I have several dinner meals that I can basically just pull out of a hat whenever I need something quick and easy that is always a big hit with my family . I’m sure you can relate to this. There are just those days when you just can’t think of something to make, you don’t really feel like spending a lot of time prepping or even thinking of ideas for an evening meal but you know no one else is going to rise to the occasion so it all comes down to you. That is where I have several recipes that I can rely on that basically can be made with staples I normally keep in the pantry. One of those happens to be a red enchilada sauce recipe I found from Evolving Table which I tweaked a little for our family’s taste preferences. I mainly make chicken enchiladas but occasionally I make them with ground beef. What makes them so good? It is all about the sauce and I am going to share with you my favorite red sauce recipe. This sauce is full of flavor and you can customize the heat level to whatever you and your family prefers and can handle. At our house we all vary on how spicy we can handle our food. My husband has always been the one that can’t tolerate too high of a heat level in his foods so I use him as a baseline for how much of the spicier seasonings I use in my recipes. Funny story is that once I ran out of chili powder and I went to one of my favorite local food stores that sells food from various countries so I went to the Indian section that has a whole section full of bulk spices. I didn’t see my usual chili spice and didn’t really pay attention to the fact that I picked up red chili instead of the basic chili powder I normally get. Well needless to say you only need to use red chili sparingly compared to regular chili powder because it will make your sauce super hot. Fortunately I taste while I cook because I will add seasonings to taste rather than totally rely on a recipe verbatim. I took a taste of my sauce and it was even too hot for me which is saying a lot. So that batch was tossed out and a new one made for that meal.

What you need on hand for this red enchilada sauce recipe: Garlic powder, dried Oregano, Ground Cumin, Black Pepper, Salt, Mild Chili powder, Flour, Nutmeg, Paprika, Chicken broth, Tomato Paste, and Oil. See what I mean about this recipe being one that you can make in a pinch? Most of us have these spices and items in our pantries. If you don’t I suggest you make sure you keep these one hand because you can use them in a lot of different recipes. You can use a prepared chicken broth or like myself, I keep powder chicken bouillon on hand and just heat up enough water and add some of that to make my broth for most recipes that call for it. You can use many types of oil in this recipe (Olive, Avocado, or vegetable). I tend to use either vegetable or olive oil most of the time. Make sure you choose regular paprika not smoked but again you can experiment with using smoked paprika or even a blend of the two and see how it tastes to you. Cooking for me is all about experimentation as long as you aren’t counting on it for company or needing dinner at a specific time. When I accidently used red chili… fortunately I had time to ditch the spicy sauce and remake a batch for dinner. If you don’t have dried Oregano on hand you can also substitute for dried Parsley, Basil or Italian seasoning since it is in the recipe to give a hint of an herbal flavor. The little touch of nutmeg makes this recipe special but you can also try cinnamon instead in the event you don’t have nutmeg on hand.

Again, keep in mind that you need to adjust the amount of chili powder you used to your taste preferences. Also you can use a spicier chili powder or a mix if you want to change up the heat level in your sauce from time to time. You can increase the heat level adding in a bit of cayenne pepper or use a more intense chili powder or by simply adding more chili powder.. maybe a half to a tablespoon more. To lessen the heat level, you can leave out the black pepper and/or reduce the amount of chili powder you use.

One thing to note before I give you the instructions. This sauce though simple and quick, does require your full attention. It isn’t something you can throw together and leave on your stove and come back to for a quick stir once in a while. You need to embrace that this requires you to stand over your stove and stir frequently for this sauce to come out right,

Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe: makes typically about 1 1/2 cups of sauce which should be plenty for 8 to 10 enchiladas. We tend to like more sauce so sometimes I only make 6 larger enchiladas. I have my enchilada recipe in a separate post. Generally sauce takes about 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp. oil (olive, avocado, or vegetable)
  • 3 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. mild chili powder (orginal recipe calls for 1 1/2 Tbsp. but normally I only use 1 Tbsp at most)
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp salt (to taste) (I normally use Himayan Pink salt and grind it with the other spices)
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 cups chicken broth (I make my own using chicken bouillon in warm water)

Instructions:

  1. Whisk together chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. I normally put my seasonings in my mortar and lightly grind them together with my pestle.
  2. Combine oil, flour, and seasonings from bowl in a mid-sized saucepan or pot over medium heat. Whisk ingredients for 2 minutes.
  3. Add tomato paste and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Whisk until smooth. Keep pouring in rest of chicken broth over about 5 minute time whisking between additions to keep sauce smooth.
  4. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for an additional 8 to 10 minutes while whisking every 1-2 minutes to prevent sauce from burning.
  5. Sauce can now be used in your favorite Enchilada recipe or refrigerated and stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

If you make this recipe let me know how it tuned out for you and want you think of it. It tastes great with chicken or beef enchiladas and you can experiment using it in your favorite recipes. Check out my enchilada recipe in a separate post.