Name: Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce with Real Red Chili
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 2 teaspoon ground cumin; 2 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon chili powder (use less if your chili powder is spicy and you want to keep it mild); 1 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar, more to taste; 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste; 6 tablespoons (3 ounces/ 85 grams) butter, salted or unsalted; 6 tablespoons (60 grams) all-purpose flour; 48 ounces red chili puree, thawed if frozen (*See note); 3 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (or, Better Than Bouillon Chicken or Vegetable Base mixed with water); 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)

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Calling all red chili lovers! If you've ever wanted to make real red chili enchilada sauce at home, the kind that's rich, smoky, and bursting with the flavor of roasted chilies, but you don't want to go through the hassle of actually roasting chilies, you're in the right place!

This recipe strikes the perfect balance between authenticity and ease by starting with red chili purée. You'll get all the deep, complex chili flavor you love without having to soak, toast, or purée dried red chilies. This recipe includes several options for where to find red chili purée and freezing instructions.

A tin plate filled with cheese enchiladas smothered in red chili enchilada sauce.

"This recipe is amazing! First time making red chili to go with my husband's homemade tamales and I'm so ecstatic this came out so perfect. Thanks for sharing your culinary creations!" - Ruth

There are two different types of Red Chili Enchilada Sauce:

Authentic Red Chili sauce that requires an involved process of toasting, soaking, and pureeing dried red chilis.
Easy, simple "cheater" enchilada sauce recipes that rely on dried spices and/or tomato paste as a replacement for puréed red chilis.

This recipe gives you the best of both worlds. It's BOTH quick and easy AND made from real red chili.

The secret of this quick and easy enchilada sauce is to start with frozen or heat sealed red chili purée. Frozen red chili puree can be found in the freezer section of most major supermarkets. And, if you're local market doesn't have it, you can order jars of concentrated red chile puree or jars of red chile sauce.

Red Chili Purée is simply dried red chilies that have been toasted, soaked, and pureed for you. It produces a rich, flavorful, absolutely delicious homemade enchilada sauce that is also incredibly quick and easy to prepare. 👏👏👏

-Rebecca

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Ingredients needed to prepare this recipe
Step-by-step photos and instructions
How to freeze enchilada sauce
7 ways to use enchilada sauce
More Recipes for Chili Lovers
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Ingredients needed to prepare this recipe

I love, love, LOVE cheese enchiladas with red chili sauce. They are seriously one of my favorite things to eat.

As such, I am also quite picky about them. Because that's how it is with things we love.

For starters, the red chili sauce must be amazing and made from actual chilies, not tomato paste. None of that canned stuff. For example, here's the ingredient list of one of the most popular brands of canned red enchilada sauce:

ingredients list of canned red enchilada sauce

It's really just watered down tomato paste with some chili pepper seasoning and a bunch of other crap, reminding me why I cook so many things from scratch.

The big problem to making a chili based sauce that it's traditionally a giant pain in the you-know-what. Before dried chilis can be used to make sauce, they have to be toasted, soaked and then pureed.

The process takes a long time, is kind of messy, and fills the air with eye-stinging chili oil.

I've done it. The red chili sauce was absolutely delicious. And it's not something I really want to do again.

The secret is to start with red chili puree. There are two kinds of red chili puree:

Frozen red chile puree
Heat sealed red chile sauce

This stuff is genius. As long as the ingredient list looks something like this - Chili Peppers, Water, and maybe some salt - you're golden.

Frozen Red Chile Puree: I've purchased a few different brands, mostly dependent on what my local market happened to have in it's freezer case. I've also ordered frozen red chile puree on amazon. Here's the brand my local supermarket is stocking at the moment:

A bag of frozen red Chile paste on a wood cutting board.

I generally purchase one bag of hot and one of mild and mix them together for a spice level that's on the medium-to-hot side.

The other good option is El Pinto Hatch Red Chile Sauce OR El Pinto Hatch Red Chile Sauce. This is basically the same thing as frozen red chile puree, but each container is heat-sealed and does not require refrigeration.

I've never seen El Pinto Hatch Red Chile Sauce in a supermarket but have ordered it many times on Amazon. It's now something I keep in my pantry at all times so I have it available to me whenever I want to make Enchilada Sauce or Mexican Adobo.

Two jars of Hatch Red Chile and a couple of bunches of fresh cilantro.

Besides frozen red chili puree, you only need a few ingredients to make really good red enchilada sauce:

Minced garlic. I usually use a heaping tablespoon, and sometimes even more than that. But, please adjust the amount of garlic in your enchilada sauce to your personal preferences, adding more or less as you wish.
Spices: Dried oregano, ground cumin, chili powder, and onion powder for extra flavor!
Sugar. Just 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar in this sauce is a delicious compliment to the heat and smokiness of the chili. That little bit of sugar softens the edges of this sauce, creating a smoother flavor.
Salt.
Butter and flour. This enchilada sauce is thickened by making a roux. A roux is a simple mixture of flour and fat, cooked over low to medium heat, that acts as a thickening agent.
48 oz red chile puree, thawed if frozen. When using frozen, I like to use one 24 oz bag mild and one 24 oz bag hot. But, please use all mild or all hot, depending on the heat level you prefer.
Chicken Broth. Or, vegetable broth, or just water. Or, use Better Than Bouillon vegetable or chicken base mixed with water.
Worcestershire sauce. This is a very non-traditional ingredient for Enchilada Sauce, but I love it in there. Just 1 tablespoon gives this sauce a richer flavor that's almost meaty.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

All the spices for sweet potato soup blended together in a small wooden bowl.

Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, sugar, and salt to a small bowl and set aside.

Cooking flour and butter in a saucepan to make a roux.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the mixture is starting to take on some color. Add the minced garlic and spices and cook, stirring constantly, for a few seconds.

Stirring red chili puree into roux in a saucepan.

Slowly add the red chili puree, stirring constantly.

Using a wooden spoon to stir red chili paste in a saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring often, until the paste has darkened and thickened a bit.

Stirring a pot of enchilada sauce after broth has been added.

Stir in the water or broth and the Worcestershire sauce (if using).

Homemade enchilada sauce in a saucepan, ready to use.

Let the sauce simmer, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more sugar and salt if desired.

That's it. Seriously. It doesn't get much easier than this.

The best homemade red chili enchilada sauce.

How to freeze enchilada sauce

This recipe makes quite a bit of sauce - about 5 cups. If you're making something like Cheese Enchilada Casserole, you'll only need about 3 ¼ cups, leaving you some leftover.

I like to divide leftover red chili sauce into little baggies with about 1 cup of sauce in each. It's really awesome to have on hand if you're making tacos, burritos, or huevos rancheros, or to add a nice kick to pretty much any kind of soup.

7 ways to use enchilada sauce

To make the BEST Pork Green Chili ever
Pour enchilada sauce over the top of Crispy Corn Tortilla Quesadillas
My favorite way to use this Enchilada Sauce is to make Cheese Enchilada Casserole
In the filling and to drizzle over the top of these Stuffed Poblano Peppers
In the broth for this hearty Southwest Summer Corn Chowder
To add some smoky heat to these Black Bean Tostadas with Corn Salsa and Enchilada Cream
To make this super quick and easy Chicken Tortilla Soup.

More Recipes for Chili Lovers

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to leave a comment and rate it!

📖 Recipe

Yield: 8 cups

Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce with Real Red Chili

This recipe strikes the perfect balance between authenticity and ease by starting with red chili purée. You’ll get all the deep, complex chili flavor you love without having to soak, toast, or purée dried red chilies. This recipe includes several options for where to find red chili purée and freezing instructions.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder (use less if your chili powder is spicy and you want to keep it mild)
1 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar, more to taste
1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
6 tablespoons (3 ounces/ 85 grams) butter, salted or unsalted
6 tablespoons (60 grams) all-purpose flour
48 ounces red chili puree, thawed if frozen (*See note)
3 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (or, Better Than Bouillon Chicken or Vegetable Base mixed with water)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Instructions

Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, sugar, and salt to a small bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the mixture is starting to take on some color. Add the minced garlic and spices and cook, stirring constantly, for a few seconds.
Slowly add the red chili puree, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring often, until the paste has darkened and thickened a bit.
Stir in the water or broth and the Worcestershire sauce (if using) and let simmer, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more sugar and salt if desired.

Notes

There are two kinds of red chili puree: Frozen red chile puree and heat sealed. Frozen can often be found in the freezer section of major supermarkets. When using frozen, I usually use half mild and half hot chili. I’ve not seen heat sealed red chili sauce in supermarkets but it can easily be ordered. Scroll down for direct links to the brands I like to use.

Worcestershire sauce. This is a very non-traditional ingredient for Enchilada Sauce, but I love it in there. Just 1 tablespoon gives this sauce a richer flavor that's almost meaty.