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.
Decent but a bit bland for our family. I added about 100 grams of chopped chipotles in adobo sauce and it was perfect.
I found it bland as well, started dumping spices in but I think your idea is better as that’s the kind of kick it needs. I will make it again. Yum
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it! But, I appreciate your feedback Celeste.
I put 2 tsp of the adobo sauce in and a a dash of cayenne. He LOVED it said it was like Mexican gravy. Will totally make it again. :)
I added 1 tbsp adobo sauce. Amazing recipe! Thank you! New favorite in the kitchen!
Love this recipe – homemade really makes the dishes so much better. Thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight and everyone was super pleased. It was quick and easy to make and the sauce thickened really nicely. So hard to find a sauce my 2 celiac kids can have without worry of a reaction. I used GF all purpose flour for this and will continue to use this recipe. For extra kick and smoky flavor I do love the idea of a little chipotle added, but found it plenty flavorful and kid friendly without. Thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious. This is the flavor I have been hunting for. I am guilty of eating with a spoon before it even gets to the enchiladas!
I love it! Thanks for your review, Patricia!
I love your recipe I always bought disgusting enchilada sauce in the can thank you so much since I’m from NY living in Texas
I made this tonight and yes that’s a great recipe. thanks for sharing!
Do you think this could be canned well? I’d like to make a big batch and have it on hand.
I know it freezes well, but I’m not an expert with canning.
I admit, my spices were not the freshest so I had to double and triple some of them to give the sauce flavor. Love the consistancy, though, because it made a heartier dish. I will try this recipe again after I replace some spices!
Thanks for reporting back, Lucy!
I followed the recipe but got a more orangey brown sauce that tasted nothing like enchilada sauce :/ please help
Oh no! Did it taste bland? What brand of tomato did you use?
What an easy recipe! Hubby is salt restricted so canned sauce is a no. This does come together quickly so the first time it was darker than needed but still yum. Second time I banished the hubby from the kitchen and it came out perfect.
I found this recipe really bland. The vegetable stock I used has tomatoes in it and you could barely taste the tomato (I even used a nice canned organic tomato paste). I also think the ratios were off for the roux. When you mix the seasonings with the flour and then add it to the oil, they soak up the oil immediately, making it difficult to cook out the flour without burning it. I’ve made recipes from this site before with lots of success but I won’t be coming back to this one.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, Meg. That is not something I have run into and made this many times. I have found that spices, if been opened for awhile, can loose some of their flavor. I appreciate your feedback!
Thank you for the recipe! It’s super easy to make, and delicious. I doubled the spices, and doubled the recipe. It came out perfect. I used this in my vegan enchiladas last night, and will never use canned again. :-)
I made this tonight for my family (who is originally from Texas and love enchiladas) and they thought if was amazing and full of flavor. I will never buy canned enchilada sauce again. Thank you for this recipe!
1) You are so gracious with your replies. Very impressive. 2) I substituted chicken broth and added more chili powder. Next time I’ll try a little adobo like other comments cuz I like just a touch more kick. I absolutely love making things fresh and knowing exactly what is in my food, so thank you! I always have all of the ingredients on hand so this is great “shelf” cooking! Thank you for this delightful recipe!
Thank you, Lori!
My husband said “This is the best dish you have ever made !” and ate the entire pan that night .
Im not sure if this is a compliment or a putdown hahahaha , the sauce is great and very easy !
That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing, Mikah.
Kate, I want to try this, but I dislike (read: HATE!) cumin. Is there a different spice I could sub for cumin or just use more chili powder, oregano, etc.? I love, love, love your recipes, my dear! I became a vegetarian in 1996 and have never looked back nor regretted it. And your fabulous recipes make it all the easier!
You could try adding more of the other. Although, I’m not quite sure the result without the cumin. But if you hate it, then you won’t miss it. :)
I’m going to have to agree with everyone who said this is the blandest sauce they ever tried. I had to add a ton more tomato paste and seasoning to it to make it edible, therefore I vote this recipe as flavorless and in no way close to resembling an enchilada sauce in flavor as written.
I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe. I do find that seasonings can vary on potency based on how old they are.
Made this several times, absolutely fantastic and fool proof
I’m so happy to hear that, Hazel!
Uhhhmmm…. yuuummmm!!! Thank you a ton. To all those who say this is bland, must be doing something wrong??? This has spice, pizzazz doesn’t have that aweful bitter flavor the canned ones have. I havent even bothered to ask my my husband yet, but I have been sneaking tastes lol so we shall see if this makes it onto th e enchiladas lmao jk, but it is VERY tasty. Thank you.
I’m glad you loved it! Thanks for your review.
Yum! This came out great and was super easy. Surprised by some of the reviews saying it was bland. Maybe it depends on the heat of your chili powder? Mine is quite hot and I thought the final flavour was perfect.
Love it! Simple and delicious. I had tried it with tomato sauce recipes as well and it’s just not as good as restaurant quality. I think that the tomato paste plus heating the spices really makes it balance nicely. I’ve made it for five times now and the family loves it!
Wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Sam.
Do not like commercial enchilada sauce. This was easy and every family member raved about it in our leftover turkey-black bean enchiladas.
I’m happy you loved it, Mike!
Just made your enchilada sauce today – I had to substitute chicken broth as that was all I had. I was skeptical about the cinnamon because I don’t care for sweet in my savory but I added it anyway. THIS changed my mind about sweet in the savory. It is hands down the best enchilada sauce I’ve ever tasted. I used Mexican Chili powder, which I find to have a bette,r more rounded flavor than standard store bought chili powder, and I also used Mexican Oregano. My kitchen smells heavenly and I know it’s going to really impress my husband on the smell alone. I’m excited because we are using part of our deep fried turkey and a blend of Mexican cheeses to make enchiladas with this sauce.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Conda! I appreciate it.
Once again I’m going to thank you so much for THE best tasting enchilada sauce I’ve ever tasted.
I made it tonight and my husband loved it. Me, too.
Easy and tastes better than the canned. Love that I had all the ingredients on hand too, nice and simple!
Wow, Kate!! This sauce is stellar!! The flavor was fantastic and it was SO EASY!! I rarely make enchiladas because they can be so time consuming but tried this out of desperation one night and made simple bean and cheese enchiladas. WOW. This sauce knocked it out of the park!! A hit with all three of my boys!
I’m glad you loved it! Thanks for sharing, Jessica.
This is a regular in our home- delicious (yes I am guilty of eating some straight out of the pot) and easy to make- I always make double and freeze half. Thank you for another great recipe Kate :)
This recipe is fabulous! I made it tonight to use in my tamale pie casserole. I did, however, increase the salt by 1/2 teaspoon for a total of 1 teaspoon; because I had a low sodium chicken stock on hand. The tamale pie recipe called for canned enchilada sauce. I didn’t want to use canned enchilada sauce because I’m trying to eat better by staying away from preservatives. Plus fresh tastes better than canned. I’ll never buy canned enchilada sauce again. Thank you for sharing!!
Thank you for sharing, Margo! I’m glad you liked it.
Made tonight. Lovely sauce. Not bland at all. Might kick up the chili powder just a bit but that’s personal taste. I am guessing folks that are saying bland might be using old spices and not very good quality veggie broth.
After reading reviews I was nervous that the sauce would be a little bland. I tasted the sauce constantly along the way and just added more spices where I saw fit. The sauce thickened nicely and the flavour profile was well balanced. It wasn’t until the apple cider vinegar and pepper at the end that it all really came together. Some adobo sauce would be wonderful in it, however, it is a really really good base recipe! I honestly recommend it!
Made this sauce this evening, and it was really really good. Kids and adults cleaned their plates. Put it over modified enchilada recipe and it was delicious. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome, Ruth!
I can’t wait to try this sauce the ones in the stores is really expensive this sounds delicious and easy
Loved the sauce. Will absolutely Maye again.
I’m a Chef myself,
It’s really important you follow the recipe carefully. Spices needs to be cooked until fragrant, flour needs to be cooked out. If not thus maybe the negative comments.
I love this sauce really compliments enchiladas yum! Thank you cookieandkate :)
This was so full of flavor! I was making traditional New Mexican layered enchiladas for someone from an area where they are NOT used to spice. I made my own chili powder from dried Pasilla chiles and took out all the seeds to make it super mild. I was worried it would be flavorless. It was great and she loved it!
This is my go to enchilada sauce recipe! So easy and the flavors are so well balanced!
I made the sauce ahead of time and now its very very thick..should i use more stock to thin it out..im not sure what happened??
Hi Laura! How long did you allow it to cook? Yes, you can add a little more broth to help thin it out.
Great base recipe! My chili powder wasn’t very potent, so added another half tablespoon of chili powder and a pinch of chipotle powder. Delicious sauce that as-is was very mild, but is easily tweaked with the slew of spices on the ingredient list. Thank you!
Hi I’d like to make this to use in a weekend recipe. Can it be made ahead of time and kept refrigerated for a few days, or will it become clumpy? Thanks!
You should be able to make this ahead. I know readers have had luck freezing this recipe!
My husband and I have been together for 20 years and he said that these were the best enchiladas that I have ever made thanks to this sauce. I made it exactly as the recipe stated and it was wonderful. This one is a keeper. Thank you!
That’s fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Sandra.
This enchilada sauce is superb. Very easy to prepare, incredibly tasty and has my whole family, ranging in age from 3 to 73, asking if they can have enchiladas again and again. I use chicken broth versus vegetable broth and do add the cinnamon. Thank you
This enchilada sauce it sooooo delicious!!
And so easy to make..
Thank you for this great recipe
You’re welcome, Irene!
Tried this & it was delicious! Quick, easy – hubby and I loved it! I used chicken broth & some ‘vegeta’ seasoning instead of veggie broth (ran out).
So good!! Thanks for this :)
Enjoyed it. I use gluten free flour with np. will use it again.
I used to use this in (what I thought was your) chicken tortilla soup and I absolutely loved it!! I can’t find the soup recipe now – can you help me find the soup?! (I Originally found your enchilada Sauce recipe through a link on the soup recipe page) thank you!!
Do you mean this soup?https://asset-flow.pro/vegetarian-tortilla-soup/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi there! I absolutely Love this enchilada sauce! I first found the recipe through a link on a chicken tortilla soup recipe webpage, which now I can’t find! If you know what soup recipe/website I’m referring to, please help!!
This was a good start for a base recipe, but I had to double the spices and I added of chopped chipotles in adobo sauce I added 1 more cup water.
I love this sauce! It is always consistently delicious every time I have made it. It is my favorite enchilada sauce recipe!
I realized I had no prepared enchilada sauce today so made this. I did not have vegetable broth so used unsalted chicken broth. It is good and so much better than prepared enchilada sauce. It could use heat if you like your sauce spicy but it’s perfect for us.
I’m glad you loved it!
Yum!!! I subbed chicken broth because that’s what I had but so good!! Good for my 1.5 year old too
That was pretty tasty! I’m not sure if commenters who say it was “bland” are using that word the same way I would. It had plenty of flavors, albeit not “hot”, but that was because my chile powder wasn’t hot. I used beef broth because I didn’t have any vegetable broth (never buy it; it has little flavor), but other than that, I measured ingredients carefully so I could review accurately. Came together in ten minutes and I put it on top of my tamales. I’m bookmarking this page to find again because it was better than most I’ve tried.
Made this tonight and everyone was super pleased. It was quick and easy to make and the sauce thickened really nicely. So hard to find a sauce my 2 celiac kids can have without worry of a reaction. I used GF all purpose flour for this and will continue to use this recipe. For extra kick and smoky flavor I do love the idea of a little chipotle added, but found it plenty flavorful and kid friendly without. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you, thank you!! I’ll never buy canned enchilada sauce again. The sauce is creamy and so easy to make.
I’ve used your recipe twice this week to make enchiladas. Easy, fast and amazing! The sauce is even better the next day, in my humble opinion. I think the cinnamon is essential for this recipe! I love how quickly this sauce comes together! Thank you so much. This recipe for enchilada sauce is a keeper in my house!
This is my go to! I’ve made it the last couple of years for Christmas Eve dinner and it’s always a hit! Perfect!
This is an amazing recipe! Cheap easy and delicious
I’m happy you loved it, Barb!