Simple Red Enchilada Sauce

paula

11 years ago

I have never been a fan of enchiladas. Although I had a few that I liked, I did not care for the sauce on the majority of the ones I had…I used to think it was the corn tortillas until I realized I liked them in other dishes.

My sister started making enchiladas for her rather picky family and told me how much they loved them. She said she used canned enchilada sauce. I had all the ingredients except for the enchilada sauce, so I started searching the Internet. There were a lot of variations, many of which required ingredients I had and seemed easy, so I gave it a shot. On my third attempt, I discovered a sauce that everyone in my family LOVED (the first attempt was tooooo hot and I learned the importance of order of ingredients on my second attempt).

Here is my variation of red enchilada sauce:

Recipe: Simple Red Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. oil (canola or similar)
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp. flour (I use Wondra)
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (optional)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground smoked chipolte pepper or pinch of cayenne pepper
2 c. vegetable or chicken stock
1 1/2 Tbsp. double concentrated tomato paste
1 – 2 Tsp. adobo seasoning blend or mixture of garlic powder, salt, cumin, and turmeric

Instructions:

Place oil in pot on medium-high heat.
Add onions and cook until tender and translucent.
Stir in flour and cook about a minute.
Add chili powders.
Stir until evenly distributed.
Slowly add stock, stirring while pouring.
Add tomato paste.
Add additional seasoning (s) to taste.
Keep stirring and cooking until mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Can store a couple of days in the refrigerator or freeze for future use.