Easy Enchilada Sauce

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Published: October 15, 2025 by Sam Merritt • Leave a Comment

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This quick & easy enchilada sauce recipe is ready in just 10 minutes! It’s made with pantry staples and easily adjusts to be as mild or spicy as you like. Recipe includes a how-to video!

Homemade enchilada sauce being spooned from a jar.

The Easiest Enchilada Sauce Recipe

I’m back with another kitchen staple! Like my homemade taco seasoning, this enchilada sauce recipe will save you in a pinch. It’s quick, simple, and it tastes great on beef, cheese, veggie, or chicken enchiladas. Personally, I use it in my chicken enchiladas (recipe coming soon 😉!).

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

So fast. Almost as fast as opening a can from the store! But it tastes so much better than that stuff that has been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long.
Customizable heat level. Keep it mild if you’re serving to kids or someone with a heat sensitive palate, or add a bit more spice for spice lovers. Psst…if you love spicy food, give my arrabiata sauce a try next!
Not just for enchiladas! Use it as a sauce for a Mexican pizza (with my pizza dough, of course), layer it in a Mexican lasagna, pour it over your scrambled eggs, or use it to flavor enchilada soup or my chicken tortilla soup.
Freezes well. I include instructions for this in the recipe notes.
Just the right amount (though you can easily double if needed!). This recipe makes a bit over 2 cups of sauce, which is what many recipes call for.

Jump to:

The Easiest Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
How to Make Enchilada Sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
Serve Your Enchiladas With:
Easy Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

Lots of spices, a little flour, and some chicken broth…let’s talk ingredients! And also a quick but important note: Classic, authentic enchilada sauce uses real dried chilis and takes longer to make. My recipe is meant to give you that bold, deep flavor but it’s also a quick and accessible shortcut that’s much faster and easier for busy nights.

Spices. Including chili powder, ancho chili powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper. I like using the ancho chili powder (a favorite from my potato soup recipe!) for a deeper, subtly sweet/smoky flavor, but you can swap this with another tablespoon of regular chili powder and still have excellent results.
Oil. I like avocado oil and have been using it for just about everything lately, from my key lime cake to my turkey chili. Really any neutral oil will work though–I touch on this more in the FAQ section below.
Tomato paste. This helps with depth of flavor. If you don’t want to buy a whole can, you can buy a tube of tomato paste instead! It will keep in the fridge for a bit.
Flour. Regular all-purpose flour is all you need. I haven’t tried it, but I suspect a 1:1 gluten-free flour would also work just fine here.
Sugar. Just a bit to balance the flavor. I’ve tested this recipe with light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and coconut sugar–all work just fine!

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

SAM’S TIP: If you want to turn up the heat in this enchilada sauce recipe, simply increase the cayenne. Just proceed with caution if you do this–it can get hot pretty quick!

How to Make Enchilada Sauce

SAM’S TIP: If your sauce thickens too much (sometimes this happens after it cools), you can just whisk in a bit more broth. Easy peasy!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the different types of enchilada sauce?

While there are a few variations, the two most common are red and green. Red sauce is what I’m sharing here today, and green would be what you’d use for enchiladas verdes (recipes vary but usually include green chiles, tomatillos, cilantro, spices, and lime).

Here in the US, you’ll also see mole on many menus; this is a darker sauce made with chocolate, nuts, smoked chilies, and spices. It has a unique depth of flavor and is very different from the sauce I’m sharing today.

What’s the best oil to use for enchilada sauce?

I like avocado oil, but really any neutral cooking oil would work. Avoid oils with a strong flavor, like coconut oil, as those will come through in the final product and can change the overall taste.

What are some common enchilada sauce mistakes?

Burning the roux/spices/garlic, cooking the sauce too long or on too high of a heat (causing the sauce to get too thick), not cooking long enough (too thin), and forgetting to taste testing before serving (always taste test!).

Serve Your Enchiladas With:

Stay tuned for my recipe for chicken enchiladas–coming very soon!

Enjoy!

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Homemade enchilada sauce being spooned from a jar.

Easy Enchilada Sauce

This quick & easy enchilada sauce recipe is ready in just 10 minutes! It's made with pantry staples and easily adjusts to be as mild or spicy as you like.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Print Pin Rate

Course: sauce

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 8 servings (makes a little over 2 cups)

Calories: 77kcal

Ingredients

▢ 3 Tablespoons avocado oil or other neutral cooking oil
▢ 1 garlic clove pressed
▢ 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
▢ 2 tablespoons chili powder
▢ 1 Tablespoon ancho chili powder (may substitute with an additional Tablespoon of regular chili powder)
▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
▢ 1 teaspoon light brown sugar, granulated sugar, or coconut sugar
▢ ¾ teaspoon table salt (plus more to taste, if needed)
▢ ½ teaspoon dried oregano
▢ Pinch of cayenne pepper if desired
▢ 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
▢ 2 cups (473 ml) chicken broth
▢ 2 teaspoons lime juice

Instructions

Pour oil into a small saucepan and warm over medium heat. Once warmed, add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3 Tablespoons avocado oil, 1 garlic clove
Sprinkle flour over the oil and whisk until light golden in color (about 60 seconds).
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Add spices, sugar, and salt and whisk together for 30-60 seconds (will be very thick and quite dry, this is normal! Keep it moving so it doesn’t burn).
2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 Tablespoon ancho chili powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon light brown sugar, granulated sugar, or coconut sugar, ¾ teaspoon table salt, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, Pinch of cayenne pepper
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until paste deepens in color (about 1-2 minutes).
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
While whisking, slowly drizzle in chicken broth. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened.
2 cups (473 ml) chicken broth
Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Taste-test and add additional salt as needed. Use as indicated with your favorite enchilada recipe!
2 teaspoons lime juice

Notes

Storing

If not using immediately, allow the sauce to cool completely then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you’d like to freeze it, this sauce will freeze for up to a month or two. I recommend thawing overnight in the fridge before using (though you can also thaw it in a saucepan on low heat!).

Nutrition

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.