Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

This is a quick and easy version of a delicious homemade Red Enchilada Sauce that will remind you of your favorite Mexican restaurants.

It is loaded with flavor, much better than any canned stuff, you know the canned enchilada sauce, but it is a shortcut version of enchilada sauce.

Instead of starting with dried whole chilies, we skipped to the part where we just use chili powder since that is what most of us have in our pantry.

However, it still makes a distinctive enchilada red sauce recipe that can be used to pour over your favorite enchilada recipe, not only in cheese, chicken, or beef enchiladas roja (enchiladas with red sauce) but can also be used in chilaquiles, tacos, posole, and casseroles. It is one of the most versatile Mexican Recipes.

Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Red Enchilada Sauce
• Why This Recipe Works
• What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce
• Ingredients
• How To Make The Best Red Enchilada Sauce
• Recipe Tips
• Variations
• Ways To Use Enchilada Sauce
• FAQs
• Recipe
• Reviews

Why You’ll Love This Red Enchilada Sauce

• Quick and Easy. All you need is 15 minutes to make this easy salsa roja para enchiladas (aka red enchilada sauce.) This is a high-quality, flavorful, shortcut method for an easy enchilada sauce recipe.
• Flavor. Even though it is quick and easy, it has exceptional flavor, and this is coming from someone who lives in South Texas and knows their Tex-Mex and Mexican food! Trust me, it will become your best enchilada sauce recipe!
• Common Ingredients. This red Enchilada sauce recipe uses everyday ingredients, such as pantry staples, that you likely already have in your kitchen.
• Popular Enchilada Sauce. While there are all types of enchiladas and enchilada sauces, such as chili sauce, green enchilada sauce for Enchiladas Verdes, or white sauce for enchiladas suizas, (chicken enchiladas with a white sauce), this is probably the most popular type of enchilada sauce, and the most common. It is the most likely sauce that people think of when they say enchilada sauce.

Why This Recipe Works

• Tried and True Recipe. This homemade enchilada sauce recipe is a recipe that has been used for years, if not decades, so it is tried and true, you can be sure that the recipe works, makes a flavorful enchilada sauce, and you will be proud of the result because you will receive rave reviews for this sauce. It will quickly become your favorite enchilada sauce.
• Make-Ahead. Yes, go ahead and make this homemade sauce ahead of time because that will actually make the sauce taste even better because it gives the flavors more time to fully develop.
• Control Level of Spiciness. You have full control of how spicy this easy red enchilada sauce is. Do you like it extra hot? Then add extra chili powder and cayenne. Do you want the mildest of mild enchilada sauces, then reduce the amount of chili powder and omit the cayenne pepper. With this recipe, you can make not only homemade enchiladas but the best enchiladas you have ever had because it is made just the way you like it.
• Easy Instructions. The steps to make this recipe are simple so you can successfully make this easy homemade enchilada sauce.

What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Equipment

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• Mixing Bowls
• Hand Mixer
• Stand Mixer
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons

Ingredients

Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don’t have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

All you need are simple pantry ingredients from your local grocery store in order to make this recipe.

• Olive oil. I used olive oil. However, you could use vegetable oil, avocado oil, or any oil you want
• All-purpose flour. This helps to thicken the sauce.
• Chicken broth. I used chicken broth. However, you could use chicken stock, beef broth, or vegetable broth. Any of those would work. I would recommend using a low sodium version of whichever broth you choose because that way you can better control the amount of salt in the recipe so you ensure that the sauce is not too salty.
• Tomato sauce. I used tomato sauce. However, you could use tomato puree, or crushed tomatoes, if you don’t have tomato sauce on hand.
• Garlic powder. For a quick sauce, I used garlic powder. If you prefer, you could add minced garlic to the sauce. I highly recommend using garlic powder instead of garlic salt to avoid making the sauce too salty.
• Onion powder. Like the garlic powder, I recommend using onion powder and not onion salt to better control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Cumin. Cumin really gives the sauce that earthy Mexican flavor that you expect with an enchilada sauce.
• Mexican oregano. If you can find Mexican oregano, I highly recommend using it in this recipe. You can usually find this with the Mexican spices on the international aisle of the grocery store. If not, you can buy Mexican Oregano from Amazon.
• Chili powder – You can add more or less according to how spicy you like your dish. You can change it up by using different types of chili powder such as ancho chili powder or chipotle chili powder.
• Tomato paste – This helps thicken the sauce and gives the tomato flavor more depth.
• Salt. I usually recommend salt to taste. If any of the above ingredients have salt in them, then I recommend adding salt last and tasting the sauce before adding it to see if it is needed.
• Cayenne Pepper. For those who love spicy foods, then you may want to make this enchilada sauce spicier by adding cayenne pepper, just a little at a time until you achieve the level of spicy heat that you enjoy.
• Corn tortillas – (optional) – If you are making the sauce for enchiladas, like my Enchiladas Rojas de Queso, where this sauce could be substituted for the chipotle sauce, then you’ll need corn tortillas for that recipe.

How To Make The Best Red Enchilada Sauce

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute.
2. Pour in the chicken broth. Continue whisking over medium heat until it has thickened slightly.
3. Add the remaining ingredients.
4. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
5. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce is the desired thickness you wish.
6. Let cool completely before either using or storing in the refrigerator.

Recipe Tips

• Roux The Day. The order in which you add the ingredients to the sauce is important because this enchilada sauce starts with a roux made by whisking together oil and flour. Once that paste-like roux is made, then whisk in the broth until thickened. Only after the sauce is thickened will the remaining ingredients be added and then the sauce will simmer until it has the flavor and consistency that you like.
• Consistency. If the sauce is too thin, then let it simmer a little longer in order to thicken. If the enchilada sauce is too thick, you can thin it out by adding a little chicken broth to it.
• Adjust Spice Level. In this recipe, the chili powder and optional cayenne pepper will add spicy heat. If you want it less spicy, first I recommend tasting the sauce before adding either chili powder or cayenne. That way you can determine if, and how much of the chili powder to add. For less spicy heat, use less chili powder. For more spicy heat, add more chili powder. To make it even spicier, add cayenne pepper. Add a little at a time until you get it to the heat level that you like.
• Reduce Acidity. To reduce the acidity of the tomatoes try adding a teaspoon or two of sugar. This will help to balance out the flavor of the sauce.
• Make-Ahead. Make the enchilada sauce a day ahead and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before cooking. This will make for an even more flavorful enchilada sauce because it gives the flavors time to more fully develop.

Variations

There are many types of enchilada sauce so the opportunities are limited only by your imagination. Here are a few variations that I think you might like.

• Make Gluten-Free. Use a gluten-free all-purpose flour, like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour.
• Change The Chili Powder. To make a more subtle change, try changing the type of chili powder that you use. Maybe try using ancho chili powder or chipotle chili powder.
• Make From Scratch. If you want a truly from scratch red enchilada sauce, then try making the Chipotle Red Sauce which roasts fresh tomatoes.
• Tex-Mex Chili Gravy. This enchilada sauce starts with ground beef as its base and can be found in my Tex-Mex Enchiladas with Chili Gravy.
• Green Enchilada Sauce. Instead of a red enchilada sauce, you can make a green enchilada sauce to create enchiladas verdes.

Ways To Use Enchilada Sauce

Have you heard? Enchilada sauce is not just for enchiladas anymore. Oh, it is still delicious in enchiladas, but check out how many more ways enchilada sauce can be used!

• Enchiladas. You can use red enchilada sauce with cheese enchiladas, beef enchiladas, or chicken enchiladas. Substitute this red enchilada sauce for the sauce in Enchiladas Rojas de Queso.
• Casseroles. Do you have an enchilada casserole or taco casserole that your family loves, add some enchilada sauce to it and they will love it even more. It is delicious in our Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole!
• Soups. Enchilada sauce goes perfectly in Posole. Try it in my Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup!
• Tacos. Add enchilada sauce to the taco meat, like this Picadillo recipe, you plan to add to your tacos.
• Pasta Dishes. I love adding enchilada sauce to my favorite cheesy pasta dishes, like my Taco Lasagna recipe. It gives it that Mexican flavor that makes it taste oh so delicioso!
• Breakfast. Yes, add that enchilada sauce to your favorite breakfast dish. You will be so glad you did. Have you ever had Chilaquiles, the breakfast dish with eggs, enchilada sauce, and tortilla chips? Then you haven’t lived until you have tried them.

FAQs

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