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Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

Updated on February 1st, 2021

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It’s no secret I enjoy Mexican food, and with Cinco de Mayo coming up early next month, I will be posting a lot of Mexican recipes. This is a great recipe for anyone looking to make their own homemade enchilada sauce. This is specifically the red enchilada sauce. I personally prefer this over the green. This sauce beats anything you will find in the store, is easy to make and is extremely delicious. This goes perfect with any type of enchiladas… beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, etc. If you are looking for a solid enchilada sauce recipe, be sure to try this one. Enjoy.
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Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

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  • Author: Bobby

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon onion (minced)
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • A ¼ cup of salsa
  • 1 (6 ounces) can tomato sauce
  • 1 ½ cups water

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil. Add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add onion, oregano, basil, chili powder, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa, and tomato sauce.
  2. Mix well. Stir in the water.
  3.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
  4.  Pour over pre-made enchiladas for baking.

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14 thoughts on “Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe”

  1. Is a “6oz can of tomato sauce” correct? I have never seen tomato sauce in cans smaller than 8oz. Tomato paste is most commonly found in 6oz cans and seems more logical with all that water. Did you accidentally type the wrong word?

  2. Great recipe! Since I’m on a low salt diet, I’ll skip the salt and use low salt tomato sauce, but I think the spices will add enough zing to make it work. 🙂

  3. Pamela – You could use a 6 oz can of tomato paste instead, that would work fine or you could use a whole 8 oz can of tomato sauce. Sorry for the confusion.

  4. I needed this on Monday when I was making bean and corn layered enchilada casserole! I’ll have to try this for next time, sounds delish.

  5. Hey,
    so I was really excited about this recipe and I don’t know if I did something wrong because it didn’t turn out at all. I tripled it for my enchiladas and I used the tomato sauce. It was completely runny after I simmered it. My husband and I were scratching our heads in confusion. I followed the recipe as is and don’t know where I went wrong????

  6. Ok,
    so I just wrote the last comment. I was pretty worried for awhile because we simmered it 40 min and it was still pretty runny. I added a 6oz can of paste and then used 2 1/2 tbs cornstarch with the same amount of water and it turned out perfect!!! My enchiladas were amazing and it had the perfect blend of spices! Thank you for posting this 😀

  7. Megan – Sorry I could not respond sooner. I am glad things worked out for you in the end. I cant say I have had problems with the sauce thickening myself, but if you simmered for 40 minutes and it was still very runny, something was clearly wrong. If others have problems, I may have to tweak this recipe a bet. You did the right thing with the adjustments you made.

  8. Just a quick question. Did you use 6oz tomato paste in the original? I saw you could use either 6oz paste or 8oztomato sauce. I’m assuming paste for thickening reasons?

  9. Megan- Yes, with the paste the sauce would become thicker. In the original however, I believe I used tomato sauce.

  10. I made this recipe for a supper this week and really enjoyed it! The rich flavor combination of the ingredients was outstanding.

  11. Tried these last night, was a little concerned as we couldnt ge some of the ingredients, a small adaptation here and their and they turned out superb!

    brilliant recipe!

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