Name: Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour blends all work!); 1 tablespoon ground chili powder (scale back if you’re sensitive to spice or using particularly spicy chili powder); 1 teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon garlic powder; ¼ teaspoon dried oregano; ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste; Pinch of cinnamon (optional but recommended); 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 2 cups vegetable broth; 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

This homemade red enchilada sauce has authentic Mexican flavor! It's so good and easy, you'll never go back to store-bought sauce again. You can even make a double batch and freeze half of it for later. Recipe as written below yields about 2 cups (16 ounces) sauce.

10 min total 3 min prep 7 min cook 2 133 cal

Instructions

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1 This sauce comes together quickly once you get started, so measure the dry ingredients (the flour, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt and optional cinnamon) into a small bowl and place it near the stove. Place the tomato paste and broth near the stove as well.
2 In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, warm the oil until it’s hot enough that a light sprinkle of the flour/spice mixture sizzles on contact. This might take a couple of minutes, so be patient and don’t step away from the stove!
3 Once it’s ready, pour in the flour and spice mixture. While whisking constantly, cook until fragrant and slightly deepened in color, about 1 minute. Whisk the tomato paste into the mixture, then slowly pour in the broth while whisking constantly to remove any lumps.
4 Raise heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, whisking often, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a bit and a spoon encounters some resistance as you stir it. (The sauce will thicken some more as it cools.)
5 Remove from heat, then whisk in the vinegar and season to taste with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Add more salt, if necessary (I usually add another pinch or two). Go forth and make enchiladas!