Homemade Enchilada Sauce
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Made with whole dried chiles, this will take your enchiladas to the NEXT level! No more store-bought sauce!
I am all for a good shortcut here and there when you are in a pinch. But once you make enchilada sauce from scratch, it’ll be very difficult to go back to store-bought. (Similarly to homemade pasta.)
There are a few steps involved here but I promise, it is well worth it.
Now the recipe does call for New Mexico or California chile peppers as they are on the milder side, but please feel free to use your own combination of peppers if you prefer a bit of a kick.
Either way, this homemade sauce will take your enchiladas to the next level. I use it all the time for these weeknight enchiladas. It’s an absolute game-changer!
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 ounces dried chile peppers, such as New Mexico or California
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 2 Roma tomatoes, halved
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
Instructions
- Heat a medium cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add chiles and cook until toasted and fragrant, about 30-45 seconds per side. Set aside and let cool; remove and discard seeds and stems.
- Add onion and tomatoes to the skillet and cook until blackened, about 3-5 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add garlic to the skillet and cook until blackened, about 1 minute per side; set aside.
- Place chiles into a 3 quart saucepan. Stir in onion, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin and chicken stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until chiles have softened, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 15 minutes.
- Combine chili mixture and honey in blender until smooth.
- Heat canola oil in the saucepan over medium heat. Working carefully, add chili mixture to the saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Transfer to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
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Baking bread from scratch is totally worth the effort. It does take a little while to get the hang of it because there are so many variables and so many things that can go wrong.
Nothing beats fresh homemade bread. And it’s so cheap to make from scratch!
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My homemade mac and cheese is SO worth making from scratch! It is divine!
Grandma;s chicken tetrazinni.
Chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce
oatmeal chocolate chip cookies – the best from scratch!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
I love vegan taco casserole. It’s worth making from scratch! 🙂
I like lasagna made from scratch.
My favorite recipe is Haggis Lasagna combining the best of Scottish and Italian cuisine.
Hope to win!
I make the worlds best chicken soup from scratch.
I love my homemade chili.
guacamole
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Almost everything tastes better from scratch! I especially like making my grandmother’s pizzelles. They take some time, but they are worth it.
Red Velvet cupcakes are worth making from scratch.
My chocolate cake is worth making from scratch.
austma7@aol.com
I love to make French Onion soup from scratch. Friends tell me they buy it frozen but I’m not going that route!
I could use a new refrigerator and a nice stand mixer.
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Homemade mac and cheese and homemade chicken wild rice soup are the best recipes to make homemade!
I love to make chicken and dumplings from scratch!