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Making homemade Enchilada Sauce couldn’t be easier! You’ll need just a few pantry ingredients and 15 minutes to make the best, most flavorful enchilada sauce.
My family loves enchiladas, so having a recipe for a great enchilada sauce is essential. This enchilada sauce recipe is the one that I’ve been making for years. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked!
This recipe makes a flavorful red enchilada sauce, perfect for making Chicken Enchiladas, Beef Enchiladas or an Enchilada Casserole. This recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce, and it’s easy to scale it up if you’re cooking for a crowd. If you’ve been buying enchilada sauce at the grocery store, you won’t believe how easy it is to make it yourself. Plus, it freezes well, so you can make a big batch to keep in your freezer, ready to use in your favorite Mexican food and enchilada recipes.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- It’s made with common ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
- Forget grocery store sauce, this enchilada sauce tastes like it came from your favorite Mexican restaurant.
- You can adjust the seasonings to make it more or less spicy.
- It’s incredibly quick and easy!
Ingredients
You’ll need just a few simple ingredients to make enchilada sauce at home.
- Olive Oil: For sautéing the garlic, and to add a bit of richness to the sauce.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic adds flavor.
- Tomato Sauce: Some enchilada sauce recipes call for using tomato paste or are made without tomato, but I’ve tested this recipe all three ways and we like it best made with tomato sauce.
- Vegetable Broth: To achieve the best consistency. You can adjust the amount of broth to make a thinner or thicker sauce. Chicken broth may be used in place of the vegetable broth. I prefer using a low sodium broth.
- Seasonings: Chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder and salt bring lots of flavor to this easy enchilada sauce. For an extra spicy kick, also add a pinch or more of cayenne pepper.
How to Make Enchilada Sauce
This recipe couldn’t be easier. You’ll start by heating a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Then add the minced garlic and cook, while stirring, for just for 30 seconds or so, until the garlic is fragrant. You’ll want to have the other ingredients ready to go so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
Next stir in the tomato sauce, vegetable broth and seasonings. Bring the sauce to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low.
Simmer the sauce over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring it occasionally. That’s it! You’ll have from scratch enchilada sauce ready to add to enchiladas, casseroles, and more.
Find the full printable recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below.
Enchilada Sauce Recipe Tips
- Before starting, have all of your ingredients ready and measure out the spices into a small bowl. Once you get the garlic in the pan, you’ll want everything else ready so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
- This sauce has just a little spice to it. For spicier enchilada sauce, you can add more cayenne pepper. To make the sauce mild, omit the cayenne pepper and be sure to use a mild chili powder.
- If the enchilada sauce is thicker than you like it, stir in a little more broth to thin it out.
- You can use this sauce immediately or store it for future use. Store the cooled sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Enchilada Sauce Uses
We eat our fair share of Mexican food (we always have a batch of Taco Seasoning in our spice drawer). Here are some of our favorite recipes to use our homemade enchilada sauce:
- Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Beef Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
- Avocado Enchiladas
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
More Favorite Sauce Recipes
If you’re like me and love making sauces from scratch, try one of these easy sauce recipes next:
- BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Buffalo Sauce
- Stir Fry Sauce
- Marinara Sauce
4.70 from 13 ratings
Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Servings: 2 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Cook Time: 10 minutes mins
Total Time: 15 minutes mins
This Enchilada Sauce is so flavorful and incredibly easy to make with just a few pantry staple ingredients. Once you try this recipe, you'll never go back to store-bought!
Print Recipe Leave a Review Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- ¾ cup low sodium vegetable broth, or low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional, for spice
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
Add all remaining ingredients: tomato sauce, broth, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper (if using). Stir.
Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook at a low simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Enchilada sauce can be used immediately or stored for future use. To store, let it cool and then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- This recipe makes an enchilada sauce with just a little spice to it. For spicier enchilada sauce, you can add more cayenne pepper. To make the sauce mild, omit the cayenne pepper and use a mild chili powder.
- If the enchilada sauce is thicker than you like it, stir in a little more broth to thin it out.
Serving: 1/4 cup, Calories: 39kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 473mg, Potassium: 228mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 875IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Cuisine: Mexican
Course: DIY, ingredient, Sauce
Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.
This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Kristine's Kitchen!
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posted by Kristine Rosenblatt on Feb 26, 2022
38 comments Leave a comment »
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38 comments on “Enchilada Sauce”
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Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice — Reply
I’ve never actually thought to make my own enchilada sauce before! And I buy it often, so I definitely need to change that. I love how simple this recipe is, Kristine! And it looks so much better than the store bought kind, too!
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Kristine — Reply
Thanks, Gayle! You’ve got to try this one!
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This looks really delicious! I have never tried making my own enchilada sauce, but it sounds really easy!
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Kristine — Reply
It is so easy, Kelly! You’ve got to try it!
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Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen — Reply
This enchilada sauce looks so full of flavor, but I love that it doesn’t have all that many ingredients!
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Kristine — Reply
Thanks, Christin! The short ingredient list is one reason why I made this so often. 🙂
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Rachel @ Bakerita — Reply
Wow, I love how quick and simple this is!!! I wouldn’t have guessed it’s so easy to make.
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Kristine — Reply
Thanks, Rachel!
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Food Photographer | Omid — Reply
I will be giving this a go, thanks.
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Kristine — Reply
I hope you love it!
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Amellia — Reply
Hello, it looks very nice. I agree with you – homemade is the best. I make simillar, just add 2 tbs of plain flour at the beggining.
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Kimberly — Reply
Thank you so much for the recipe! It was so easy and so delicious that I will no longer be buying the canned stuff. I also like how I can control the sodium and the spice level. I am now using it for your tortilla soup recipe, so I’ll be back 🙂
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Kristine — Reply
I’m glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
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Judy — Reply
I just checked out how to make this looks so good look foward to trying this soon I have a question I love this type of sauce but one of my kids prefers the green sauce is there a way to make this one also besides your current one also? I am reducing my salt intake so this is perfect thank you
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Kristine — Reply
I am glad you like this recipe. I do not currently have a recipe for green sauce.
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Mary Tagliarino — Reply
This is an amazing recipe!! I subbed a little Ancho Chili powder for some of the regular chili powder because I love the flavor. I’ll never go back to canned! I make this all the time and it’s solved my Mexican food problem of finding the right sauce. Thank you so much for this!
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Pamela — Reply
Hi Kristine,
I made this last night for Cinco de Mayo as my husband wanted enchiladas! Wowzer, it was a smash hit! The enchilada sauce to spot on. I added 1/8tsp of cayenne and then decided to add another one and it was just the right amount of zip. I think the words he uttered were, “Restaurant quality!” So thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s a keeper! :).-
Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for trying the recipe and letting me know how it turned out. 🙂
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Tina — Reply
Thank you for this recipe!!! I was all set to make burritos but did not have any enchilada sauce. I didn’t want to go the store for just a can or two of sauce with gas prices and just getting home from work. Found this and I love it!!! I’m not good at cooking but could follow this recipe easily. And won’t be buying the canned again.
Thanks again!!! 🙂
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Lizet — Reply
I was surprised to see that I had all the ingredients to make the sauce since we can’t buy it here.
It went really well with your chicken enchilada recipe. -
Karen Sixbury — Reply
This tasted awesome. Much better than store bought. What makes this so wonderful is you can spice it up or not.
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Autumn — Reply
I LOVE this sauce!! Used to buy; however, not anymore!! So simple and fast!! I use it for Mexican Pizza and Tostadas. Freeze leftover sauce, and it thaws in minutes. Thanks for this lovely recipe!!
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Bubbe — Reply
I made this for dinner tonight. It was so easy and delicious. I agree with the others, I won’t be buying enchilada sauce any more. No need to and I know exactly what is in it, no preservatives or junk. That is peace of mind and better for my family. The enchilada casserole was delicious. Thank you so much.
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Stephanie — Reply
I’ve probably made this enchilada sauce recipe a dozen+ times. It absolutely destroys any store bought enchilada sauce and makes the best enchiladas everytime. Thank you for this recipe!
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Chris B — Reply
One of the best homemade sauces ever!
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Barb — Reply
Delicious and so easy to make…WINNER WINNER at our home.
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Andy — Reply
I’m trying this today YUM. I like how I can make as much or as little as I want.
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Karen Ridgeway — Reply
This is just the best I’ve ever had thank you! Making again tonight!
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Dorothy — Reply
Excellent recipes
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Donald Hammond — Reply
There is NO tomato sauce in red enchilada sauce. You boil dried red chili until tender blender then strain out the skins. Garlic and oregano
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Donald,
Thanks for your comment. I don’t claim this to be an authentic enchilada sauce recipe, this is just how I like to make it. It’s easy and uses readily accessible ingredients, and my family loves the flavor. Many others have tried this recipe and enjoyed it as well. 🙂
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Randi Heise — Reply
What a game changer! This is THE bomb!!’ I had no idea how simple it is to make Enchilada Sauce! All this time buying and settling for substandard flavor. Delicious fresh flavors AND easy rod quick to prepare. Couldn’t not believe how clean the plates where and they were asking for more. Highly recommend this recipe. She nailed it perfectly!!!
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Josh — Reply
Had some frozen enchiladas in the freezer. Baked and no sauce. Ew. But, had the ingredients to make this recipe. Made it, poured it on top, and was a game changer. Thank you!
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Heather Dickson — Reply
The flavour is great but I got to thinking you meant tomato paste not sauce. I found the sauce very thin so added paste to get the consistency I wanted.
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I meant tomato sauce but I’m glad you found a way to make this to your preference.
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anita job — Reply
This is missing cinnamon stick.
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Amanda Soriano — Reply
Made this last night exactly as listed (skipped the cayenne) and it really is excellent! My kids and husband loved it and they’re pretty snobby (okay extremely snobby, lol) when it comes to mexican food and getting the flavors right. I’ve been wanting to find a good recipe and this was excellent. It’s so good this one is going in my hand written recipe book. Thanks!
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Drew458 — Reply
Almost the same as mine. But we are chili fans so I add 1 ancho and 1 guajillo. These dried peppers get de-stemmed and de-seeded, then put in boiling water for 5 minutes then left to cool for 20. This rehydrates them. Drain them off and then make a paste of them in your blender, Magic Bullet, whatever. I make my sauce a bit thicker so I add less liquid.
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