Homemade Enchilada Sauce (Quick & Easy!)
Learn how to make easy enchilada sauce. This homemade recipe is quick, easy and delicious! You can easily double or triple this recipe and freeze the sauce to have on hand for enchiladas, burritos, and tacos. Plus, you only need a few simple ingredients to make it.
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I’m not opposed to short-cuts, but when I find myself using an ingredient a lot, my practical self kicks in and I like to go DIY. In this case, enchilada sauce.
In the past, I might go the store-bought route or just cobble together a sauce with whatever I have on hand. But, back in August, when I wanted to make two batches of chicken enchiladas for a birthday dinner (one with green sauce and another with red) I consulted the interwebs for an easy homemade enchilada sauce recipe.
I found a recipe on Dinner, Then Dessert and it was everything it promised to be – quick, easy, and delicious. I, of course, have since played around with it and have settled on a version that is now my go-to homemade enchilada sauce.
You can make a single batch in about 15 minutes, you can make a big batch and freeze it for later and you can use it on all the enchiladas, tacos, and breakfast burritos.
What I Love About this Recipe
- First, it’s easy! Like, 15-minutes easy and it calls for ingredients you probably already have on hand in your pantry.
- It has a touch of butter. Instead of using all oil, I add some butter which gives the sauce a touch of richness and buttery flavor. It’s not authentic, but it’s delicious.
- You don’t need a bunch of spices. Instead of mixing chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder to make chili seasoning, I use a premade chili seasoning blend. It has everything in it so no need to dig through the spice cabinet looking for different spices. You can find chili seasoning blends at the store – sometimes local brands are better than national brands, so try a few and pick a favorite.
- If you make a lot of recipes with enchilada sauce, you can easily double or triple this recipe and make a big batch.
- For storage, you can keep it in the fridge or it will keep in the freezer for several months.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil
- Chili seasoning or taco seasoning
- All-purpose flour
- Chicken broth
- Tomato sauce
- Kosher salt
Want it spicy? Choose a spicy chili seasoning or add a few pinches of cayenne pepper.
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How to Make Easy Enchilada Sauce
- Heat vegetable oil and butter together in a saucepan. Once the butter has melted add the chili seasoning and stir to combine.
- Add all-purpose flour to make a roux to thicken the sauce. Stir to combine and cook the mixture for a minute or so.
- Add the tomato sauce and chicken stock and stir. Simmer the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes or until it’s thickened.
- Taste the enchilada sauce and add salt, to taste.
Want to join me in saying goodbye to store-bought enchilada sauce? I hope you give this easy recipe a try!
Happy cooking,
Ways to Use Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Use your homemade enchilada sauce to make:
- Black bean enchiladas
- Breakfast enchiladas
- Mexican rice casserole
- Enchilada pie
- Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- Beef Burrito Bowls
- Taco Rice Casserole
📣 Do you love this recipe? I would love to know! Leave a comment below the recipe along with your recipe star rating.
PrintEasy Enchilada Sauce
This enchilada sauce recipe is quick, easy and delicious! You can easily double or triple this recipe and freeze the sauce to have on hand for enchiladas, burritos, and tacos. You only need a few simple ingredients to make it!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Sauces
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Mexican-American
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons chili seasoning or taco seasoning (not chili powder – see note)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth (see note)
- 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the butter and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the chili seasoning and stir to combine.
- Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook the mixture for about a minute stirring frequently. Add the broth, tomato sauce, and salt. Stir to combine. Simmer the sauce for five to ten minutes or until it’s thickened.
- Store the enchilada sauce in an airtight container. It will keep in the refridgerator for up to three to four days. Or freeze the sauce for up to 3 months.
Notes
Be sure to use a chili or taco seasoning blend, which is a combination of different spices, instead of just plain chili powder.
I like chicken stock, but you can also substitute vegetable broth or water. Depending on what you use you may need to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe.
The sauce may thicken up in the refrigerator so you may need to thin it with some stock or water when you reheat it.
Recipe adapted from Dinner, then Dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 1/4 cup
- Calories: 83
- Sugar: 1.5g
- Fat: 6.7g
- Carbohydrates: 5.4g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 1.2g
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Post updated from the archives. First published in September 2019.
I made this sauce vegan, only using vegan margarine and vegetable stock (carrot, celery). It was so delicious poured over enchiladas filled with black beans. Was really nice
Thanks for sharing your adjustments!
So easy & made my leftover turkey enchiladas the best I’ve ever made (general consensus)!
I added a little fajita season to the taco seasoning, it gave it a little more of a zip and made it a little more spicy!!
I’m so happy you like it! Love that you added fajita seasoning – sounds great 🙂 Thank you so much for the rating!
This sauce. Is super easy and SUPER yummy. Thank you so much for sharing!
So glad you liked it!
I realized I didn’t have canned enchilada sauce, so I looked up enchilada sauce and found your recipe. It was so easy and so delicious! I make the easy carne sauce with enchilada sauce and no bean canned chili, then stuff the tortillas with cheese, and add sauce, cheese, and chopped onions to the top. OMG! Thanks for the great recipe…no need to buy premade sauce, again!
American but living in Toronto for 20 years now, not common to find enchilada sauce in a can here. Wanted to make a recipe my cousins shared with me that called for canned sauce. Just made this and so excited to put it all together tomorrow night. So easy and tasty!! THANK YOU
You really should update your recipe to say taco seasoning instead of chili seasoning. I did not see your note until I was done cooking.
Thanks for the feedback! I updated the recipe card to make this less confusing 🙂
I use this recipe all the time! I always have the main components in my pantry, so prep is easy and fast. Delicious and not too spicy.
Thanks for letting me know! So glad you love the recipe 🙂
Simple and delicious — two words in my wheelhouse when it comes to making any kind of sauce. Thank you!
So easy to do. And it turned out great. So nice to be able to do this on the quick, rather than have to worry about having this in our pantry. Thanks for posting.
I’m glad you liked it!
Delicious! I used taco seasoning. I was hesitant at first about the flour bc I didn’t want it too thick, but it came out just right! Thanks!