This red homemade enchilada sauce has the best flavor! It’s all natural, cheaper than store-bought, and quick and easy to make.
Want a great enchilada sauce that’s fast and easy to make? This homemade enchilada sauce is so tasty and takes just 25 minutes! It’s all natural with no preservatives, and it’s vegan and gluten-free, too. Alex and I typically buy enchilada sauce at the store, since we didn’t have a go-to recipe. But when we created our Vegan Enchiladas, we knew we wanted a homemade version. Turns out, it takes just a handful of ingredients to get huge flavor. This full-bodied sauce is zingy, zesty, and you’ll never want to stop eating it.
What’s in a red enchilada sauce?
Guess what? You don’t need canned tomatoes to make this enchilada sauce. All you need is tomato paste, vegetable broth and some seasonings. Because you’re using tomato paste which is naturally sweeter, you’ll only need to simmer the sauce for 15 minutes. It turns into a full-flavored sauce with a creamy texture and a zesty flavor that’s irresistible. Here’s all you need for this sauce:
- Yellow onion and garlic
- Olive oil (to saute)
- Vegetable broth
- Tomato paste
- Adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers; see below)
- Spices: cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and chili powder
All you’ll have to do is saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend it up and you’re ready to go!
Why make homemade enchilada sauce?
When it’s easy to find packaged enchilada sauce, why make it at home? Lots of reasons. Here’s why we’re now converts to making homemade enchilada sauce:
- There’s no MSG or preservatives. You know exactly what’s going into this sauce: it’s all natural!
- It’s vegan and gluten-free. Many red enchilada sauce recipes are vegan, but many are not gluten-free because they use flour as a thickener. This one has no need for flour or cornstarch!
- It’s cheaper. When we priced out the enchilada sauce at our local grocery, 3 cups (to make our vegan enchiladas) would be about $12. This homemade enchilada sauce is about $5, depending on your local grocery store.
So, set aside 25 minutes and make this enchilada sauce the night before! It’s totally worth the time investment.
What is adobo sauce?
Adobo sauce is a tomato-chili sauce that brings savory, smoky flavor to Mexican dishes. It’s packaged inside a can of chipotle chilis! Here’s some info about using adobo sauce in recipes:
- Chipotles in adobo sauce are sold in most grocery stores here in the US, available near the Mexican products. The can includes chipotle chiles: smoked and dried jalapeños that are rehydrated and canned, and adobo sauce, a purée of tomato, vinegar, garlic, and other spices.
- This recipe calls for adobo sauce only. You’ll just use a tablespoon to pull out just the sauce from the can. The sauce is lightly spicy, but not nearly as spicy as the chipotle peppers! Each brand of can has different amounts of adobo sauce, so you’ll have to experiment and find your favorite.
- Refrigerate or freeze the remainder. You can use the remaining adobo sauce and chipotle peppers in recipes! See below for our favorite adobo sauce recipes.
How to serve this homemade enchilada sauce
Enchiladas are one of our favorite recipes to make, because they always, always impress! Here are a few we’d recommend:
- Vegan Enchiladas Who needs cheese? These are so full of flavor, everyone loves them!
- Vegetarian Skillet Enchiladas Make enchiladas in a skillet instead!
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas Substitute red enchilada sauce for green in this fan favorite recipe.
- Vegetarian Enchiladas with Quinoa This meaty filling would be perfect with a red enchilada sauce instead of green.
More recipes with adobo sauce!
You’ll use only 1 ½ tablespoons of adobo sauce in this recipe: so you’ll have plenty to use in other recipes! You can also use the chipotle chilis: finely mince them and add them to salsa.
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup A swirl of adobo sauce makes the flavor of this fan favorite soup!
- Chipotle Stuffed Delicata Squash Paint adobo sauce on squash, then stuff it with black beans and rice.
- Quinoa Chili Adobo sauce is perfect to bring flavor to plant-based chili.
- Chipotle Quesadilla with Avocado Top this avocado quesadilla with chipotle sauce.
- For more….Everything You Can Do with a Can of Chipotles in Adobo | Serious Eats
This homemade enchilada sauce recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Print
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: About 3 cups 1x
Description
This red homemade enchilada sauce has the best flavor! It’s all natural, cheaper than store-bought, and quick and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup minced yellow onion (1/2 large)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 6 ounce can tomato paste (10 tablespoons)
- 1 ½ tablespoons adobo sauce (from 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon oregano
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Mince the onion. Mince the garlic.
- In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for 5 minutes until golden and tender but not browned. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Carefully pour in the vegetable broth, and then add the remaining ingredients: tomato paste, adobo sauce, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, chili powder, and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer, where the sauce is gently bubbling, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the contents to a blender (use a ladle to keep from splashing). Blend until smooth. Use immediately or place in a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: Homemade Enchilada Sauce, Red Enchilada Sauce
How long can you keep a can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce once it has been opened?
We keep our in the freezer indefinitely, or covered in the fridge for several weeks.
Can leftovers be frozen?
Do you use the chipotle peppers along with the adobo sauce or discard the peppers?
Just the sauce. You can freeze the remaining sauce and peppers until the next use (the peppers are VERY spicy though so we often only use the sauce).
Where is the amount of sodium per serving?
Hi! We omit the sodium because many ingredients we use such as beans, cheese or broth can have vastly different amounts and we don’t want to give false information. 1 teaspoon of kosher salt has 1920 mg of sodium if that is helpful.