Learn how to make the perfect enchiladas at home with this easy recipe
With the seasons beginning to change, cooler weather always brings different comfort foods for many people. One of the best comfort foods is a homemade enchilada.
Enchiladas would not be so delicious without the homemade enchilada sauce. Knowing how to make yummy homemade enchilada sauce is quite easy. It does not take too long either.
We have done some research and found some delicious homemade enchilada sauce recipes. This weekend, instead of getting take-out, why not make your enchiladas.
How to Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Homemade enchilada sauce is very easy to prepare. We have found one of the great recipes for homemade enchilada sauce.
The recipe that we found is an authentic Mexican food recipe. The recipe mentions cinnamon as one of the ingredients, and however, it is optional.
The vinegar brings out the flavor in the enchilada sauce. This sauce is also free of MSG and processed additives.
Related Article: How to Make Chicken Tacos
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
This recipe makes 2 cups of enchilada sauce.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- Three tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground chile powder (if you prefer, cayenne pepper can be used as well)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregan
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste or tomato sauce
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 2 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth-especially for chicken enchiladas)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preparing the homemade enchilada sauce:
- Measure the dry items first. Place all ingredients into a small bowl and put close to the stove.
- Put the tomato paste and broth close to the stove also.
- In a medium pot, place on medium heat. Make sure you warm the oil until it is hot enough that it sizzles.
- When the sauce is ready, pour the flour and spice mix in. Make sure that you are constantly whisking.
- Cook until it is fragrant and deepens in its color. This is about one minute.
- Whisk the tomato paste into a nice mixture.
- Slowly pour in the broth as you whisk out any lumps.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and bring the mix to a simmer. Reduce the heat if necessary and make sure a gentle simmer is maintained.
- This should take 5 to 7 minutes at the most.
- Make sure the sauce has thickened.
- Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the vinegar, and you can now season with black pepper.
If you are not a fan of enchilada sauce, there are some alternatives and substitutes that you can try out too.
What is a substitute for enchilada sauce?
If you are not a big fan of enchilada sauce or chili-based sauce, you have other options.
There are other options if you happen to run out of enchilada sauce and cannot rush out and get the store-bought sauce.
Several enchilada sauce substitutes include green enchilada sauce, red enchilada sauce, taco sauce, salsa sauce, chiltomate sauce, ranchero sauce, Picante sauce, and also sofrito sauce.
No matter what you use to substitute the sauce, the best sauce will be homemade enchilada sauce. It will be so good, and it will taste better than your favorite Mexican restaurant.
Green enchilada sauce does not have the same ingredients as the red enchilada sauce does. However, both are quite good.
The green enchilada sauce is fresh, and the red has more of an earthy taste to it.
Other Sauces You Can Use
Taco sauce has tomato sauce, vinegar, cayenne pepper, paprika, and more in it. You can use taco sauce on many foods.
Salsa sauce is several different sauces in one, and you can make dips with this as well. Chiltomate sauce has habanero chili peppers, tomato, onions, and coriander, and it is a spicy and sweet taste.
Sofrito sauce is fried slowly and is used in dishes such as enchilada soups, black beans, rice, stews, and broths.
The Spanish sofrito contains onion, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic cooked with olive oil. Whatever your pantry ingredients happen to be, you can come up with an enchilada sauce substitute.
Depending on what area it is made in, the sofrito sauce has many different recipes. The Yucatan sofrito sauce has habanero chilies in it for hot and spicy lovers.
Like we mentioned before, homemade enchilada sauce comes in three variations. They include: red, green and white.
The red enchilada sauce contains tomato paste, and the green uses green chilies and no paste. White enchilada sauce contains butter and cream and is generally served with chicken enchiladas.
What is enchilada sauce made from?
You may wonder where exactly is enchilada sauce from. Enchilada sauce is a zesty sauce that is the basis of many Mexican dishes.
Enchilada sauce is spooned over tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more to enhance the tastes.
The base of enchilada sauce is either a vegetable broth or a chicken broth. The white enchilada sauce is used mostly in chicken enchiladas.
You add chili powder and simmer it. Then garlic, tomato paste or sauce, onion, and add flour to thicken it up.
The red enchilada sauce has different variations as well as the green enchilada sauce.
The green enchilada sauce is not as spicy as the red. Poblano peppers, cumin, and oregano are used in the green enchilada sauce, and some recipes direct the peppers to be roasted.
If you are wondering about the differences between taco sauce and enchilada sauce, you are in the right place.
Enchilada sauce is thicker and used the same way every time it is made, and it is also considered hotter than taco sauce.
Taco sauce usually has honey or syrup added. This turns down the heat a little bit.
Taco sauce uses tomato sauce. Enchiladas generally use tomato paste. However, tomato sauce is acceptable too. It depends on your palette.
Is there a difference between taco sauce and enchilada sauce?
Homemade enchilada sauce and taco sauce may taste similar to some people. However, these two sauces are not the same.
There is no doubt if you are a fan of Mexican food, you will enjoy both taco sauce and enchilada sauce. These two sauces are delicious. However, there are some differences between the two.
One of the main differences between taco sauce and enchilada sauce is that the ingredients are different.
Enchilada sauce contains chili powder, and taco sauce has paprika instead. Taco sauce also contains cayenne pepper, but enchilada sauce has chilis.
Besides those differences, there is also the way that each sauce is made.
Related Articles
Taco sauce contains almost the same ingredients as enchilada sauce. However, the way it is mixed is what makes the taste different.
Taco sauce is tomato paste/sauce-based, like enchilada sauce too.
Even though these two sauces have differences, you can easily switch them out if you do not have one of the sauces on hand.
Enchilada sauce might be a little too runny to substitute it for enchilada sauce, and Enchiladas require much more sauce than tacos do.
There is only one taco sauce. There are three variations of enchilada sauce. Taco may have a little bit of sweetener in it, and this makes it less spicy.
To Sum It All Up
Homemade enchilada sauce is not like anything that is canned and store-bought. Making enchilada sauce is very easy and quick.
There are many sauces that you can substitute for enchilada sauce if you need to. Taco sauce can be used to substitute for enchilada sauce. However, enchiladas require more sauce than tacos.
If you wonder what type of Mexican food is for dinner tonight, why not try some enchiladas and try this recipe out? You will be glad that you did.
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