Homemade Enchilada Sauce

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

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Prep: 20 minutes minutes

Cook: 40 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour

Made with whole dried chiles, this will take your enchiladas to the NEXT level! No more store-bought sauce!

4.8 stars (18 ratings)

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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

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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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