Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Red Enchilada Sauce)
User Reviews
5
-
Prep Time
5 mins
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Cook Time
25 mins
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Total Time
30 mins
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Servings
6
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Calories
19 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Mexican
Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Red Enchilada Sauce)
Description
This red enchilada sauce starts with toasting dried ancho, guajillo, and chiles de arbol until slightly puffed to intensify their flavor. After soaking until very soft, the peppers are blended with sautéed onion and garlic, seasoned with sea salt. The reserved soaking liquid is added gradually to thin the sauce to the preferred consistency, which can be strained if a smoother texture is desired.
The resulting sauce is thick, rich, and aromatic with smoky heat from the dried peppers. It is designed to be poured over enchiladas or used as a base sauce in Mexican cooking. The natural spiciness can be adjusted by the choice and amount of dried peppers used.
This recipe yields about 2½ cups of sauce, enough to cover multiple dishes or store for batch cooking.
Ingredients
- 4 ancho pepper stemmed and seeded, dried
- 4 dried guajillo peppers (stemmed and seeded)
- 4 dried chiles de arbol (stemmed and seeded)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion chopped, small
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste, coarse
- water as needed
Instructions
- Dry toast the dried chili peppers (stemmed and seeds removed) in a heated pan over medium heat. Toast them a couple minutes per side, until they start to puff up slightly.
- Cool, then set them into a heavy bowl with enough hot water to cover them.
- Let them soak for 20 minutes, or until they become very soft. Remove them and place them in a blender or food processor.
- Reserve 1 cup of the dark soaking water.
- In the same heated pan, heat the vegetable oil. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, or until it becomes translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute, until fragrant.
- Add them to the food processor along with the sea salt.
- Pour in 1 cup of the reserved soaking liquid (or use fresh water or stock) and process to form a sauce. It will be very thick at this point.
- Add in more water or stock, a half cup at a time, until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Strain, if desired. Adjust for salt and serve as needed.
Notes
- This recipe makes approximately 2½ cups of enchilada sauce.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 19 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 19kcal | 1% |
| Carbohydrates | 3g | 1% |
| Sodium | 777mg | 32% |
| Potassium | 53mg | 1% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 265IU | 5% |
| Vitamin C | 2mg | 2% |
| Calcium | 8mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.1mg | 1% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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