Easy Red Enchilada Sauce

close up of enchilada sauce dripping off a wooden spoon into a jar.

Add to Collection

4.72 from 180 votes

Easy Red Enchilada Sauce

It only takes 10 minutes to make this super easy red enchilada sauce that is bursting with flavor.

Cook Time10

Total Time10

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Mexican, Southwest

Total Cost: $1.32 recipe

Servings: ¼ cup each

Author: Beth Moncel

Ingredients

2 Tbsp cooking oil $0.08
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour $0.02
2 Tbsp chili powder $0.60
2 cups water $0.00
3 oz. tomato paste $0.47
1/2 tsp ground cumin $0.05
1/2 tsp garlic powder $0.05
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper $0.02
3/4 tsp salt or pepper to taste, $0.03

Instructions

Add the cooking oil, flour, and chili powder to a sauce pot. Turn the heat on to medium and whisk the ingredients together. Continue to whisk as the mixture begins to bubble. Whisk and cook the mixture for one minute once it begins bubbling.
After one minute, whisk in the water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper until smooth. Allow the sauce to come up to a simmer. Once it reaches a simmer it will begin to thicken slightly.
Starting with a 1/2 teaspoon, add salt to taste. I used about 3/4 teaspoon total. The sauce is now ready to use!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*The water can be replaced with either vegetable broth or chicken broth for more depth, just be sure to reduce the salt added at the end to compensate.

A Note on the Spice Level

The "chili powder" listed in this recipe is a store-bought mix of spices used to season chili. It is not straight chile powder, or pure ground chile peppers, which can be extremely spicy. The brand of chili powder I use is completely mild, but other brands can sometimes carry some heat. If you are using a spicy chili powder, simply reduce or eliminate the cayenne powder from this recipe to compensate. The heat level of this recipe, using McCormick's chili powder, is medium spicy, like a medium salsa.

Nutrition