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This Green Enchilada Sauce recipe is quick and easy to make, naturally gluten-free, and full of the best savory green chile flavor. Perfect for making enchiladas verdes, or using as a versatile sauce on any other favorite Mexican dishes.
Finally! After years and years of requests from those of you who have fallen in love with my favorite red enchilada sauce recipe, I’m finally getting around to sharing a recipe for its mean green partner in crime.
Meet…my favorite green enchilada sauce recipe. ♡
I’m obsessed, and already know you’re going to love it too.
First off, this green enchilada sauce recipe only takes about 15 minutes to make, tops. Second, it’s made with super-simple ingredients, including ready-to-go canned diced green chiles. (<– No need to roast them yourself unless they’re in season and that sounds fun, in which case please invite me over.) Third, this sauce is naturally very mild, but it’s super-easy to amp up the heat factor if you’d like. Fourth, it’s naturally vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free. And most importantly, it is just totally, completely, I-can-happily-just-eat-it-with-a-spoon, want-to-drizzle-it-on-All-The-Things, crazy delicious.
It’s of course fantastic on verde enchiladas. (Or an epic verde enchilada casserole, stay tuned.) But it’s also just a super versatile green sauce that could be used in a million different ways! For example, I love mixing it into migas and chilaquiles and huevos rancheros for breakfast. Or drizzling it on tamales and tacos and nachos for dinner. It’s easy to use as a finishing sauce on top of baked chicken breasts, fish, shrimp and steak. If you thin it out with some water, it can double as a quick dressing for salads. Of of course, you could use it to season any other Mexi dishes that you might be craving (like quesadillas, burritos, tortas, fajitas, soups, stews…). Sky’s the limit.
Let’s make a batch!
Green Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:
For this green enchilada sauce recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Roasted Green Chiles: I just used canned diced green chiles to keep things simple. But if it’s hatch green chile season and you feel like roasting up a batch yourself, power to ya!
Garlic and Onion: Which we will briefly sauté, to bring out their best flavor
Jalapeño: To add just a touch of heat. If you would like a spicier sauce, feel free to leave in the seeds and/or add an extra jalapeño to the sauce.
Vegetable Stock: Or chicken stock, whichever you prefer.
Cumin, Salt and Pepper: For seasoning! Be sure to taste the sauce at the end and add extra of any of these as needed.
How To Make Green Enchilada Sauce:
So easy! Simply…
Sauté your veggies: Sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeño in a touch of olive oil until soft and cooked.
Add everything to a blender (or food processor): Add the onion mixture and remaining ingredients to a blender or food processor.
Purée until smooth: Then give it a whirl until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Taste and season: Don’t skip this step! Give it a taste and season with extra salt, pepper and/or cumin if needed.
Ways To Customize Your Green Enchilada Sauce:
Feel free to also:
Add more heat: As mentioned above, you can always add the seeds in with your jalapeño (or toss in an extra jalapeño) to up the spicy factor
Add cilantro: If you’re planning to use this as a finishing sauce (and not cook it again), a small handful of fresh cilantro would be delicious in this sauce.
Thin out your sauce: If it seems a little too thick for your liking, feel free to add in a little extra water or vegetable stock to thin it out.
Ways To Use Your Green Enchilada Sauce:
As I mentioned above, there are countless ways you could put this green enchilada sauce recipe to work! It would sub in well for any of my recipes here on the blog that call for red enchilada sauce. (<– Just keep an eye on the amount, since this recipe yields a larger batch.) Otherwise, some suggestions could include:
Enchiladas: Swap red for green sauce in these chicken, roasted cauliflower, beef, vegan, or other various enchilada recipes here on Gimme Some Oven
Mexi Breakfast Recipes: This sauce would be perfect for making migas, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros or breakfast burritos
Mexi Dinner Recipes: This sauce would be delicious mixed intotamales, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, burritos, fajitas, soups, stews
Finishing Sauce: Free free to drizzle it on top of chicken breasts, fish, shrimp, steak, tofu…you name it.
Salad Dressing: Thin out the sauce with some water and try using it as a dressing for my everyday salad recipe.
It also freezes well, so feel free to make a double batch and save some for later.
This Green Enchilada Sauce recipe is quick and easy to make, full of amazing flavor, and perfect for drizzling or mixing into countless favorite Mexican dishes. See ideas above for how to customize your sauce to taste.
Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeño and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
Transfer the onion mixture to a blender or food processor. Add vegetable stock, green chiles, cumin, salt and pepper. Then puree until completely smooth.
Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or cumin if needed.
Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
This sauce is super delicious! It was easy and came together quickly. I think the greater amount of green chilies is key. I didn’t have fresh jalapenos in the middle of the winter where we live, so I added chipotle powder for the smoke and spice. Finished with a squeeze of lime for another layer of flavor. I doubled the recipe and used a full quart of chicken stock, so there is plenty left over for enchilada nights to come…
I tried this sauce…and really liked it.
So today I made it again but this time about a Quart in total.
Put it in Ziploc’s (3 cups) ea. and froze it. Now I’ve got a real
weeknight Go to meal……?
I love a good green sauce and this was delicious and oh, so easy. So easy to tweak for different people with different tastes. I even added in some green tomatoes from my garden right before it froze.
I misread this recipe and made it with one instead of 4 cans of green chiles. It was really good that way as well – though I did wonder how you got 3 1/2 C of sauce!!! I used chicken broth and a few slices of canned diced jalapeno, as that was what I had on hand, and sauteed the garlic/onion mix with the spices. This is so quick to make and great with chicken enchildas! Thank you!
Steve —
The canned green chilis =2 cups, plus 1 cup from the stock. The remaining likely is everything else to get you 3.5 cups, no?
Brandie Kolff van Oosterwyk —
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. However, I came across your review and realized I misread the recipe too – I purchased only one can of chilies instead of four. LOL! I am happy to hear that it works well either way, but I think I will head to the store in the morning to grab some more chilies. 😉
Made this recipe for the first time (triple batch) for chicken enchiladas. Also made red sauce beef enchiladas for a family gathering. This was the favorite! Delicious. It has such pep and flavor without being too spicy. Offered chopped cilantro, jalepenos, avocados, lime wedges and sour cream on the side for toppings. Some sauce still left, gonna freeze for later. This will be my go to for green sauce!
Hi! I don’t often take the time to comment on recipes, but I have to on this one – this sauce is AMAZING! I will never buy canned again. SO easy to make (truly, 15 minutes) and SO delicious. I love the freedom to adjust seasonings and spice level (I kept the jalapeño seeds in). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Perfection. This sauce is so good and it is so easy to make, I will never buy canned green sauce again. Your sauce lifted my enchiladas into a new level of yum. You helped me hit a home run. Thank you SO much for sharing.
I have an issue and need help. I made this exactly as written. The only variable is that I used “fire roasted” canned chilis. It has such a bitter, kind of burnt aftertaste that has killed the flavor. It’s just gross. Was the fire roasted chilis to blame? I’ve used fire roasted chilies and other recipes and have not had this result. Right now I’ve got the finished sauce on the stove in an attempt to cook out the nasty. Help?
This enchilada green sauce is delicious, but could someone please explain me how to get 3 cups of sauce with this recipe? I followed the recipe to the T, but I only was able to get a bit more than a cup…
I roasted 2 jalapeño’s and a Pablano and added it to sauce, little spicy & absolutely delicious!! We were saying it would also be a great base for white bean chili!!
Used this recipe as more of a base. I didn’t have canned green chilis but I did have a big poblano pepper. Roasted it along with tomatillo tomatoes and peeled and blended. Skipped the onions because I saute them with my shredded chicken. I know not the same exact recipe but it was the best suited to the ingredients on hand that I had. Thank you.
I have been looking for a good green enchilada sauce and I think this might be the one. I pretty much made it like the recipe. I did use chicken broth instead of veg. broth. Made the recipe X6 and currently have it in my pressure cooker as we speak.
This stuff is dee-voon baby! I was going to say I could eat it with a spoon but I actually did! I made it to make enchiladas with leftover turkey and I couldn’t get enough of it. I wish that I had had enough left over to eat with Fritos! I just wish I had some left over it would be great on scrambled eggs in the morning. Fabulous recipe and very easy!
Where I live, mild green enchilada sauce is nigh on impossible to find, but not mild green canned chiles. My favorite enchiladas from my childhood call for verde sauce, and as I was craving them this week I looked online to see what kind of verde sauce I might be able to make with the green chilis I had. This was PERFECT! It tastes JUST like the ones my mom makes with the canned sauce. I was in a hurry and didn’t even sautee the onions and garlic, and I used a dried jalapeno. I’m going to be buying a bunch of cans of chiles ASAP so I can make my mom’s enchiladas more often! Thank you so much!
I will have to try this one. I have a great recipe for salsa verde, which I generally use for everything when I want a green sauce (which is always), but this is even easier That’s a big win.
I love this recipe. I use it every time i make enchiladas. In fact I decided that I’m going to make triple the recipe and can it by water bathing it. As simple as this recipe is it’s so very tasty. I definitely recommend it!
This sauce is super delicious! It was easy and came together quickly. I think the greater amount of green chilies is key. I didn’t have fresh jalapenos in the middle of the winter where we live, so I added chipotle powder for the smoke and spice. Finished with a squeeze of lime for another layer of flavor. I doubled the recipe and used a full quart of chicken stock, so there is plenty left over for enchilada nights to come…
I tried this sauce…and really liked it.
So today I made it again but this time about a Quart in total.
Put it in Ziploc’s (3 cups) ea. and froze it. Now I’ve got a real
weeknight Go to meal……?
This recipe is rad. I haven’t even prepped the enchiladas yet but I know it’s gonna be excellent. Thank you.
I love a good green sauce and this was delicious and oh, so easy. So easy to tweak for different people with different tastes. I even added in some green tomatoes from my garden right before it froze.
I misread this recipe and made it with one instead of 4 cans of green chiles. It was really good that way as well – though I did wonder how you got 3 1/2 C of sauce!!! I used chicken broth and a few slices of canned diced jalapeno, as that was what I had on hand, and sauteed the garlic/onion mix with the spices. This is so quick to make and great with chicken enchildas! Thank you!
The canned green chilis =2 cups, plus 1 cup from the stock. The remaining likely is everything else to get you 3.5 cups, no?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. However, I came across your review and realized I misread the recipe too – I purchased only one can of chilies instead of four. LOL! I am happy to hear that it works well either way, but I think I will head to the store in the morning to grab some more chilies. 😉
Great sauce recipe that I will use instead of store bought. Thanks
Made this recipe for the first time (triple batch) for chicken enchiladas. Also made red sauce beef enchiladas for a family gathering. This was the favorite! Delicious. It has such pep and flavor without being too spicy. Offered chopped cilantro, jalepenos, avocados, lime wedges and sour cream on the side for toppings. Some sauce still left, gonna freeze for later. This will be my go to for green sauce!
Hi! I don’t often take the time to comment on recipes, but I have to on this one – this sauce is AMAZING! I will never buy canned again. SO easy to make (truly, 15 minutes) and SO delicious. I love the freedom to adjust seasonings and spice level (I kept the jalapeño seeds in). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Can you can this?
I’m really not a good cooker, but I followed this recipe along with the chicken enchiladas and it was de-li-cious!
+ It’s super easy to make
Perfection. This sauce is so good and it is so easy to make, I will never buy canned green sauce again. Your sauce lifted my enchiladas into a new level of yum. You helped me hit a home run. Thank you SO much for sharing.
I have an issue and need help. I made this exactly as written. The only variable is that I used “fire roasted” canned chilis. It has such a bitter, kind of burnt aftertaste that has killed the flavor. It’s just gross. Was the fire roasted chilis to blame? I’ve used fire roasted chilies and other recipes and have not had this result. Right now I’ve got the finished sauce on the stove in an attempt to cook out the nasty. Help?
This was absolutely delicious, easy to make and went great with crab enchiladas. No need to change anything, perfect the way it is.
Can you can this recipe? If so would you pressure can or hot water bath?
Amazing loved this reciepe.. it froze up so nice and really tastes authentic. Thank you for sharing!
This enchilada green sauce is delicious, but could someone please explain me how to get 3 cups of sauce with this recipe? I followed the recipe to the T, but I only was able to get a bit more than a cup…
This was delicious 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽To make it a little more green, I added 1/2 green bell pepper and sautéed it with the onions! This is a keeper ❤️
I roasted 2 jalapeño’s and a Pablano and added it to sauce, little spicy & absolutely delicious!! We were saying it would also be a great base for white bean chili!!
Used this recipe as more of a base. I didn’t have canned green chilis but I did have a big poblano pepper. Roasted it along with tomatillo tomatoes and peeled and blended. Skipped the onions because I saute them with my shredded chicken. I know not the same exact recipe but it was the best suited to the ingredients on hand that I had. Thank you.
I have been looking for a good green enchilada sauce and I think this might be the one. I pretty much made it like the recipe. I did use chicken broth instead of veg. broth. Made the recipe X6 and currently have it in my pressure cooker as we speak.
This stuff is dee-voon baby! I was going to say I could eat it with a spoon but I actually did! I made it to make enchiladas with leftover turkey and I couldn’t get enough of it. I wish that I had had enough left over to eat with Fritos! I just wish I had some left over it would be great on scrambled eggs in the morning. Fabulous recipe and very easy!
What ? No Tomatillo ? You made green chile sauce . But the Tomatillo can add such a nice sour snap to the Verde version.
Where I live, mild green enchilada sauce is nigh on impossible to find, but not mild green canned chiles. My favorite enchiladas from my childhood call for verde sauce, and as I was craving them this week I looked online to see what kind of verde sauce I might be able to make with the green chilis I had. This was PERFECT! It tastes JUST like the ones my mom makes with the canned sauce. I was in a hurry and didn’t even sautee the onions and garlic, and I used a dried jalapeno. I’m going to be buying a bunch of cans of chiles ASAP so I can make my mom’s enchiladas more often! Thank you so much!
I will have to try this one. I have a great recipe for salsa verde, which I generally use for everything when I want a green sauce (which is always), but this is even easier That’s a big win.
I love this recipe. I use it every time i make enchiladas. In fact I decided that I’m going to make triple the recipe and can it by water bathing it. As simple as this recipe is it’s so very tasty. I definitely recommend it!
Duh, tomatillo?