One of our family’s favorite weeknight meals is a big batch of our favorite weeknight chicken enchiladas. The first recipe I ever tried instructed me how to make my own homemade enchilada sauce to go along with our yummy enchiladas. I had never made enchiladas before so I assumed that a homemade enchilada sauce was the only way to make this recipe. Once I made and realized how easy it was to make my own sauce though, I never once considered buying my enchilada sauce.
Making your own sauces and mixes is a fantastic way to save money and you also have the opportunity to control the quality of ingredients that go into your dishes. With a sauce like an enchilada sauce, for example, you also can control the spiciness of the dish to your own preference.
Once you make this simple and fast enchilada sauce, I guarantee you will never buy the pre-packaged sauces again. The best part about this recipe though is that it is made from items you already have in your pantry and spices that are likely already lurking in your cupboard.
We serve this yummy sauce on top of my favorite chicken enchiladas. These enchiladas never last long in our house and are awesome reheated in the oven (I reheat mine at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes on a baking stone) for an easy lunch. When reheated in the oven, they taste just like the day you made them and are delicious served with a little fresh fruit for a yummy side.
I hope you can give these recipes a try in your house! I just know you will love them as much as we do!
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (we adjusted to 1 teaspoon)
- 3 garlic cloves,minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- ½ cup water
- Pepper
- Heat the oil in a 12″ skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
- Add the onion and salt and cook until softened, about five minutes.
- Stir in the chili powder, garlic, cumin, and sugar. Cook until fragrant, about fifteen seconds.
- Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about five minutes.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Be sure to visit my Make Your Own Mixes & Convenience Foods article on other easy and effortless recipes you can create in your own kitchen and save your family hundreds of dollars on your grocery bill!
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Sounds fabulous! I make my own green enchilada sauce, which is *way* more complicated than this. I look forward to giving this recipe a try!
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Amy Reply:
September 11th, 2012 at 9:26 am
I have never tried green enchilada sauce before, Tammy! That sounds interesting and yummy!! I hope you like this recipe as much as we have! xo
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Amy, this recipe looks so delicious! I just love the image with the recipe in it…too cool! I am going to give your recipe a try next week. It looks like something my guys would love to eat!
My father was from Santa Fe, and we grew up having enchiladas every Friday. Something my mama taught us was to use bacon drippings in place of the oil. (Not sure if that is something most families save…we have always had a small pot of “grease” in our fridge.) She always uses chicken broth in place of water, too. Not authentic, perhaps, but adds really good flavor. Especially the bacon drippings.
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Amy Reply:
September 11th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Oh, I love these tips and ideas, Brooke! I am all for anything that uses bacon grease and chicken broth!
Thanks so much for these yummy ideas and your sweet words on the picture! I thought it might be a bit more “pinnable.” xo
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Pam@behealthybehappywellness Reply:
September 11th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Love using the bacon fat and chicken broth – great way to add healthy fats and extra nutrients while saving money!
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The recipe doesn’t mention oil, yet the first instruction is to heat the oil. How much?
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Amy Reply:
September 13th, 2012 at 7:24 am
Sorry, Kathy, it is 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Not sure how that got omitted, but the recipe was corrected! Thank you for letting me know!
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I made this and it was terrific. Next time I will double it since I like really saucy enchiladas. I know I will never use canned again.I had used up all of my cumin and chili powder making homemade taco seasoning so I used that. Lately I have been making everything I can homemade and this is going to be one I use often. Thank you!
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Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2012 at 12:45 pm
I’m with you on the saucy enchilada
So glad the recipe was a hit, Kim!
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Authentic “enchilada sauce” does not have sugar, cumin or tomato sauce. How do I know? I am from New Mexico. Born and raised here
Also, you should you use onion powder because the chile should be smooth. If you want chopped onions then you top your enchiladas with them. Don’t add to the actual red chile sauce.
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Cindy Reply:
January 30th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
505 Duke City…Did you even try the sauce? I think it’s rude of you to give it one star based on the ingredients of the recipe. I’m going to make this soon, but I wouldn’t even think of rating a recipe before trying it!
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This recipe looks tasty! I was however wondering if you knew how it would stand up to being canned? Would love to make in a huge batch and can some for later use.
Thanks!
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Amy Reply:
January 3rd, 2013 at 2:11 pm
I assume that you could can this since I know some people can spaghetti sauces and such. Please let me know how it turns out, Rikki!
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Shady Reply:
January 14th, 2013 at 7:33 am
I am not to sure if it is a good idea with the oil. but it might be fine give your extension office a call.
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I am all for homemade, especially since my husband is allergic to onions and we have to change recipes all the time. Any thoughts on how to do this recipe without the onion?
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I don’t have permission to view the Chicken Enchiladas recipe! Sad!
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Amy Reply:
January 15th, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Sorry, Kathryn, I just fixed that! Here is the link: http://momadvice.com/blog/2008/10/chicken-enchiladas-with-homemade-enchilada-sauce. Thanks for letting me know!
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Just turned off the stove, it’s fabulous!! Am excited to put dinner together. While store bought is fine I am happy to find this , being easy and NO preservatives/extra stuff. Thank you so much.
Will be watching for answers re: canning, if I get time to try will let you all know.
Thanks again!
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This recipe was fantastic. I wanted it to taste just like store bought, and it does. However, I know what is in this sauce, unlike the stores. Thanks very much!
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I”LL TAKE IT! Made it tonight. Made a double batch, a total of roughly 20 enchiladas…….Kiddos, hubby and I ate 1/2 of it!!!!! Dangerously good! Will tweak the chili powder up, to the actual amount next time(we like spicy food here)………….Found that if you take a hand held smooth maker type thing(like the chopper chefs use for soups), and you use that after the sauce has been made, makes it a more even, smooth consistency. Like it better then the store bought stuff for sure!
Has anyone tried canning it????? Thinking I would like to make like 10 batches up at once and have it canned for future use!
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This is not enchilada sauce. If you want true Mexican enchilada sauce you need to start with real casabel chilis and chili ancho pods. Instead of using a can of tomato paste.
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This looks great!!! I printed it out already. The best part about this is I always have the ingredients for enchiladas minus the sauce… but now that won’t be the case! Thanks for this easy idea!
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I’m the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It’s sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I’d love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!
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Amy Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 9:37 am
Thank you so much! I will definitely do that, Sean!
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To all the people bashing the recipe saying “if you want real enchilada sauce use this, or this is not the real stuff.” Why don’t you put up a recipe that shows us how to make the real thing? I, for one, am glad that this recipe was posted. I don’t like not knowing what is going into the food that I feed my family and I am ecxited to try this recipe.
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I made your enchilada sauce tonight. It was great! I needed a simple recipe and this fit the bill. I went with 2 tablespoons of chili and it could have been a bit more spicy. Also, I put the mixture in my blender for a bit to smooth it out. My girls said they were the best enchiladas I ever made. Put that one in the win column. I am going to try it again and add a chipotle pepper for flavor and spice.
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Just want to give a comment from a born and raised New Mexican with Mexican parents. My mom makes her enchilada sauce totally different. No tomato sauce, lots of garlic and yes cumin, no ancho chili but red chili and other goodies. I think everyone has their own version and you can’t say “my recipe is authentic and yours isn’t”. I wish I new my mom’s exact recipe to share but she cans it for me. The secret is don’t add the oil until you are fixing to make the the enchiladas.
In any case good for you for posting and everyone seems to really like it!
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I totally agree with Duke city 505, not being rude just honest and Mexican. You Do Not use tomato sauce or sugar in enchiladas. Since chili is the root word from enchiladas, it is also the root ingredient and base for the recipe. Cook dried red chili pods until soft, put in blender with cool water, blend until liquified. Strain chili. Put oil in saucepan and warm, sprinkle and stir flour as if making a rue. Slowly add chili, the rue will thicken the chili add salt and garlic to taste. Keep it simple. Trying to over complicate with too many spices just takes away from the chili. Place corn tortillas in warm sauce to soften(and avoid frying) lay flat on the plate, sprinkle cheese and diced onion and repeat. Top off the layers with an over medium egg and eat it like a REAL Mexican…. Now go make some REAL
mexican food.
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Rueda Reply:
May 4th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
To “cook” chili, boil it.
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