I usually buy my enchilada sauce. Yes, I knew I should be making it, but I had never found a recipe that I was really happy with. I had tried several and they just weren’t very good. So, I stuck to the canned stuff you can get at the grocery store.
I was recently talking to a friend of mine about this. She lived in Mexico for a few years, so she knows some about Mexican cooking. I asked her how she made her enchilada sauce. She told me the basics and then gave me an exact recipe.
I decided to give it a try. This recipe was really good. This was the best enchilada sauce that I have made. It had great flavor. I think it was even better than the canned sauce. My husband thought it could have been spicier. But he likes his enchiladas spicy. You can always add more chili powder or chilies if you like it really spicy. The kids and I thought it was really good just like it is.
I did change two things. It called for green onions. I did not have any, so I used regular onions. I thought they worked great, so I will probably continue to make it this way. I also pureed everything in the blender. I wanted a very smooth sauce. If you want it more chunky just mix the ingredients together and do not blend.
Enchiladas are a pretty frugal meal and homemade enchilada sauce is a great way to make enchiladas even more frugal.
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, undrained
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
Combine all tomato sauce ingredients and place in a blender. Puree ingredients. Then place in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Use as desired for enchiladas.
For more frugal meals see $5 dinners. This is also posted at Blissfully Domestic.
For more Mexican Recipes see Life As Mom Recipe Swap
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Wow, I never knew how easy it was to make it homemade!! The ingredients are so few! Why have I been buying canned sauce for so long? Thank you for sharing another great recipe!
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I’ve been looking for a homemade sauce recipe! This looks mighty tasty!
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Definitely giving this one a try. The ones I’ve tried before have included cinnamon and/or cocoa. Weird!
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This enchiladas surely sounds yummy!
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The sauce is getting so expensive in the stores. I’m looking forward to trying this cheaper and healthier version.
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Great, thanks for posting this recipe. It seems like I am always one can short when I want to make enchiladas. I have also noticed that it is getting more expensive to buy the canned stuff. So thanks!
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I, like you, have been looking for a recipe to make this homemade, but I have never been happy w/ it. I can’t wait to try yours!!
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Cool, thanks for the recipe!
~Liz
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Thanks, I have been buying sauce to and know I should be making it. Can’t wait to try this!
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could you please repost the mexican rice recipe
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What a great, simple enchilada sauce recipe. I tweaked it out a little for my own prefferences, such as making it a little on the spicy side, but found it a great base to work from.
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This sounds good, Lynn. I like the idea of putting it in the blender, too, especially when picky eaters look askance at any lumps in the sauce and ask suspiciously, “What IS this?” I’ll bet blending it would solve that problem
Thanks for sharing this.
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