Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated Aug. 30, 2018
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Short on ingredients, it's the process that transforms chiles and tomatoes into a sauce that has an incredibly robust tomato base with an earthy heat throughout—ready to make the best enchiladas ever.

Recipe Facts

4

(6)

Active: 30 mins
Total: 30 mins
Serves: 8 to 10 servings
Makes: 4 cups

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Ingredients

  • 4 medium guajillo chiles (about 1 ounce)

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled

  • 1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes (such as Muir Glen)

  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 2 cups chicken broth

  • Kosher salt, to taste

  • Sugar, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place guajillo chiles on a baking sheet and heat in oven until puffed up and aromatic, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Stem and seed chiles; tear into pieces.

  2. Place chiles, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, and black pepper in jar of a blender. Puree until as smooth as possible.

  3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Set a fine mesh strainer over pan and pour in sauce. Press sauce through strainer into saucepan. Cook sauce, stirring constantly, until thickened to consistency of tomato paste, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste sauce and season with salt and sugar to taste.

Special equipment

Blender

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
32 Calories
2g Fat
4g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 32
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g 2%
Saturated Fat 0g 1%
Cholesterol 1mg 0%
Sodium 497mg 22%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 14mg 71%
Calcium 31mg 2%
Iron 1mg 3%
Potassium 174mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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