
Free: Healthy Freezer Meals Recipe Ebook
Get It NowFrom fresh salsa to tender barbacoa to creamy guacamole, there is no shortage of healthy Mexican recipes around here at Wholesome Yum. It’s probably my fave cuisine of all! Since I like to make my own sauces (okay, let’s be real, when I have the time…), a recent less-busy Saturday was the perfect excuse to make a homemade, easy red enchilada sauce recipe from scratch.
What Is Enchilada Sauce?
Enchilada sauce is a vibrant and flavorful Mexican red sauce made with chili peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and spices. It adds a delightful kick to many dishes such as enchiladas, burritos, and tamales.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe
- Spicy, tangy, and a little sweet, all at the same time
- Simple pantry ingredients
- One pan for easy cleanup
- No roux, thickeners, flour, cornstarch, or cornstarch substitutes needed
- Ready in 10 minutes
- Versatile – you can use this in so many ways!

Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best easy enchilada sauce ingredients, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Olive Oil – Used for sauteing the garlic. You could also use avocado oil, your favorite neutral cooking oil, or even butter (or ghee).
- Garlic – I used fresh garlic for the best flavor, but you could use 2 teaspoons of jarred garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder for convenience.
- Chicken Broth – I typically buy reduced-sodium chicken broth, so you may need to adjust the salt depending on how salty yours is. You can also use bone broth for extra nutrition, or vegetable broth to make this vegetarian.
- Tomato Sauce – Tomato sauce adds a classic tang and richness, making it one of the essential ingredients in a recipe for enchilada sauce. If you don’t have any, you can substitute crushed tomatoes pureed in a blender or tomato paste diluted with water.
- Seasoning – For classic flavor, we’re using a combination of chili powder, dried oregano, aromatic cumin, savory onion powder, sea salt, and black pepper (optional). If you like some kick, add 1/4 teaspoon (or more) of cayenne pepper.

How To Make Enchilada Sauce
This section shows how to make easy enchilada sauce, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Saute the garlic. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
- Combine the sauce ingredients. Add the broth, tomato sauce, chili powder, oregano, cumin, onion powder, salt, and pepper (if using) to the pan. Whisk until smooth.
- Simmer. Bring to the mixture to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer on low until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. If desired, adjust red sauce with sea salt and black pepper to taste.



TIP: For faster results, use a larger saucepan.
The thickening process can take more or less time, depending on the size of your saucepan. The larger the pan, the faster you can make your homemade enchilada sauce!
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep homemade enchilada sauce to an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: For longer storage, store the sauce in a zip lock bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw on the counter or in the fridge overnight, and stir before using.

Ways To Use Enchilada Sauce Recipes
This sauce is surprisingly versatile! Use it with these easy recipes to add flavor and spice.
- Enchiladas – Obviously! You can use this sauce on beef enchiladas, gluten-free chicken enchiladas, or even black bean enchiladas.
- Tacos – Replace your taco sauce with this sauce to make the ultimate tacos! You can also drizzle it on other taco-inspired recipes, like zucchini taco boats, healthy taco salad, easy Crock Pot taco casserole, or taco dip.
- Burritos – Add this sauce to your burritos, or a tortilla-free burrito in a bowl.
- Fajitas – Add a more zing to shrimp fajitas, easy chicken fajitas, or Instant Pot steak fajitas.
- Casseroles – Use as a topping over an egg casserole or chicken bacon ranch casserole for a Mexican-inspired flair, or add inside Mexican ground beef casserole.
- Soups – Drizzle enchilada sauce over Mexican chicken soup or black bean soup. Finish with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro.
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
Try some of my other homemade sauce recipes to take your meals from good to gourmet in no time:
Recommended Tools
- Medium Saucepan – One of my favorite saucepans. It has lasted me for years!
Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Homemade & Easy!)
Learn how to make the best homemade enchilada sauce recipe in 10 minutes! It's super easy, naturally gluten-free and uses common ingredients.
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
-
Add all remaining ingredients and stir together. Bring to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat to maintain bubbles. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to your liking.
-
Adjust sea salt and black pepper to taste if needed (do this only after cooking, which develops the flavors and heat).
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
This helps other readers and also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/4 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Save This Recipe Now© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂

29 Comments
Kate
0I made this homemade enchilada sauce for my family and everyone asked for second helpings because of how delicious it was! Definitely a keeper!
Lindsey
0Your enchilada sauce was delightful! I used it to make your low carb chicken enchiladas and the whole family raved!!!
Elizabeth S
0This is a really great recipe and easy to make! I love how it tasted so much better than store bought enchilada sauce. Keeper recipe for sure.
Liz
0I used this on black bean enchiladas and it was so good!! Perfect flavor and so easy to make!
jennifer
0Thank you so much for this! I always cringed using enchilada sauce out of a can . .. but need convenience for my life right now. Had no idea homemade would be so easy.
Vicki Craig
0Great Gluten Free Recipe! I thicken either by cooking longer as the recipe suggests, or I add in some avocado.
Julianne R.
0This is the answer to my prayers. I began my gluten free journey a little over two months ago and needed to bring some ‘traditional’ Mexican enchiladas back to the dinner table at my family’s request. Now I can enjoy the same meal! This sauce is just like my mom’s.
Leigh Houston
0Absolutely delicious! About to make it for the 3rd time in as many weeks. I love how easy it is!
Mary
0Yummy!
Jenna
0I found that Old El Paso has enchilada sauce with only 3g of carbs for every 1/4 cup serving.
Amy
0I made this last night and I will never buy a can of enchilada sauce again. It was delicious!
Lydia
0So easy and delicious! I cut back on the chili powder and cumin a bit and didn’t add the black pepper because my young kids don’t appreciate things being very spicy. And it was a total win! I love how easy it is to mix up and I freeze any of the sauce that I don’t end up using.
Diana
0Authentic red chili enchilada sauce is made with red chilis not tomato’s. I live in NM capital of growing chilis. It is made way different now you know the difference
Sharon
0Is there a reason you don’t use paprika? When I make my home made I do.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sharon, you can absolutely use paprika if you like!
Patricia R.
0Made this tonight. It was delicious! I was making a chicken enchilada something or other and I mixed up my flours by accident making some tortillas and ended up with a mess. But I improvised and it all turned out great. This recipe is a keeper. Fast to make and pretty much fool proof. Every store bought sauce I found had unwanted ingredients. And tomatoes. Not sure about the comment about not having tomatoes, but I have yet to find one that didn’t.
Donna
0Delicious and EASY
Rebecca Wells
0Yeah except that REAL authentic enchilada sauce has NO tomato sauce in it. It is made with redi chilis, or chili powder and camino powder, oil, salt and pepper.
So I made my home made sauce with just a sprinkle of Arrowroot and your coconut tortillas, not bad not bad atol. Also try the tortillas with Herdez Salsa Verde and Fontana cheese….YUM
Nathan
0This sauce is absolutely perfect. The only difference from the recipe is that I used Kerrygold butter to saute the garlic. Everything else was the same. Then made an enchilada bake/casserole. It was amazing, mainly because of this awesome sauce 🙂 Will be making this over and over again. Seems like it would make a really good marinade too. Just a thought. Thank you!
Miranda
0YUM!! I’m definitely going to have to try this. Do you think using butter will change the recipe much compared to using Ghee?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Ghee would definitely work in this recipe, Miranda! I hope you like it!
Monica
0Love this sauce!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Monica! Thanks for stopping by!
Tracy
0Just made this to accompany my pork roast tonight as I’m finally breaking my egg fast… it was delicious!! I did add about a tablespoon on chipotle tobacco for some heat and it worked well with the flavor profile.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Great idea to add Chipotle, Tracy! I am so glad you liked it!
Carissa
0How long would this last in the fridge?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Carissa, it should last about a week in the fridge.
Beverly Jackson
0Some great gluten-free recipes. Thanks.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Beverly!