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.
Oh yum! Loved! My son had seconds, he hates enchiladas..any way! The first thing he says is I taste cinnamon, I love it. I will never buy sauce again. Thank you!
That’s great to hear, Pam!
OMG, delicious! Wonderful recipe; very easy, common household ingrediants, easy instructions. My house smells wonderful and the sauce is incredible.
Thank you, Alise!
This is a really really great sauce recipe with things kept in a kitchen! Thank you!!!!
You’re welcome, Jenna!
I’ve never been happy with store bought enchilada sauce. I used your recipe tonight for some chicken enchiladas and they were delicious! Definitely a keeper!! Thank you!! :)
You’re welcome, Deb!
I recently made chicken stock in my instant pot and so was doubly excited to try your enchilada sauce. It was easy and tasted great! I appreciated your extra instructions regarding the prep.
Omgosh, i made this and it was delicious…
My partner is from Texas who now lives in Australia…
I made this on Monday night for dinner guests and again on Friday night for 3…
The flavour is sensational…
I had 3 full enchiladas left over, which I’m about to freeze…
So…I’m generally not a red enchilada sauce lover, but my step-daughter is. I always thought homemade sauce involved pureeing something and a lot of work. This recipe sounds super easy and I have all of the ingredients! I’m gonna give it whirl tonight…especially after reading all of the reviews! I’ll be sure and check back and lyk how it was received! Thanks!
I just made this recipe, subbing masa for the flour…AMAZING! I also used a 50-50 Hatch
and Dixon chili blend. (which I can’t get enough of) So I can’t say for sure if the masa “makes” it or not, but this is a damn good recipe to jump from. Thank you so much for posting this.
Omg. So easy. So good! Made this last night & the kids said they were “fire”! I guess that means good these days! LOL I will never do store bought enchilada sauce after this. They’re going to be mad because I ate the leftovers for lunch today! Hee hee! And they were even better today! Yum!
I live abroad and it is nearly impossible to find Mexican food of any kind. I love that I can easily find these ingredients and quickly put this sauce together! I make it regularly. Thank you.
I made this recipe last night and my 12 yr old daughter loved it. And she is not much of a sauce fan.
That’s great, Al! Thanks for your review.
I live in the Sierra Nevada mountains and town market is a 20 min trip there and back. I planned to make a chicken enchiladas recipe my boys love but forgot to buy the canned sauce. I chose this tomatoe paste sauce from Google search because I had all the ingredients already in my kitchen. I doubled the recipe so I was sure to have enough. It turned out really great and made an old family favorite chic enchilada recipe even better. My boys said please don’t ever use canned sauce again!
My go to enchilada sauce every time. Better than any shop bought.
Totally in love with it.
Our family’s favorite enchilada sauce recipe!
This is the best enchilada sauce I have ever had. My husband loved it too. The canned stuff is not even comparable. It has a rich and wonderful flavor and I will make it again and again. Thank you!
I would like to know, if I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to my jars, will this recipe can well? We love this recipe do much, I want to keep it on my shelves,!
Delicious! Super easy to make and SOO much better than anything you’d buy at the store – nice work!
OMG, OMG, OMG! This is my new go to enchilada sauce! I have made several batches of enchiladas lately that were devastatingly disappointing. That all changed last night when I made this sauce. I have shared it with multiple people today & this will be all I make and use going forward. GOODBYE CANNED SAUCE (was never a big fan of that anyway)!
Thank you!!
Hooray! I’m so happy you love it.
Sounds good but make a vid explaining how to do it verbally
Hi Ruben, thank you for your feedback!
I made the enchilada sauce and it was wonderful! I was making a keto enchilada casserole and halfway through realized that I didn’t have any enchilada sauce. Your sauce saved the day! Very easy to make, too. It was better than any premade canned sauce. Thank you!
I was in a pinch and ran across this too. I love this recipe!! I’ll never buy canned sauce or look for another recipe again.
I’m glad you loved it! Thanks for your review.
This sauce is the BOM. I forgot the splash of vinegar, but will try to remember next week when I make it for out of town company. So quick and easy I’ll never buy another can of that greasy salt bomb stuff! Any ideas about how long it would keep in fridge? I see some of the comments about freezing it but I have very little left.
I’m happy you love it, Shelly!
My new fave!!!
I first discovered this sauce when my mother in law made it from Pinterest. I’ve NEVER used another sauce since! This sauce is too good to not use it again and again! It’s literally delicious! My husband and four small kids devour enchiladas because of this recipe. My in laws all use it and love it as well. Thanks for sharing! (Oh. And it’s great as written, but I like it even more with beef broth instead of vegetable broth. It kicks up the flavor even more)
I made this sauce yesterday and I was happy with the results I liked a lot the flavor was awesome I will use it again as a gravy with chicken
Thank you it was great
Rosie
I tried the enchilada sauce with some ‘Jamaican curry spice’ instead of the garlic powder, it worked out really well, lots of lunch guests who enjoyed the Mexican meal. Thanks for sharing these beautiful recipes.
Can you make this with the same ingredients in an multi-cooker/electric pressure cooker?
Thank you
I’m not sure! I haven’t tried it. Sorry, Heather.
I made this sauce for my enchiladas today. It’s absolutely fabulous. Thank you for sharing! <3
This was absolutely delicious and so easy!! Much better than anything you can buy!
Yeah, this worked really well for me. Made a double batch, halved the chilli pepper but added ground chipotle. Total yums. My daughter ate her own weight in veggie enchiladas.
I really like the site functionality that lets you change the amount you are making and does the arithmetic for you.
I have made this sauce a few times now. It turns out every time! I use chicken instead of veggie broth, though,because I stew my leftover rotisserie chicken so I can debone it, and I get that nice broth. The dash of cinnamon and that little bit of vinegar at the end give the flavor a special depth. I’ve shared my enchiladas with some friends, and I’ve given some extra sauce to a friend who made Mexican hotdish, and this sauce is a hit! We spoon a little inside a taco or on a tostado, also.
Thank you for sharing, Laura!
This sauce is a hit i my home. Thank you for sharing
I made this sauce tonight and our family enjoyed it. We all found it to be quite rich and it filled us up quickly. To us, it felt distinctly Indian in flavor which may account for why some seem to find it alarmingly different from store-bought enchilada sauces. I thought it was a perfect accompaniment for the veggie black bean enchilada recipe. I did add a little cocoa powder after tasting. Agree with many others that the touch of cinnamon is a lovely addition.
I’m interested in your take on flavor profile. Thank you for your feedback!
I made two different enchilada sauces today and this was the outright winner! The other one had “best” in the title but I disagree. Kate, your recipe is delicious and I am adding it to my recipe collection!
I’m glad you loved it, Kathy!
I have made enchiladas a few times at home using store bought sauce, and hated them every time. Last night I made this sauce and another homemade sauce recipe to see which I liked better, this one was AMAZING, the other one I didn’t really like I can’t wait to make it again seriously so excited! I have already passed it on several times. I can’t wait to make it again.
Hooray! I’m glad you loved it and have share this recipe with others, Lacey. I appreciate your review.
I’m trying to go a bit less carbs so omitted the flour & I used low carb tortilla. I am also allergic to onions & garlic!!! (Seriously this is so hard to buy things in a can.)
This was wonderful! THANK YOU!
I’m happy you were able to make this work for you and you could enjoy it, Nana!
I have made this recipe a couple of times. It’s fantastic as is, but sometimes I double the cumin because I love it. I filled my enchiladas with a recipe using chopped summer squash and black beans. My daughter made it into an enchilada casserole. Love this recipe!!
Wonderful to hear, Jill! Thank you for your review.
WAIT! WHAT? I am not even done with this yet and I am already flipping out about the smell……had to take a taste! OMG! amazing. Cant wait for the enchilada/ finished project. Thank you!
That’s great! Thank you for your raving review, Maribeth.
Omg! Awesomely delish!!
Thank you, Trisha!
Just cooked this sauce for my family tonight and they all loved it! So simple to make and tasty. It will definitely now become part of our regular repertoire. Sending you thanks from just outside Vienna, Austria.
I really liked this. It was super easy and the flavor was nice and smooth. I think next time i will cut the flour down a little, as it was a bit thicker than i like. I had to cut the chili powder to get the kids to eat, but they liked it. Will definitely keep this.
Thanks.
I got fed up of buying shop enchilada kits and got a pack of tortillas, but where to get the sauce. Your site came out top and while I was a bit hesitant at the lack of tomatoes in the ingredients; beyond the tomato paste; I tried it.
WOW !
Definitely tomato and spiced just on the right side of hot. Plus it makes exactly the right amount for a meal.
Using it with your Black Bean Enchilada recipe tonight!
Thank you for sharing, Mike!
I’m going to make it tomorrow. But, I have used Worstchester sauce instead if vinegar last recipe I saw. I will rate it tomorrow.
I’m enjoying this recipe. I made it again today. I came up short on tortillas so I’m gonna try it as a gravy for pork chops and rice.
This is what I do: first I brown chicken thighs with a sliced onion. Add enough chicken broth to simmer, about an hour and 15 min to get it tender enough to shred. Remove chicken and onions from remaining broth. Make a slurry of flour and water. Slowly whisk into the broth and add all other ingredients from this recipe. Cook for at least thirty minutes to allow the slurry to cook, otherwise, it will taste like raw flour. Dip corn tortillas one at a time into sauce to soften and flavor. Place a good amount of your shredded chicken and a little cheese onto tortilla and roll up. Poor any remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and, of course, more cheese.
Will chicken broth work just as well?
I’m vegetarian, so I don’t recommend it, but yet it should work as well.
I was a little skeptical of this recipe. But it seemed really quick and I was in a hurry for a red sauce. In the past I have used dried chiles and it was a longer process. but I will have to say this was quite good and so easy. However, I didn’t have tomato paste so I used half a can of tomato sauce. I also added pepper , cayenne, and jalapeno salt instead of regular salt. I like things with more of a kick. Nonetheless, delicious recipe.
Thank you for sharing, Rachel!
Just in case anyone has the same situation as me, tomato sauce instead of tomato paste works just as well! Love love love this recipe!
Thanks for sharing!
Holy cow! If I knew it was that easy I never would’ve purchased the canned kind. And talk about delicious!
I never comment on anything but had to say that we’re all Mexican food snobs and this sauce was awesome. I did add extra garlic powder and Mexican seasoning for depth but it was awesome. So quick and easy, will use this again and again!
I’m happy you loved it! Thank you for your comment and review, Ceeps.
Can you use beef broth instead of veggie broth? I am anxious to try it with beef enchiladas.
Sure, although I’m vegetarian so I’m not sure how it would impact the taste.