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:
- Enchiladas: This red sauce works on just about any kind of enchiladas, such as my favorite chicken enchiladas, beef enchiladas, or roasted cauliflower enchilada.
- Soups: Enchilada sauce is a fantastic way to season soups, such as my slow cooker chicken enchilada soup, cheesy chicken enchilada soup, or sweet potato enchilada soup.
- 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!).
- Nachos, Cups, Skillets and More: I also love using this sauce in other enchilada-inspired recipes, such as my easy enchilada cups, chicken enchilada nachos and this easy enchilada skillet.
Red Enchilada Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups 1x
Description
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.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup chili powder (see note below)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- fine sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- 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!
Notes
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.
Through, not the rough in my previous comment about where I purchase mine.
I read a number of comments and have to add.
If you try using chili powder such as Gebhardts to make this, it’s the wrong thing.
That type has SALT, cumin and other stuff, which is fine in a big bowl of Texas beef chili or in tacos.
For enchilada sauce it’s just the red chile that you want.
In N.M. Hatch is the best for commercial chile and you may use the whole pods to make it.
It’s traditional, but boy oh boy does it ever stain! Your blender will retain a red chile orange-red stain for years. I do the powder as it is much easier and the flavor is just as good where I buy mine from.
Read your labels carefully to see what is in your chili or chile powders!
In N.M. it’s spelled chile, so that’s why you see my spelling differences, to me in the has different meanings.
I was raised up in Texas, so there it’s Tex-mex a different flavor than that of the cuisine of N.M.
Even when making my pot of Texas chili, I prefer to blend my own individual spices. That way I control the flavor and salt content.
NO tomatoes in enchilada sauce, it’s not for spaghetti.
Cheese helps control heat if it’s too hot, in fact sour cream will and drinking milk if you like it will help. Dairy.
Hope this helps on some questions I see recurring.
I keep my ground red chile in the freezer to maintain the bright red color. Otherwise it will turn brown with time. Our family demands a bright red chile.
My husband was born in New Mexico and through him I’ve learned a lot of the New Mexico cuisine over the past 40 years.
We live in the beautiful Southwest and love good regional food.
I purchase my red chile the rough The Fruit Basket in Albuquerque, N.M.
After we moved from Albuquerque, I found that they will do mail orders.
Be warned though you need to specify hot, medium or mild. Hot is hot! Medium has a nice punch too. Mild has the same wonderful flavor but doesn’t burn your tongue.
If you’re used the chili powder in the grocery store, this is not the same.
This stuff will turn you into a chile snob.
I make a larger batch and freeze in smaller containers extras for future use.
Your recipe is a good one.
The flavor of the suace was nice but it was a bit salty and soooo spicy! My kids almost started crying and I only added 2 T. I was only able to eat it with lots of sour cream. Not sure if we are just wimpy, but we couldn’t keep it for leftovers:(
Amazing to me how many people asked about canning this sauce. Seriously, do people even bother reading comments before posting? Sorry to seem cranky, but this question was asked and answered about 80 times.
This recipe is similar to another that I’ve made several times. It’s not really unusual for enchilada sauce to be made without tomato. Of course, if you want tomato, add some. It’s true that chili powders can vary widely in color. Usually this depends on the types of chills in the blend. For those who don’t know, chili powder is generally nothing more than ground dried chili peppers. Some companies add other things–notably cumin and paprika. Yes, it’s the same powder you use in chili (although the name “chili powder” doesn’t come from the dish, but from the chilis in the powder).
Those concerned about the heat, I suggest starting with less chili powder and taste it. You can always add more spice, but you can’t remove it after it is there. Another trick is to add a little sugar if it is too hot. Sugar is one of the few things that can reduce the effect of the capsicum (the chemical in peppers that make them hot).
I hope some if these things help. I’m looking forward to a grand Mexican feast on New Year’s Eve!
You need to add “bring to a boil” before simmer. It will never thicken if you don’t. Also, I made this recipe with bringing to a boil and then simmering and it still never thickened I added and bit of cornstarch and water mixture plus 1/2 can tomato paste.
Very salty! Skip the salt!
Why use GLUTTEN FREE flour? Can I just use regular or would it mess up the end result?
Thanks!
You can use regular all-purpose flour.
I am wanting to use this sauce for my enchiladas this weekend for our Christmas party. I need to make 3 cups of it though. So do you have a recipe for larger amounts?
Finally, A recipe that does NOT have tomato in it. Yay. Gracias.
Enchilada sauce way too hot for us…what can one do to tone it down?