I’ve been making a batch of this Easy Enchilada Sauce every week lately and using it on just about everything! I have another recipe for Red Chile Sauce (enchilada Sauce) that I love.
But I don’t always feel like chopping and cooking it. That’s where this Easy Enchilada Sauce comes in. Just mix a few ingredients together, simmer for a few minutes, and voila! You have an excellent enchilada sauce!
Use this sauce for all kinds of dishes! Besides baked enchiladas, it’s great on a breakfast burrito, a taco salad, nachos, quesadillas, Potato Skins, or Chilaquiles. Sometimes I’ll make enchilada bowls for lunch with rice, veggies, some cheese, (chicken for the husband), and top it all off with enchilada sauce. It’s a great easy lunch idea!
If you’d like the sauce to have a little more kick, add in a little cayenne pepper
I like to make a batch of this sauce, use some for dinner, and keep the rest in the freezer. It stores really nicely in a tightly covered container, and defrosts easily in the microwave. Then, I can just make up those enchilada lunch bowls really quickly!
Make it Gluten Free
*Oh, and I have an update to the recipe! My new blogger friend, Allison from Clean Wellness asked me about making the sauce gluten-free. I had a couple of ideas, so I headed into the kitchen to try.
Here’s my suggestion if you want this to be GF, replace the tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of potato starch
Follow the recipe the same way. The flavor was the same in both batches; the only difference I see is that the potato starch batch got a skin on it as it cooled. No big deal, I just stirred the skin into the sauce and it dissolved. Or, you could place a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the sauce to make sure no skin forms. So, thanks to Allison for prompting me to try this!
I write on the lids of all my sauce jars with a grease pencil or a sharpie so that I know what’s inside each jar.
Easy Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Easy Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or potato starch
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 2 tablespoons light tasting oil of your choice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, mix flour (or potato starch) and chili powder together. Add oil, and mix to combine. Heat on low for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Turn the heat up to medium, add broth, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, until sauce thickens and smooths out. Add salt and sugar, and taste for seasonings, adjusting to taste.
Recipe Notes
Makes about 2 cups, or 1 pint of sauce For the servings, I figured about 1/4 cup per serving, though this may change depending on how you're using the sauce.
Sophia @ NY Foodgasm says
I never made enchilada sauce!! Thanks for this recipe, now I can make it myself!
Allison @ Clean Wellness says
Debi! This looks soooo good! I love enchiladas and enchilada sauce. I’d eat it with a spoon/put it on anything. My sister is gluten-free, do you know if I could sub the flour for anything? 🙂 Thanks! Sorry to be difficult hehe
Patty Haxton Anderson says
Wow Debi this sounds so good. I love all the ingredients in it.
Brandy says
I was just looking for a homemade enchilada sauce. I love that yours has cumin, one of my favorite spices!
Nicky says
This is so easy to make. I like that it doesn’t call for whole dried chiles which aren’t easy to find. I’ve pinned this to make later. Thanks.
Kecia says
Enchiladas are near and dear to my heart! I love this sauce recipe!!
Debi says
Not difficult at all, Allison! I thought about the gluten in it, but decided to leave it. I might try to make it GF next time I make a batch. I think my first try will be to use an equal amount of potato starch, and add it at the same time as the flour would’ve been added. Potato starch and corn starch are pretty similar if you haven’t used it before. I just like the potato better because so many foods have corn in them. The potato starch doesn’t have a gritty feel like corn can as well. My next try/suggestion, would be just to leave the flour out entirely. It’ll probably be a little thinner, so maybe cut back on the broth by about 1/2 cup. If you try either, let me know. And, I’ll post any updates as well. 🙂
Culinary Flavors says
This sauce has my name written all over it!
Evelyn @ My Turn for us says
Love the seasonings and flavor!!! pinning!!
Marlys (This and That) says
What a great recipe and I love how you brought the pictures closer and closer… I was first thinking it was my computer until I rescrolled and realized that it was the way you positioned and took your pictures.. Great technique as I could just about reach through my screen to take a taste. SU and pinned.
Allison @ Clean Wellness says
Thank you so much, Debi! I will try the potato starch. I’m not very familiar with thickening sauces, so this was super helpful! I want to make enchiladas this weekend 🙂
magicalslowcooker says
Yum! I’ve always wanted to make homemade enchilada sauce!
Sheena @ Hot Eats and Cool Reads says
This sounds wonderful! Making this for sure!
Debi says
Allison, I had planned to make stacked enchiladas tonight, but ran out of sauce. So I made a new batch using the potato starch, just like I said, 1 T instead of the flour. It worked perfectly! They taste the same, and the only difference I can see is that the new batch with potato starch has a skin on it as it cools. Not a big deal, I just stir it in, or, you could place a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the sauce so that the skin can’t form. Thanks so much for asking the question because it totally prompted me to try it GF! I’ll add this info to the post as well. 🙂
Jennifer Johnson says
Excellent sauce. Homemade enchilada sauce makes such a difference!
Linda (Meal Planning Maven) says
Debi!! I can’t wait to try your enchilada sauce as i never made my own before. And you know me, I like cooking as healthy as possible! I love your potato starch thickening alternative to white flour. In Jewish cooking, we use potato starch frequently, so I always have it in the pantry.Thank you for another amazing sauce recipe!
Emily @ Love, Pasta and a Tool Belt says
Thank you for linking this up at The Wednesday Round Up! I am sharing this on my google+ page. We hope to see you back next week!
Mary Bostow says
I didn’t know it was that easy! I’m making this!!
Jen says
Homemade enchilada sauce is always the way to go and this one looks absolutely delicious AND so easy! Can’t beat that!
Janette@culinaryginger says
This sounds amazing Debi 🙂
anyonita green says
Love the idea of using potato starch for this sauce to keep it gluten free! 🙂 What a lovely recipe, Debi! Enchiladas are a big hit in my family but I’ve never tried making my own enchilada sauce! Will have to pair yours with a nice pack of gluten free tortillas and go to town! 🙂
nmburk says
Hey, Debi! Looks delicious! Happy to have you as co-host this week 🙂
Michele says
Hum-with 7 Carbs per serving this is ok for diabetics as well-Thank you-I think I will try to make this!
cindy b says
OMG i got to try this! I love enchiladas! Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!
Debi says
Oh, great! I’m happy to hear it’ll work for diabetics as well. I don’t really know much about those needs. You could also leave out the sugar to reduce the carbs some more, it just won’t be quite as smooth in flavor, but it’ll still be great!
jugglingrealfoodandreallife says
Hi Debi! Thanks so much for co-hosting with us at Let’s Get Real. This is such a great recipe because it calls for ingredients I almost always have on hand. Thanks for all of the different uses for the sauce too.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
That sounds awesome. We are big Mexican food fans in our house!
robertlfulton says
You show this being stored in a mason jar. Can this be canned for storage vs freezing?
Debi says
Hi Robert, I don’t actually go through the canning process, but I do store all my sauces in the canning jars because they are so convenient. If you would like to can this, please check the instructions from the USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html or the official site from the makers of Ball jars http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx. After a brief look, it looks like they say it’s ok, but I’d always suggest reading their stuff first. Thanks for asking!
Heather says
Oh I love enchilada sauce! I’ve never made it on my own though. I got the courage up to try chicken enchiladas this year and being able to make my own sauce for it would make it that much better. Thanks for the recipe.
Joanna Sormunen says
That sounds like a delicious, and hot, sauce. Thank you for the recipe!
mamatomanyblessings says
This seems so easy to make, I have never made enchiladas before.
Ashley M says
Thanks for the recipe – I recently watched Fed Up and was horrified by the amount of sugar in everyday foods so I’ve committed to making more of my own sauces.
Donna says
I’ve never made my own enchilada sauce and this does sound easy. Will give it a try the next time I make enchiladas!
Allison @ Clean Wellness says
Debi! Thanks for your recipe testing -really, that is so nice! I was so honoured that you called me a new blogger friend 🙂 The feeling is very mutual! I made the sauce with potato starch last night and it worked amazingly! My sister made the enchiladas with brown rice wraps and her favourite fillings. It was an awesome meal! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!! It’s a long weekend here, so I might make them again, in fact. I’m on a real Mexican food kick 🙂
Payal Bansal says
Deb! The ingredients give me the hint that this sauce is kinda spicy… cant wait to make some for me
Liz Mays says
Oh, I’ll definitely have to try this. I can see that the flavor would be so much better than store bought!
Winnie says
It sounds amazing and I’d really like to try.
I’ve never made enchilada before 🙂
Sheila says
My SIL makes a very delish enchilada. I like enchilada but doesn’t know how to make it and never tried making it either. This enchilada sauce looks good and makes cooking convenient
Silvie says
I’ve never made my own enchilada sauce, your sauce looks so delicious I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for linking up with us on the TGIF Hop. 🙂
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
Wow! This IS really easy! And it looks just delicious! I’m constantly pouring salsa or hot sauce on anything I can think of – not only is that a great way to pump up flavor, but these types of sauces also pack so much nutrition (lycopene, etc …) to amp up the nutrient profile of your food so easily! This gorgeous enchilada sauce will be just perfect to have on hand, too! Pinning for sure!
thetinyprofessional says
I have never tried anything like this, but it looks delicious! Great pictures!
Erlene says
Pinned. I’m using another enchilada recipe at the moment, but this one seems a bit easier to make. Will give this a try. Thanks for sharing on The Weekend Social. Hope to see you there tomorrow at 9pm EST.
vegetarianmamma says
OH, I think will become a fast fav at our house! YUM I love enchiladas! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
Its live now!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
dishofdailylife says
Made sour cream enchiladas tonight using your enchilada sauce! I don’t think I will ever buy a can of sauce again! It was fabulous!