Homemade Enchilada Sauce (With Ancho Chiles)

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Canned enchilada sauce is easy to find at the store. But, homemade enchilada sauce is so much better. After trying my authentic homemade enchilada sauce recipe, you’ll never go back to the store-bought stuff again.

In this recipe, garden fresh tomatoes are simmered with smoky and sweet ancho chilis and a variety of flavorful spices. This robust sauce is delicious, fresh, and nutritious.

Enchiladas come in many different forms, and there are a variety of sauce options you can choose from. The smoky flavor of this sauce is suitable for a variety of dishes, but I prefer to use it on simple homemade enchiladas.

Basic homemade enchiladas: Shred your cooked meat, combine with cheese, and roll it up into a soft tortilla before topping them off with this tasty sauce and baking. It’s that easy! And, the flavor of the sauce is so good, you don’t need to worry about seasoning your enchilada filling much at all.

What are Ancho chiles?

Ancho chiles are what give this recipe authentic flavor. What you may not know is that ancho chiles are simply poblano peppers in their dried form. They are harvested before they are ripe, and then dried. They have a very deep, sweet flavor that is commonly found in Mexican cuisine and recipes, especially mole sauce. The aroma of anchos is similar to that of raisins.

Recipe highlights

• My enchilada sauce recipe is full of authentic flavors and garden fresh ingredients, making for the best enchiladas you’ll ever eat.
• I always recommend using fresh tomatoes instead of tomato paste. It’s a great way to use up a big harvest of tomatoes. If you can dry your own poblanos to make anchos, even better!
• This is an easy recipe that also stores well in the freezer if you don’t use it all up at once. 
• Enchiladas are only as good as the sauce that dresses them. My recipe is versatile and will work on vegetarian, pork, beef, or chicken enchiladas.
• This easy enchilada sauce recipe is a red sauce, making it great in burritos or as a dipping sauce for quesadillas.

How to make homemade enchilada sauce

Ingredients needed:

• Tomatoes – Fresh from the garden works best (and the flavor payoff is worth it). If shopping for tomatoes, look for ripe Roma tomatoes as they are lower in water content.
• Dried ancho chilis – Dried ancho chilis are simply dried poblano peppers. They should be easy to find at your local grocery store in their dried form.
• Garlic cloves – Use fresh garlic as opposed to garlic pastes, pre-minced garlic, or powders.
• White onion – While you can use any type of onion you’d like, I prefer the flavor of white onions in this recipe.
• Chicken broth – If needed, you can also substitute vegetable broth or water.
• Spices – Chipotle chili powder, coriander, cumin, a cinnamon stick, and salt all come together for this flavorful sauce.

Preheat a 4 quart or larger Dutch oven over medium heat. Dry roast the dried chilis, their seeds, and the cinnamon stick until they are fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring frequently. Do not dry roast powdered cinnamon. Use tongs to remove the cinnamon stick and discard or save for another use.

Add onion and salt, stir until fragrant and onions are slightly soft.

Add all remaining powdered spices (cumin, coriander, chipotle powder, and powdered cinnamon if using) and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Add garlic and stir frequently until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in chicken broth and bring to a simmer, cooking until anchos are softened and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10-15 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

Turn off the heat, allowing the sauce to cool until you are comfortable working with it. Then, working in batches, transfer sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.

Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a large clean bow. Use a ladle or potato masher to help firmly press down the solids into the strainer and gather all of the sauce.

Return the sauce to its original pot and simmer again for about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it come down in temperature until you are ready to use your sauce. 

Recipe Tips and FAQs

• The easiest way to core and de-seed the tomatoes is to start by laying the tomato on its side and cutting off each end. Then, cut in half the long way and scrape out the seeds and fibrous core with a spoon.
• After the tomatoes are prepared and chopped, you will have less tomatoes by weight than you started with (often about half the amount). Each tomato variety will have a different usable amount that will impact the overall yield of the sauce.
• Dry roasting is a great way to bring out the smoky and naturally sweet flavor of any spice, but only dry roast whole spices (not powders). Powdered spices are very likely to burn and will spoil the sauce’s flavor.
• Never sauté garlic and onion at the same time. Give your onions a head start to release their extra moisture and break down. Then, add your minced garlic. Garlic burns easily and will leave a bitter flavor.
• Any tomato will work for this recipe, but if you have the option, go for Roma or plum tomatoes. These are lower in water and have a chewy texture which makes them perfect for sauces. 
• I have tested this recipe with different onion types, and white onions are my favorite. These are generally milder and often a bit sweeter which is why they’re used in most Mexican recipes.

If the fresh tomatoes taste too “bright” or acidic – Add a teaspoon at a time of sugar to the sauce to balance out the acidity.

To alter the flavor of the enchilada sauce after it has been cooked – Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pot, add your sauce and based on what flavor you want to adjust, add a little (sugar, salt, additional spice) at a time and continue stirring until the flavor you want is front and center. 

To store this sauce – Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or up to 3 months in a freezer-safe airtight container.

Other authentic Mexican recipes 

• Slow cooker barbacoa – Chipotles in adobo sauce are used to season this top-tier dish.
• Mexican chocolate fudge – Homemade dried cayenne powder made from fresh cayenne peppers adds the heat in this spicy dessert recipe.
• Cheesy chilies rellenos – Perfect if you’re looking to stuff some fresh poblano peppers from the garden.

I hope you enjoy this sauce and use it on your favorite enchilada recipe. You’ll love that this recipe is full of authentic Mexican flavor, and might even enjoy it more than takeout!