was homemade chili powder too, which usually is far better than store bought anyway). That amount still had the slight kick of chili powder, but didn’t kill us. The sauce turned out perfect.
Waaaay Too much chili powder and red sauce uses beef broth. I made it as written. I’ll use a different recipe next time. Rest of the recipe is good.
I love this recipe but tweaked it a bit to fit my families preferrances. I ran out of regular chili pwdr so I combined the ancho chili pwdr that I had. (It is a sweet chili.) Between the two I had 4 T. to use. I know that’s half but it turned out mild/medium! I also used beef broth because my enchiladas are beef and the flavor was great! Now I don’t have red wine vinegar and I’m trying to decide if I need it? Or yo sub apple vinegar or red wine!?
Sounds great! I’m looking for an enchilada sauce I could can. Do you know if I could can this one?
Yes you could can this sauce.
I made this, and it was absolutely delicious. I personally felt that 8 tablespoons of chili powder would be way too much. So I cut it down to 3 tablespoons(I used McCormick) the right amount of kick and my sauce turned out just right. Great recipe.
I read the comments after I made this. We used the sauce right away in the beef enchilada casserole recipe that you posted. We thought it was great! There was hardly any spice to it all and I did use the full 8 TBSP of chili powder (restaurant quality). There was enough leftover after the casserole to still put up a pint of sauce to make it again. Next time, I will probably double the roux to make it thicker and use beef broth/stock to see how that is. Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing it.
Awesome recipe. I read the comments before I made as 8tbsp of chili powder seemed like to much for me. I used 3 instead and it was the McCormick brand. I added a little more garlic powder because I love garlic otherwise it was a great dish. Thanks for sharing.
This is absolutely my go to enchilada sauce. I’ve been making enchiladas with this sauce every Tuesday for almost a year! My kids absolutely love it; I’ve passed the recipe on many times. I never have trouble with it thickening… I usually sub EVOO for the oil. It makes enough for several dinners. I store mine in a glass jar in the fridge… just shake and pour. My kids tend to be pretty picky, but enchiladas with this red sauce is one of their favs! Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you so much!! It makes me so happy to know your family enjoys it as much as mine 🙂
I did not do 8 table spoons of chili powder, that’s Iike a container two, that’s way to much. Two or three is perfect for an enchilada sauce. I added a extra table spoon of flower and used 2-1/2 table spoons of chili power. I was very flavorful but not over powering. Everyone in the house really liked it, me included which is a hard sell.