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My favorite homemade enchilada sauce recipe is easy to make with pantry ingredients, it only requires about 5 minutes of prep time, and it tastes so flavorful and delicious.
My best tip for kicking your homemade enchiladas up a delicious notch?
Use this homemade enchilada sauce! ♡
This recipe for Southwestern-style red enchilada sauce has been the starring ingredient in my favorite enchilada recipe for years and years. And every time I bake up a batch of enchiladas for a gathering, friends always ask for the recipe.
By contrast to many Mexican-style enchilada sauces, this recipe does not include tomatoes but rather centers its flavor around a rich blend of seasonings that you likely already have in your pantry (chili powder, cumin, garlic and oregano). On its own, the sauce is naturally fairly mild, although you are welcome to amp up the heat if you’d like. And its deliciously warm, toasty, earthy flavors pair perfectly with any variety of enchilada recipes.
The good news too is that this recipe only takes about 5 minutes to prep, plus an additional 15-ish minutes to simmer on the stove. It’s naturally vegetarian, vegan and can also be made gluten-free if you’d like. It’s made entirely with pantry ingredients, and can be customized to be more spicy, smoky, tomato-y, or even creamy if you prefer. And I must say — it’s a million times better than the canned stuff!
Thousands of our readers have made and loved this recipe over the years. So if you have yet to give it a try, I say it’s time!
Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:
To make this easy enchilada sauce recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
Oil and flour: These will form the roux to thicken the sauce. You’re welcome to use any type of neutral-flavored oil (or butter) that you prefer. And while I typically use all-purpose flour, you are welcome to sub in a 1-for-1 GF flour blend instead to make this recipe gluten-free.
Chili powder: For all of our international readers, please note that this recipe calls for American-style chili powder, which is actually a blend of various chilis and seasonings, including a typically small percentage of cayenne. (Most chili powders sold outside of the States are 100% cayenne, which will not work for this recipe.) I recommend investing in a good-quality brand of chili powder for this recipe, since it is the primary seasoning for this sauce. But keep in mind that chili powder blends vary from brand to brand, so it’s worth experimenting with a few to find the one that you love best!
Garlic powder, ground cumin, dried oregano: These are the other dried seasonings that we will use in the sauce. Feel free to increase the amount of any one of these once you have tasted the sauce, if you would like.
Veggie or chicken stock: I also recommend using some good-quality stock in this recipe, which will add a delicious depth of flavor to the sauce.
Fine sea salt: And finally, don’t forget to season the sauce! I typically add in about 1/2 teaspoon, but the amount needed will likely depend significantly on the brand and saltiness of the stock that you use.
How To Make Enchilada Sauce:
Here are the basic steps for how to make enchilada sauce (full instructions included in the recipe box below):
Cook the roux and spices: In a small saucepan, we’ll first cook the flour and oil together to form the roux, and then whisk in the spices to briefly toast them in the saucepan before adding in the stock.
Simmer: Gradually add in the stock while whisking the sauce, in order to blend in any lumps. Then bring the sauce to a simmer and let it cook (you want to maintain a low bubble) for 10-15 minutes, or until it has reduced to your desired thickness.
Season: Season with salt (or any extra seasonings that you might like to add) to taste.
Serve: Then serve it up in a pan of enchiladas or whatever recipe sounds good…and enjoy!
Possible Variations:
This recipe is quite flexible, so please feel free to tinker around with ingredient amounts and customize it however you prefer! For example, you could…
Make it gluten-free: You can either use an 1-for-1 gluten-free flour blend, in place of the AP flour. Or you can omit the flour and instead add a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and cold water whisked together) to the sauce once it is simmering to thicken it.
Make it creamy: Whisk in 1/2 cup of heavy cream to turn this recipe into a delicious creamy enchilada sauce.
Make it spicier: Feel free to add in a pinch or two of cayenne to make this sauce even spicier. Or alternately, you can choose to use ancho chili powder in place of standard American chili powder, which has a smokier and slightly spicier flavor.
Make it milder: American chili powder should naturally be quite mild. But if you are wary of heat, feel free to start with 2 tablespoons (instead of 4 tablespoons) of chili powder in the recipe. Then once the sauce has simmered, give it a taste and feel free to add more if you would like.
Make it smokier: Feel free to swap some of the American chili powder for chipotle chili powder, if you would like this sauce to have a smoky chipotle kick. (Also note that chipotle powder is considerably spicier, so this version would pack more heat too.)
Add tomato sauce: If you would like to have a more tomato-y enchilada sauce, you are welcome to add a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the sauce.
Ways To Use Enchilada Sauce:
Here are a few of my favorite ways to use this easy enchilada sauce:
Casseroles: If you don’t feel like rolling up your enchiladas, try ‘stacking’ them into a casserole, such as this chicken enchilada casserole (one of our readers’ favorite recipes!).
My favorite homemade enchilada sauce recipe is easy to make with pantry ingredients, it only requires about 5 minutes of prep time, and it tastes so flavorful and delicious.
Cook the roux and spices: Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Add in the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and oregano and cook for 1 more minute, whisking constantly.
Simmer: Gradually pour in the stock, whisking constantly to combine until no lumps remain. Continue cooking until the sauce reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain the simmer (the sauce should continue lightly bubbling) for about 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until the sauce has slightly thickened.
Season: Give the sauce a taste and season with salt, as needed. (I typically add 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, but the saltiness of the sauce can vary depending on the brand of stock that you use.)
Serve: Use immediately in your favorite recipe and enjoy!
Chili powder (important note): The amount is correct. And as mentioned above, this recipe calls for traditional American chili powder, which is not cayenne. American chili powder is actually a blend of spices that are typically quite mild, whereas international chili powders are usually 100% cayenne (and very spicy). So if you live outside of the United States, please look specifically for an American-style chili powder blend.
Gluten-free option: Feel free to use a 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour. Or alternately, you can thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cold water and cornstarch whisked together, then added to the sauce once it has reached a simmer).
Storage instructions: Let the sauce cool to room temperature. Then transfer it to a mason jar or food storage container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Unfortunately this sauce separates a bit once it has frozen, so I don’t recommend freezing it.
I’ve made this a few times and it’s fast, easy and great! I use masa harina instead of wheat flour and it has a little more of an “enchilada” flavor. Also gluten free. Thanks. I love this recipe!
OH HOLY!!! Truly SO darn GOOD!!!! I did switch out 1/2 of the chili powder with Trader Joes Chile Lime seasoning blend, which I use when making salsa. Thank you!!!
Such an amazing sauce! I couldn’t handle 1/4 cup of chilli as I’m in Australi and we have 100% cayenne like you said so I added some smoked paprika instead, and used beef stock in place of chicken. The sauce is absolutely sensational, it really improved my enchiladas and my guests were suitably impressed and wowed. Thank you for such a great recipe!
I’m the kind of person that makes everything from scratch…. usually. The kids had an unexpected snow day today, and I was like “meh, I’ve got some leftover pork roast, some canned chiles, and some emergency enchilada sauce in the pantry that I haven’t used in the year I’ve had them, I’ll make enchiladas.” So I initially looked up an enchilada recipe, and stumbled across this site. As I was making the recipe, I realized there was no can of enchilada (who the H knows what happened to it… I’m guessing bears), so I clicked over to see if I had the ingredients to make homemade enchilada sauce.
Now, when I first saw the recipe, I was highly doubtful. I make my own taco seasoning, and it’s “two palmfuls of chili powder, palmful of paprika, half a palmful of cumin, garlic, onion powder…” so when I saw the ratios, I was like, “girl no. That is waaaaay too much chili powder and not enough everything else.” But I followed the directions and made it as described, thinking I’d have to severely modify it later. I WAS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. This sauce was AMAZING. The only small change I made was I used Better Than Bouillon in beef instead of chicken, since I was using pork and wanted to OOMPH the flavor a bit more.
Everyone loved it, even my autistic stepson who can be pretty picky, asked for seconds. I will definitely be making this in the future, thank you so much for the recipe!!
This is my go-to enchilada recipe by far! So delicious and so filling! I use carb-balance flour tortillas. I was wondering… anyone calculate the weight watchers points for this yet?
This is my go-to enchilada sauce. I can’t even possibly think of buying sauce anymore lol. This sauce with the black bean chicken enchiladas is truly a 5 star dish. Mexican husband approved;)
Just finished making this recipe. It was fantastic! I upped the garlic powder a little bit since I’m obsessed with garlic and I think it added more flavor. It’s very earthy and has a more complex spiciness to it which I really enjoyed! Thanks for the recipe!
Good morning,
I am so impressed with your recipe for enchilada sauce, but I have a question…I plan to use the 2x recipe and find that, although the recipe calls for 4 cups of stock, the yield is only 3 cups. The same exists for the 1x recipe that calls for 2 cups of stock but only yields one cup of sauce.
Would you be so kind, before I make it, to tell me what happens to the one cup of stock in the cooking process, or is this an error?
Thank you,
Dan
I left a message yesterday about the quantity of stock used to make the 2x recipe, and the yield of enchilada sauce…it appeared at the end of the comments, but today the message seems to have just disappeared. I do like the sound of the recipe and all the comments in favour of making it according to the recipe given, but got no response, and the message is gone. The question, once again, is about using 4 cups of stock to make the 2x recipe, which only yields 3 cups of sauce.
Please help…thank you,
Dan
Hello,
This is my third attempt to get an answer to my question about the recipe, which sounds so incredibly good. I am planning to make the sauce today, and, when I checked the yield of the 2x recipe, it calls for 4 cups of stock to be added to the blended mixture. The yield of sauce is posted to be 3 cups, and my question is…what happens to the final product after adding the 4 cups of stock to be added to yield only 3 cups of sauce.
Please do not delete this message again, since I feel this is a valid question, and wish to make this sauce.
Thank you,
Dan Gasparrini
When I make tacos/burritos I normally make a pot of cilantro lime rice, corn, seasoned grilled onions and sweet peppers, beans (whatever I have on hand), protein (ground Turkey, grilled salmon or shrimp, steak, or chicken) and shredded cheese. I do not like salsa and rarely have sour cream. I offer large burritos, hard and soft taco shells. From there it’s up the family to select what they want. Sometimes I hear: where’s the sauce? And I rarely have an answer: now I do!
I don’t know why I wanted to make enchiladas, but the idea came to me and I went searching for a recipe. I found this one and made the sauce, which I doubled. Here are some recommendations and substitutions:
I used Penzey’s chili 3000 mix, which was just under 1/4 cup. I topped it off with chili powder and chipotle powder. I omitted the cumin because I forgot it. It is an ingredient of the Penzey blend.
I baked my chicken thighs with a Tex Mex spice. I added a heavy splash of the drippings to the sauce. I only added a pinch of salt. I probably could have omitted it: my chicken stock was fully salted.
The resulting sauce was slightly spicy and smoky, with a nuanced finish. Highly recommend making the sauce.
This really good!! I love enchiladas but it is very hard to find a mild sauce out there. I doubled the recipe and it made enough to make up a 9×13 enchiladas casserole, I like layering instead of rolling single enchiladas.The only thing to watch is the pan heat when you add the spices to the flour, the spices will darken in color fast, mine did but it tasted really good. The other thing I did was add a little sugar which just added a bit of smoothness to it. Will be making it again!!
This was VERY good. Easy to make. The only thing i changed was i added a little cream cheese to the sauce. Used it with chicken enchiladas with cilantro and sour cream. Next time i’ll add chili pepper and avocado. Very good recipe. Thank you.
Yes I made this recipe and I couldn’t stop eating it it is the best I didn’t make Enchilada sauce but I did put nacho cheese in To meet my husband and I loved it thank you so much keep up the good work! Thank you Sherry
Yummy & easy to make! Added a bit of salt & sugar at the spice to taste point. Not a Mexican cuisine officianado… the additions took out a little harshness for light weight me~
I’ve been making a similar sauce for about 40 years. Never added oregano though. My mother-in-law taught me, her mother-in-law taught her. It’s the only one we’ve ever used for enchiladas. We put it on other things as well.
Very good recipe. It’s easy to make and has just enough kick to be flavorful but not overwhelming. Used some of it in a huevos rancheros recipe this morning…may use the rest later…
This recipe is outstanding, the very best. I double the recipe.
Every time I make it I can’t believe the taste. Have tried others
they were a fail, canned yuk. My husband is so happy. I grew up on enchiladas but they were dull compared to this sauce.
I do add a rounded tablespoon of tomato paste for a double recipe. Thank You so much for all your work 😊
I made this and it’s very good, but I found that it was gritty from all of the spice so I strained it. Anyone else have that problem or is it supposed to be that way?
I’ve made this recipe many times for many crowds, and it NEVER fails!! Highly recommend doubling the sauce if you like them completely coated and juicy. Never going back to store bought (or any other recipe for that matter)!!
Love this recipe, thanks for sharing.
I’ve made this a few times and it’s fast, easy and great! I use masa harina instead of wheat flour and it has a little more of an “enchilada” flavor. Also gluten free. Thanks. I love this recipe!
Thank you! This sauce is yummy. Glad that I did not buy store bought. Keep sharing.
Have you ever bottled this sauce for food storage? I would love a recipe that I can bottle in the fall…
I love this recipe! I’d like to make several batches and can it. Have you canned this recipe before? Do you think it would turn out good?
OH HOLY!!! Truly SO darn GOOD!!!! I did switch out 1/2 of the chili powder with Trader Joes Chile Lime seasoning blend, which I use when making salsa. Thank you!!!
Such an amazing sauce! I couldn’t handle 1/4 cup of chilli as I’m in Australi and we have 100% cayenne like you said so I added some smoked paprika instead, and used beef stock in place of chicken. The sauce is absolutely sensational, it really improved my enchiladas and my guests were suitably impressed and wowed. Thank you for such a great recipe!
I’m the kind of person that makes everything from scratch…. usually. The kids had an unexpected snow day today, and I was like “meh, I’ve got some leftover pork roast, some canned chiles, and some emergency enchilada sauce in the pantry that I haven’t used in the year I’ve had them, I’ll make enchiladas.” So I initially looked up an enchilada recipe, and stumbled across this site. As I was making the recipe, I realized there was no can of enchilada (who the H knows what happened to it… I’m guessing bears), so I clicked over to see if I had the ingredients to make homemade enchilada sauce.
Now, when I first saw the recipe, I was highly doubtful. I make my own taco seasoning, and it’s “two palmfuls of chili powder, palmful of paprika, half a palmful of cumin, garlic, onion powder…” so when I saw the ratios, I was like, “girl no. That is waaaaay too much chili powder and not enough everything else.” But I followed the directions and made it as described, thinking I’d have to severely modify it later. I WAS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. This sauce was AMAZING. The only small change I made was I used Better Than Bouillon in beef instead of chicken, since I was using pork and wanted to OOMPH the flavor a bit more.
Everyone loved it, even my autistic stepson who can be pretty picky, asked for seconds. I will definitely be making this in the future, thank you so much for the recipe!!
This is my go-to enchilada recipe by far! So delicious and so filling! I use carb-balance flour tortillas. I was wondering… anyone calculate the weight watchers points for this yet?
Absolutely fantastic!! It was so easy to make! Now onto the enchiladas! 😃
Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing the recipe! 😃
Heidi
Thank you for this quick recipe!! So simple and very tasty!
This is my go-to enchilada sauce. I can’t even possibly think of buying sauce anymore lol. This sauce with the black bean chicken enchiladas is truly a 5 star dish. Mexican husband approved;)
Just finished making this recipe. It was fantastic! I upped the garlic powder a little bit since I’m obsessed with garlic and I think it added more flavor. It’s very earthy and has a more complex spiciness to it which I really enjoyed! Thanks for the recipe!
Good morning,
I am so impressed with your recipe for enchilada sauce, but I have a question…I plan to use the 2x recipe and find that, although the recipe calls for 4 cups of stock, the yield is only 3 cups. The same exists for the 1x recipe that calls for 2 cups of stock but only yields one cup of sauce.
Would you be so kind, before I make it, to tell me what happens to the one cup of stock in the cooking process, or is this an error?
Thank you,
Dan
I left a message yesterday about the quantity of stock used to make the 2x recipe, and the yield of enchilada sauce…it appeared at the end of the comments, but today the message seems to have just disappeared. I do like the sound of the recipe and all the comments in favour of making it according to the recipe given, but got no response, and the message is gone. The question, once again, is about using 4 cups of stock to make the 2x recipe, which only yields 3 cups of sauce.
Please help…thank you,
Dan
Hello,
This is my third attempt to get an answer to my question about the recipe, which sounds so incredibly good. I am planning to make the sauce today, and, when I checked the yield of the 2x recipe, it calls for 4 cups of stock to be added to the blended mixture. The yield of sauce is posted to be 3 cups, and my question is…what happens to the final product after adding the 4 cups of stock to be added to yield only 3 cups of sauce.
Please do not delete this message again, since I feel this is a valid question, and wish to make this sauce.
Thank you,
Dan Gasparrini
When I make tacos/burritos I normally make a pot of cilantro lime rice, corn, seasoned grilled onions and sweet peppers, beans (whatever I have on hand), protein (ground Turkey, grilled salmon or shrimp, steak, or chicken) and shredded cheese. I do not like salsa and rarely have sour cream. I offer large burritos, hard and soft taco shells. From there it’s up the family to select what they want. Sometimes I hear: where’s the sauce? And I rarely have an answer: now I do!
I don’t know why I wanted to make enchiladas, but the idea came to me and I went searching for a recipe. I found this one and made the sauce, which I doubled. Here are some recommendations and substitutions:
I used Penzey’s chili 3000 mix, which was just under 1/4 cup. I topped it off with chili powder and chipotle powder. I omitted the cumin because I forgot it. It is an ingredient of the Penzey blend.
I baked my chicken thighs with a Tex Mex spice. I added a heavy splash of the drippings to the sauce. I only added a pinch of salt. I probably could have omitted it: my chicken stock was fully salted.
The resulting sauce was slightly spicy and smoky, with a nuanced finish. Highly recommend making the sauce.
This really good!! I love enchiladas but it is very hard to find a mild sauce out there. I doubled the recipe and it made enough to make up a 9×13 enchiladas casserole, I like layering instead of rolling single enchiladas.The only thing to watch is the pan heat when you add the spices to the flour, the spices will darken in color fast, mine did but it tasted really good. The other thing I did was add a little sugar which just added a bit of smoothness to it. Will be making it again!!
Outstanding recipe. Really nailed the flavor.
This was VERY good. Easy to make. The only thing i changed was i added a little cream cheese to the sauce. Used it with chicken enchiladas with cilantro and sour cream. Next time i’ll add chili pepper and avocado. Very good recipe. Thank you.
Yes I made this recipe and I couldn’t stop eating it it is the best I didn’t make Enchilada sauce but I did put nacho cheese in To meet my husband and I loved it thank you so much keep up the good work! Thank you Sherry
Would this sauce be a candidate for canning within traditional processing with Mason jars?
Yummy & easy to make! Added a bit of salt & sugar at the spice to taste point. Not a Mexican cuisine officianado… the additions took out a little harshness for light weight me~
I’ve been making a similar sauce for about 40 years. Never added oregano though. My mother-in-law taught me, her mother-in-law taught her. It’s the only one we’ve ever used for enchiladas. We put it on other things as well.
Delicious! Used a little xantham gum instead of the flour to make it low-carb. This is healthier and a way better price than buying the cans—thanks!
This is my favorite enchilada sauce! So easy and delicious.
Very good recipe. It’s easy to make and has just enough kick to be flavorful but not overwhelming. Used some of it in a huevos rancheros recipe this morning…may use the rest later…
love it. simple & delicious.
This recipe is outstanding, the very best. I double the recipe.
Every time I make it I can’t believe the taste. Have tried others
they were a fail, canned yuk. My husband is so happy. I grew up on enchiladas but they were dull compared to this sauce.
I do add a rounded tablespoon of tomato paste for a double recipe. Thank You so much for all your work 😊
Could find portions
Simple ingredients and easy to follow instructions. I added some half and half but original recipe is good. Will make again
This sauce is amazing. Thank you!
Can the sauce be made ahead and frozen or refrigerated?
Has anyone canned this sauce?0
I made this and it’s very good, but I found that it was gritty from all of the spice so I strained it. Anyone else have that problem or is it supposed to be that way?
I feel it turned out wayyy too smoky and there wasn’t enough sauce. What did I do wrong??
I’ve made this recipe many times for many crowds, and it NEVER fails!! Highly recommend doubling the sauce if you like them completely coated and juicy. Never going back to store bought (or any other recipe for that matter)!!
A go to for dinner in under an hour using up leftover rotisserie chicken
Can this sauce we canned in a water bath for extended shelf life?