How to Make Enchilada Sauce
Enchilada sauce is so easy to make! This red enchilada sauce recipe comes together in ten minutes. I've tried all the other recipes and this is the best!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 28, 2024
I’ve been working on my enchilada game lately, for both the cookbook and an upcoming enchilada recipe. There is an art to making great enchiladas, and the sauce is a key component.
I thought I’d share my tested and perfected enchilada sauce recipe today, in case you want to try it on your favorite enchilada recipe. It’s ready in under ten minutes, and I promise, it’s so tasty you won’t want to go back to the store-bought kind again.
When I developed my go-to sauce (first seen on my spinach artichoke enchiladas), I tried at least five of the top sauce recipes on Google, all with different ingredients and techniques.
I tried making sauce with tomato sauce, which tasted too raw and was kind of goopy. I tried making sauce with blended diced tomatoes, and it had the same issues. I tried sauce without any tomato ingredients, and it didn’t taste quite like the enchilada sauce I grew up eating, or the sauce at my favorite Mexican restaurants. I tried sauces made without any thickener (like flour or cornstarch), and they pooled at the bottom and turned my enchiladas into a soupy, texture-less casserole.
Finally, after some experimentation and cross-referencing with America’s Test Kitchen, I landed on the perfect enchilada sauce. Vegetable broth forms the base of the sauce, but it’s only added after you make a simple roux of flour and oil. You need a full three tablespoons of each to properly thicken the sauce. I tried making this sauce with a gluten-free flour blend and that worked great as well.
The Best Enchilada Sauce
Four reasons to love this recipe:
- This sauce is full of authentic Mexican flavor. It comes from a combination of dried spices, which are sautéed in oil to bring out their best, and umami-rich tomato paste.
- The cinnamon is optional since some people just don’t like it in savory applications, but just a pinch adds some lovely warmth and complexity.
- The final kicker is a tiny splash of vinegar, which really amps up the flavor.
- Unlike canned enchiladas sauces, this homemade sauce is free of unnecessary processed ingredients and MSG (that’s monosodium glutamate, which gives my mom migraines).
I love this sauce and I’m confident you will, too, since it’s gotten rave reviews on my spinach artichoke enchiladas and veggie black bean enchiladas.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! Your feedback keeps me going.
Watch How to Make Enchilada Sauce
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
This homemade red enchilada sauce has authentic Mexican flavor! It’s so good and easy, you’ll never go back to store-bought sauce again. You can even make a double batch and freeze half of it for later. Recipe as written below yields about 2 cups (16 ounces) sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour blends all work!)
- 1 tablespoon ground chili powder (scale back if you’re sensitive to spice or using particularly spicy chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- Pinch of cinnamon (optional but recommended)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- This sauce comes together quickly once you get started, so measure the dry ingredients (the flour, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt and optional cinnamon) into a small bowl and place it near the stove. Place the tomato paste and broth near the stove as well.
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, warm the oil until it’s hot enough that a light sprinkle of the flour/spice mixture sizzles on contact. This might take a couple of minutes, so be patient and don’t step away from the stove!
- Once it’s ready, pour in the flour and spice mixture. While whisking constantly, cook until fragrant and slightly deepened in color, about 1 minute. Whisk the tomato paste into the mixture, then slowly pour in the broth while whisking constantly to remove any lumps.
- Raise heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, whisking often, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a bit and a spoon encounters some resistance as you stir it. (The sauce will thicken some more as it cools.)
- Remove from heat, then whisk in the vinegar and season to taste with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Add more salt, if necessary (I usually add another pinch or two). Go forth and make enchiladas!
Notes
Enchilada sauce recipe adapted from my spinach artichoke enchiladas.
Storage suggestions: Extra enchilada sauce will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, freeze it for up to 3 months. Let it cool to room temperature before transferring to a wide-mouth mason jar, leaving some room at the top for expansion (don’t screw on the lid completely until the mixture is fully frozen), or a freezer bag (remove excess air before sealing).
Make it gluten free: Just use gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. I tried with Bob’s Red Mill brand and it worked great.
Make it tomato free: You can omit the tomato paste. You might want to up the spices a bit. The sauce won’t taste quite like the enchilada sauce you might buy at the store, but it will still be good!
Change it up: The chili powder, cumin and garlic powder are essential here, but feel free to change up the other spices to suit your preferences.
If you love this sauce: Check out more of my Mexican recipes here!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Used this recipe numerous times and we love it. Comes together perfectly tastes amazing
I’m glad you loved it, Rhea!
As a person who has had a lifelong struggle with loving sauces and having very little ability to pull them off—I just wanted to say thank you! This was amazing! Soo much better than the can enchilada sauce and kind of fool proof!
I used some brown sugar because I didn’t have cinnamon, & it still worked out! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome, Ash!
my sauce seems really thin, any suggestion to thicken it?
I’m sorry to hear that! What did you decide to do? Did it thicken some as it cooled?
Not really, any suggestions?
It may have needed to cook a bit more. I hope it still tasted delicious!
Old corn tortillas
Toast them then add till softened and blend
LOVE your Enchilada Sauce. I’ll never buy it in cans again! I usually make it a frying pan just slightly larger than my tortillas so it’s easy to dredge them through it. If its still warm it softens the tortillas and they rollup easier. Thanks for sharing such a treasure.
You’re welcome, Heather!
I didn’t have tomato paste so I used 4 tbsp tomato sauce. I also swapped vegetable broth for chicken since that’s what I had. I will NEVER buy a canned sauce again. This was beyond fabulous. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s a game changer. :)
Excellent!! Thank you so much for this! Made it with blackbean/swiss chard /corn tortillas. Added siracha sauce and brown sugar to the sauce. So great! Merci!!! A keeper!
I make this with paprika (instead of chili powder) because my mom can’t eat anything spicy. Turns out great every time and she loves it.
What does the vinegar at the end do for it? I forgot to put it in! I’m so bummed. The sauce turned out great otherwise, though!
I have made your recipe several times and every time it’s come out good it has weird as this is going to sound I’m allergic to all pepper hot spicy peppers green peppers all that so I do not put in chili powder and that’s why I like your recipe because it is not bad about chili powder no I wish I had it cuz I like spicy but my body does not! Thank you for your recipe it’s the only way I can eat my Mexican food I also use it with my tamales!
I never comment on recipes I use, but I had to come here to say that this enchilada sauce is amazing. I love it so much more than canned sauce. My enchiladas turned out amazing with your recipe. Thanks
You’re welcome, Regan!
Love this sauce, it is so much better than canned and really super easy to make. I really like the addition of vinegar, it adds a nice pop of flavor. I usually make at least 1.5 or double the recipe for my enchiladas I like it so much.
Wonderful to hear, Greta!
I can’t tolerate store bought sauce. This is terrific. I will be making this sauce from now on. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Joni!
Can I substitute chicken broth for the Veggie broth?
Sure, others have and didn’t mind the results.
This sauce is perfection! I’m running back to my kitchen to make more!!
Hooray!
Amazing!
Thank you for your review, Mel!
This is hands down the best enchilada sauce that I have ever made and it doesn’t even require the use of dried chilies!
My husband can’t stop raving about this sauce. It made the enchiladas the best we’d ever had. Thank you!
That’s great to hear, Sandy!
This sauce is the truth! Outstanding and, as another person commented, I couldn’t stop eating it out of the pot. I’m trying to eat healthier so I will be purchasing your cookbook to put me on the right track. Thanks Kate for sharing the perfect enchilada sauce!
You’re welcome, GG!
Can you use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth?
Sure, others have and didn’t mind the results.
Your sauce is the bomb! Thank you for doing all the research and testing!
-Sandy, Idaho
This was delicious! I added a little cayenne for heat but otherwise perfect. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Louise!
A great and easy recipe. Good bye canned sauce! Thank you for sharing
I am going more with plant based diet and stumbled across this website. I’ve made a few of your recipes Including this sauce with the black bean enchiladas. Delicious! I will be buying the cookbook. Thanks for your effort developing delicious vegetarian recipes.
You’re welcome, Debra.
I just made the sauce. It is very good. I like mine a little spicier so I put some heat into it but very authentic flavor.
Omg this sauce is th best. It’s so expensive to buy remade here in Australia. I was able to make this with pantry staples. Winner!!!!
Great to hear, Naomi!
This is our go to enchilada sauce! So rich and tasty. I marinate my chicken in the same spice mix and fry in the pan.
Thanks Kate! – Rebecca, Irish in Liverpool
So easy and so delicious. Will never buy a pre-made sauce again. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Kelsi!
Hello there
I’m going to make this sauce very soon , but I have a silly question, can I use this sauce
For tamales?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
Do have a simple 3 ingredient recipe for red like you do for the green one?
Flavor was great but a little too acidic for my personal preference. I added some heavy cream and a touch of brown sugar to mellow it out. Delish!
Shredded some crockpot Chuck roast for beef enchiladas. Tried this recipe for red sauce. It was easy and delicious. No more canned sauce for us.
That’s great to hear, Brian! Thank you for your review.
Absolutely delicious sauce, it’s the first time I’ve made enchiladas and it won’t be the last.
That’s great to hear, Natalie!
I made this last night for dinner. I paired it with these ground turkey and black bean enchiladas. It was excellent. I added an extra 1½ TBS tomato paste to the sauce. I like a little more heat so I may try that next time. The depth of flavor in this recipe is insane. My husband is a very picky eater. He loved them and was so excited to take them to work today. I’ll never buy canned sauce again!
This is wonderful on so many levels: easy to make, easy to control the amount of sodium, simple ingredients. No more mystery chemicals in processed or prepared enchilada sauce. Best of all, it is FAR better than any sauces you can purchase at a store. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Cheryl!
I have made this sauce time and time again! I Love it! I could never quite master my Nanas authentic Mexican homemade sauce, (she never wrote any of her recipes down!) so this one tastes like hers did! So easy, and I have a recipe! Thank You so much, I get great compliments every time I make it.
You’re welcome, Sonia! I appreciate your review.
Super easy, Super good Super quick! My kinda recipe!!!!!
That’s great to hear!
This is the BEST!!! Stop buying enchilada sauce and/or stop looking for the perfect recipe! This is sooo good that we haven’t felt the need to change or add anything!
I have made this sauce several times now and use it on my chicken enchiladas. I usually double the recipe and freeze leftover sauce for future use. It is rich, thick and tastes great. I will never buy canned enchilada sauce again, as this recipe is delicious! Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.
Thank you, Lorraine!
Kate, I love your recipes! I’m here in the welsh hills of the U.K. and use so many of your recipes. Thank you so much! Making enchiladas tonight with your home made sauce. Keep them coming. Once again, diolch, Jane from wales .
I NEVER leave reviews. But I literally just pulled this off the stove. I’ve made at least a dozen different homemade enchilada sauces. This is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION! I will never make another recipe.
Great to hear, Krystal!
The sauce had good consistency and I liked how thick it was; however, it was bland. I was surprised, because the other recipe I’ve tried from this website (best lentil soup) is super flavorful and one of my all time favorites!
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it. I appreciate your feedback.
This sauce is great. I’m not fond of dry enchiladas or purchasing 2 cans of the expensive sauce. With this simple sauce, I can thoroughly cover my enchiladas. The sauce is easy to make and can be stored for another meal if you have some left over.
I have been using this recipe for years! I have celiac and make homemade enchilada sauce to avoid gluten. I also love that this recipe uses mostly broth instead of mostly oil like other enchilada sauce recipes.
I’m glad you can enjoy this, Kate!
Hi what vegetable broth do you use or how do you make it please.
Hi Alia, I try to buy organic when I can. I don’t have a go-to broth at the moment.
Hi Kate
Thanks for letting me know
This is an amazing sauce! It is great on enchiladas, tamales, etc., but it also makes an awesome base for black bean soup, chili, & tortilla soup. This is a keeper for lots of purposes!
I have made this recipe over and over and absolutely love it. My friends like to sample the sauce all by itself! Thank you for your culinary skills and sharing them.
Teri
KATE!!!! This is fantastic!!! Waaaaaay better than store bought, from a can enchilada sauce!!! I’m originally from California a billion years ago and have not had enchiladas this good since I moved away!!! So I think it’s safe to say your black bean enchiladas recipe is what’s for supper tonight!!! The only thing I did different was added a tad more cinnamon, fresh chopped cilantro and some smoked paprika. Thank you sooooo much!!!
You’re welcome, Catherine!
This enchilada sauce has become my go-to. It is full of flavour, well balanced and cooks in minutes. I use salt reduced chicken stock and still find it needs no extra salt added. The cinnamon is a lovely touch too. This sauce has turned left over rotisserie chicken, Chile and brisket into enchiladas countless times with one very happy household
Thank you for this recipe! I live in Colombia where it is difficult to get Mexican ingredients. I added a touch of Spicy Smoked Spanish Paprika and it was lovely with my very easy forever enchilada recipe.
Hi. Is the sauce spicy or very mild?
Hi Marie, I find it to be more mild, but you can adjust to your tastes.