When I posted my Spaghetti Squash Enchilada recipe, I had someone ask me (hi Savanah!) if I had a good recipe for enchilada sauce. To be completely honest with you, before that I had never even thought about making my own. Enchilada sauce was just something that I bought in a can, from the store, when it was time to make enchiladas.
Most canned enchilada sauces that I tried were OK tasting, but they usually lacked a lot of flavor. But, I figured I would just add in extra flavoring to the enchilada filling to make up for the lackluster canned enchilada sauce. Ever since I was asked if I had a good enchilada sauce recipe I’ve been thinking about coming up with the perfect one. I, honestly, didn’t even know where to begin, so I looked up a few homemade enchilada sauce recipes and that gave me an idea of the different flavors I wanted include in mine. Most red enchilada sauces are tomato based, so I was planning on using tomatoes, but then the sale isle at the grocery store intervened. If you have read my blog before, you might be realizing that I have a slight obsession with the grocery store. I’ll try not to talk about it again š
Red peppers were on sale for 3 for $1.00!!! Sorry to get so excited, but I don’t think I have ever seen red peppers that cheap, and I’m not talking about small, puny red peppers, I’m talking about huge, glorious red peppers.
So, naturally I bought 9 of them. I mean, who in their right mind would not stock up on cheap red peppers?! Ok, maybe I’m the only crazy person that would buy 9 of them, but it all worked out perfectly. When I originally spotted them, I had no plans to make an enchilada sauce out of them, but when I got home with my bounty of red peppers, I sat around for a while thinking of a tasty dish I could put them in. Then it came to me, roasted red pepper enchilada sauce!
I grilled my red peppers instead of roasting them in the oven, but the oven would work just as well. Then, I put them in large bowl and covered them with plastic wrap for a few minutes. This made it much easier to peel all the skins off of them.
Compared to other peppers, red peppers are pretty sweet, but I had seen sugar added to a lot of the other enchilada sauces I looked up, so I felt like if I left out the sugar, the sweetness from the red pepper would make up for it, and sure enough, I didn’t need to add any extra sugar to the sauce. I pureed the roasted red peppers in a blender and then heated them with a bunch of other tasty spices. If you are not a red pepper fan, I’m sure that you could use crushed or stewed tomatoes in place of the red pepper.
I used the first three red peppers to make the test batch of sauce with, the second three to perfect the sauce, and now I have three ginormous red peppers left, so don’t be surprised if you see another red pepper recipe soon š
What recipes have you been intimidated to tackle, but then you found to be really easy?
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Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Enchilada Sauce {gf+v}
Ingredients
- 3 Large red peppers, or about 2 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers*
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup water, or more depending on desired consistency
- 1/4 cup flour, gluten free or regular**
- 2 tablespoons of juice from a can of green chilies, optional, I like to put green chilies in my enchiladas so I had some on hand.
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- If you are using raw red peppers you will need to roast them first. You can do this in the oven or on a grill.
- In the oven: heat the oven to 500 degrees F and place the red peppers on a sheet pan and roast for about 30 – 40 minutes, until peppers are charred and black on the outside.
- On the grill: turn the grill on medium-high heat and place the peppers on. Grill for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how hot the grill is, until peppers are charred and black.
- Once finished roasting the peppers, place them in a heat resistant bowl and cover with plastic wrap until peppers are cool enough to handle.
- Once peppers are cooled, remove the stem and seeds and then cut them into large chunks.
- Place chunks of red pepper into a food processor or blender and blend until it becomes a sauce.
- In a medium sized sauce pan, heat 1/4 cup of oil and then add 1/4 cup of flour to it. Stir until combined.
- Add the pepper mixture along with all the rest of the spices. Stir and then add the water. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes until all the flavors have developed and the sauce has reached your desired thickness. Feel free to add more water if you would like a thinner sauce.
Notes
Makes about 2 cups of sauce, just enough for a large pan of enchiladas.
*I have not done it myself, but if you prefer, you can use an equal amount of canned tomatoes instead of red peppers for a tomato based enchilada sauce.
**If using gluten free flour, the sauce may seem a little grainy once you finish cooking it, but that texture should disappear once you cook it in the oven with the enchiladas.
- Category: Sauce
Stay tuned for my quinoa, black bean, and green chili enchiladas with roasted red pepper enchilada sauce coming soon!
One day Eric put his tool bag down on this couch and Cheeto really loved sitting behind it, I think he felt hidden and safe. Three months later, we still haven’t moved it. I just read this article called, “6 signs your cat owns you” and if you couldn’t already tell, Cheeto definitely owns me!
I just made this, had to add a can of tomato paste, cuz I was short on peppers. Also used the cooking liquid from my taco chicken instead of water. Delish! Oh, and jalapeno juice!
I love those additions! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi !
Your recipe is the standard recipe for classic Mexican enchilada sauce (very little to none tomato). I want to point out that that the peppers you roasted are not simply “red peppers” but the famously flavored Poblano (green) chiles which have turned red and are thus called Ancho chilies, a staple of high end Mexican cooking. Take care !
Very good – We had a boat load of red bell peppers, so I tried this recipe. Used fresh roasted garlic and no onion powder(was out) –
Will for sure make this again! š
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I am so glad I came across this recipe , I love enchiladas but always go for the shop bought version, I am definitely trying this one next time.
Hi Mariana! I used to always go for the store bought stuff too because I figured it was really complicated to make it from scratch, but now I don’t think I’ll ever buy it again! I’m so glad you stopped by and I hope you really enjoy making your own enchilada sauce š
Oh this looks awesome! As soon as peppers are a little more in season, I’m gonna make these and the enchiladas you are taunting us with! Hey, how ’bout a salad with a creamy cilantro-lime dressing to pair with it?
Best,
Joel
PS – the strawberry rhubarb lime popsicles were so good!
Hey Joel! Sometimes it is hard knowing what to post, because I forget that Arizona’s produce seasons are probably a lot different than other peoples! It is full on summer here and we have a high of 109 today, eeek! I hope you guys really enjoy it! Creamy cilantro lime dressing sounds amazing and I think I might have to make up a batch of it now! I’m so glad you guys loved the popsicles š
Yummm! I’d have bought the store out of red peppers at that price too!
I love the grocery store. When I travel, the local grocery is one of my favorite places to go and browse. You can tell so much about a culture!
Ooh, I wanna join The Enchilada Girls too. š I’ve been making a lot lately because my mom keeps bringing me all the greens out of her CSA box. The best way I’ve figured out to get my husband and kids to help me eat several pounds of chard and kale each week is to turn it into enchiladas, covered with lots of cheese. I’d bet this sauce would be a wonderful addition (as soon as I can find them for less than $2 each)!
Hi Savanah!! You definitely inspired me to make this sauce, I really would have never thought to make my own until you asked me about it, so thank you! It sucks that red peppers can be so expensive, but I think this sauce would work just as well with canned or stewed tomatoes and it would be much cheaper, if the red peppers aren’t on sale. That sounds like a great way to get them to eat their veggies! Eric isn’t too big a fan of quinoa, but he will eat it if I stuff it into enchiladas and put cheese on top! I gotta try sneaking some more vegetables in it next time.
I completely agree about grocery stores! When they are not super busy, they are one of my favorite places to go and I also just love going to new grocery stores when traveling. P.S I’m pretty sure at some point you were probably part of the Flying Burrito Sisters and can definitely be part of the Enchilada Girls š
This looks amazing, Izzy! Love enchiladas, but have never known where to start with the sauce! Definitely going to try this one out!
Thanks Jess!! I was really intimidated by the thought of making my own sauce, but then I realized how easy it was! Basically, you just put some ingredients into a pot and stir them, haha! I will definitely be making all my own enchilada sauce from now on š
This looks awesome! I’ve never tried making enchilada sauce at home, I’ll have to test it out sometime. š
Thank you! I had always been a little intimidated at making it myself, but I finally realized just how easy and delicious it is! I hope you enjoy it š
This definitely sounds like a recipe I need to bookmark, Isadora. I love reading blog posts about Mexican food because it isn’t available so much over here. I can even imagine stirring this sauce through a bowl of pasta. Do you think that might work? I love roasted red peppers!
Thanks Helen! I love writing blog posts on Mexican food, because if it were up to me, that is probably the only type of food I would eat, I just love it so much! I bet that it would taste great on pasta! You might want to tone down the chili powder (I think that is what makes it really taste like enchilada sauce) a little bit, and add in a bit more dried oregano, but I bet it would taste really good! I love roasted peppers too š
I am so excited about this sauce. I’m drooling just thinking about the enchiladas with this yumminess. Mmmmmmmmm
Thanks Kathy! Aren’t enchiladas the best?! They were already one of my favorite foods and now, with this sauce, they are even better š
This sounds really delicious and easy. I love that you managed to keep sugar out of the recipe. Will definitely try this one!
Thanks Rosie!! I was really surprised at how easy it was, I don’t think I’ll be buying store bought enchilada sauce again! I hope you guys love it š
This looks crazy delicious. I adore from-scratch versions of store bought products (plus the color is gorgeous!)
Thanks Erin! I do too, and whenever I make them I always wonder why it took me so long to discover how easy they are to make!
What a great idea! I’ve had roasted red pepper tomato soup before, and the red peppers added such great flavor to it. I bet they’re even better in this enchilada sauce! Can’t wait to try it : )
Thanks Natalie! Roasted red pepper and tomato soup sounds so good! They do have such a great flavor! I hope you love this sauce if you try it š
I am a HUGE roasted red pepper fan, and try to infuse them wherever I can!! How have I never thought to flavor enchilada sauce with them?! Genius idea.
Hi Joann! I’m a huge roasted red pepper fan too, but the canned ones are always so expensive. I might just have to go back to the store and buy more to roast so I have a stash of them to use all summer! Thanks so much for stopping by š
Huge red pepper fan! Can’t wait to try this enchilada sauce, you’re right, it’s something I just buy from a can and don’t think anymore about it =) But why not make your own? Much much tastier I’m sure without all the additives and other bad stuff.
But 3 red peppers for a buck?!? I won’t judge you for buying 9, I would have bought the store out. They are so expensive usually! I love their sweet flavor, roasted even better. Yum. And they’re not all that easy to grow, I’m planting some again this year, but mine stay mostly green with some splotches of red. Oh well. Thanks for sharing =)
I don’t think I’ll be buying enchilada sauce from a can anymore now that I know how easy it is to make at home! It was much tastier and I made mine kinda thick, which I like, and it seems like all the store bought ones have the consistency of water.
I know! I can’t believe they were that cheap! I had to look twice at the sign, haha! I might just have to buy some more to roast and store in a jar for future uses. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to grow them before. That is too bad that they aren’t easy to grow, because I always like to grow the produce that is more expensive to buy, so I can save some money!
Izzy! Why do you torment me with your “coming soon” quinoa black bean enchiladas! OH MY GOSH!!! I need them right now. This sauce looks incredible. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have access to mexican food where I live, so homemade is the name of the game. I love love love enchilada sauce and enchiladas and I need to make them more often. Maybe one day we can start a joint side blog project called The Enchilada Girls, where it’s all enchiladas, all the time? Let me know what you think!
Don’t feel bad about buying too many peppers, if I saw them that inexpensive, I would too! I can’t really eat them raw, but roasted I could eat an entire stack of them for dinner! They have the best BBQ flavour ever! Also, I just got lost in your spaghetti squash enchilada post and read the whole thing and I was taken to enchilada dreamland.
A recipe I recently tackled that I thought would be really hard is cauliflower “steaks.” I don’t know why, but slicing a cauliflower gives me a lot of anxiety! lol. It generally flies all over the kitchen and I step in it in my bare feet and that gives me the heebie geebies. I was worried the steaks would crumble (and get on my bare feet -eeeew), but they didn’t! It was oddly easy and delicious!
Cheeto is pretty much the coolest cat ever -He totally owns you! That’s hilarious about the tool bag!!! Seriously, so cute. We have this old ottoman in the front of the house, that my dog likes to sit on and look out the window and I don’t have the heart to get rid of it, even though it looks a million years old and lost is cushioning, etc. But she likes it, so it stays!
Beautiful photos, as usual, awesome recipe, as usual, you are wonderful, as usual š PS. How the heck did you get your pepper to stand up like that!? Are you magic? And never stop talking about the grocery store! I love your stories!
Al!! Your comment made me laugh a lot, thank you for that š You are wonderful as usual, too!! I’ll try not to wait too long to post the enchiladas! But between you and me, they are pretty similar to the spaghetti squash ones, haha! I guess I just like my enchiladas the way I like them! That is so sad that you don’t have access to Mexican food, you would be in Mexican food heaven here in Tucson! But, although we do have some great restaurants down here, sometimes homemade is just so much better, and cheaper!
Roasted red peppers are the best way to eat them! I think that I’m going to roast the last three and hope that another recipes come to mind soon. All enchiladas, all the time?! Yes, please! And definitely yes to the Enchilada Girls!! When my sister and I were little, we ate so many burritos that my mom nicknamed us the flying burrito sisters š
I have never tried cauliflower “steaks” before, but I hear you about getting anxiety when slicing cauliflower. It seems to all fall apart and I’m never sure exactly where to cut. I’m laughing out loud imagining cauliflower pieces falling on your feet, that is hilarious! I will have to try them soon!
Yup, he definitely owns me! This morning, he was trying to lure me into the kitchen to feed him, but I held my ground and finished my morning routine before I fed him and he was not very happy about that. I love that you keep an old ottoman for Murphy! That is so sweet and I bet she loves it! It is funny what animals get attached to. We keep an old red chair that Eric got in a dump pile, that is now completely covered with cat hair because Cheeto loves to sit on it. We have dragged it to two different states for him.
PS.I only had one red pepper out of the whole bunch that looked like it might stand on its own and at first I did have to prop my camera lens cap behind it just to make sure it didn’t fall, but then I removed the lens cap and it stood on its own, like a champ!
Flying Burrito Sisters!? I need to be adopted into your family as the random redhead sister from Canada š That is so cute!!! LOL at the champ pepper. You know when you “lol” for real -I just did! I often think about if someone captured food photographers behind the scenes, it would look pretty funny. hehe.
This is such a great idea, Isadora! We love making enchiladas but have never made our own sauce. Not only does this make it look easy, but fun! Can’t wait to try this one over the summer. Thanks!
Hi Matt! Thank you so much! I could probably live on enchiladas, so I’m so excited I finally got over my intimidation of making my own sauce, it is much tastier than the store bought stuff and I’m hoping much healthier too! I hope you enjoy it š
This sauce is calling my name. This recipe looks super flavourful and I love that you didn’t add any extra sugar to the sauce. š
Thanks Olivia! It was so easy and delicious that I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the canned stuff again!