Easy Enchilada Sauce

This easy enchilada sauce has deep flavor--a smoky spiciness from lightly toasted dried red chiles and the round, deep sweetness of dark raisins. It goes perfectly with enchiladas, whether they're filled with pork, chicken, cheese, or vegetables. It is also delicious with homemade tamales or chilaquiles. This recipe makes enough for two batches of Homemade Chicken Enchiladas, but I like to keep a stash in the freezer for future meals.

Course Sauce Recipes

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword chile sauce, dried chiles, enchilada sauce, red chiles, red enchilada sauce

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Additional Time 30

Total Time 1

Calories 46kcal

Author Robin Donovan

Ingredients

4 ounces dried New Mexico Ancho, Guajillo, and/or Pasilla Chiles (12 to 15 chiles), stemmed and with the seeds removed
3/4 cup raisins
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons crumbled dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Instructions

Bring about 4 cups of water to a boil in a kettle.
Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add the chiles and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, just until the chiles become aromatic. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the boiling water over the chiles. Stir in the raisins. Let the chiles and raisins rehydrate in the water for about 30 minutes.
Remove the chiles and raisins (all the solids) from the pot using tongs or a slotted spoon and put them in a large bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine-meshed sieve and toss any seeds that the sieve catches.
To the bowl of rehydrated chiles and raisins, add about 2 cups of the soaking liquid (or a mixture of soaking liquid and water) along with the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and salt.
Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture (alternatively, you can transfer the solids and about 2 cups of the soaking water to a countertop blender and puree, then return the pureed mixture to the bowl.) Add additional water or soaking liquid as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Use immediately or let cool and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week or in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

1. If the chilies are very spicy, you can substitute chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water for some or all of the soaking liquid. In step 3, before pureeing, strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and use the solids, discarding the soaking water, if desired. Replace the soaking water with 3 to 4 cups of chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water.

2. After pureeing the sauce, you can strain it through a fine meshed sieve if you like. The photos in this post show unstrained sauce. If you like a smoother sauce, straining is a good idea.

Nutrition