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This authentic enchilada sauce recipe is made with dried chiles and Mexican chocolate and is full of traditional Mexican flavor that’s better than any store-bought sauce. It’s the perfect way to elevate your enchiladas with its rich and savory flavor. It’s a total game-changer!
One funny thing about Hispanic moms, including my own, is that they never seem to measure anything when they’re cooking. They just taste as they go, and it comes out delicious every time.
My mom makes her famous cheese enchiladas using this rich enchilada sauce, and I asked her to walk me through the recipe while I measured all the ingredients so I could share it with you. Here’s why I love it:
- It’s unique. Adding a small piece of Mexican chocolate is what brings this sauce to the next level. It pairs well with the dried chiles and gives it a complex flavor that sets it apart from more Tex-Mex recipes that are made from mostly spices (like my easy enchilada sauce).
- It’s versatile. I love to use this sauce in other recipes that call for enchilada sauce, like soups or casseroles.
The Secret Ingredient
The secret to this savory, rustic, and perfectly spiced enchilada sauce? Mexican chocolate!
It seems unexpected, but Mexican chocolate has a slightly bitter and rustic taste, making it perfect for sauces, moles, and other Mexican dishes.
My mom puts it in her enchilada sauce, mole, and sometimes chile colorado. My favorite brand to use is Abuelita, which you can find online, in Mexican grocery stores, or even in the international section of big-chain grocery stores.
Authentic Enchilada Sauce Ingredients
- Dried chiles: I use a combination of ancho, guajillo, and árbol chiles that give a rich, savory, and complex flavor. You can find them in Mexican grocery stores or online.
- Roma tomato: I used only half of a large Roma tomato for a hint of sweetness and to help thicken the sauce. If you don’t have a fresh tomato, you can use 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
- Water: A mixture of the chile-soaked water and a splash of fresh water adds thins out the sauce without diluting the flavor of the chiles and chocolate.
- Garlic: A must-have in any enchilada sauce.
- Mexican chocolate: This ingredient sets this enchilada sauce apart from the rest and makes it truly authentic. One small tablet of Mexican chocolate adds a small amount of sweetness and rich flavor. Mexican chocolate is not overly sweet like American chocolate bars and is used in both sweet and savory recipes. I used Abuelita brand.
- Kosher salt: I start with 1 teaspoon of kosher sal, but you can adjust depending on your taste.
- Olive oil: Simmering this authentic enchilada sauce in oil helps thicken the sauce and cook the raw tomato flavor. I like to use olive oil, but you can also use any oil you prefer.
How to Make Authentic Enchilada Sauce
Rehydrate the dried chiles. Add the guajillo, ancho, and árbol chiles and enough water to cover them completely into a saucepan or pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes to soften.
Blend the sauce. Transfer the softened chiles to a blender using a slotted spoon. Add 1 cup of the chile-soaked water, ¼ cup of fresh water, and the tomato, garlic, salt, and Mexican chocolate. Blend until completely smooth. This step may take a few minutes depending on the power of your blender. Add more water if needed.
Simmer the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the sauce and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
Cover and store in an airtight jar until ready to use.
Recipe Tips
- Adjust the heat. This enchilada sauce has a mild-medium spice. To make it extra mild, make sure to discard all the seeds from the dried chiles and omit the chile de árbol.
- Don’t have Mexican chocolate? You can use 1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon turbinado/raw sugar instead.
Recipe Variations
This recipe gets its authentic and delicious flavor by using the recommended ingredients, but if you’re in a pinch, you can make some slight variations:
- Dried chiles: You can swap out chile guajillo for chile pasilla for a slightly smoky flavor.
- Tomato: Use 1 tablespoon of tomato paste instead of a fresh Roma tomato.
Ways to Use Authentic Red Enchilada Sauce
This enchilada sauce is delicious and can be used in so many different ways! It’s great in all types of enchiladas, like chicken enchiladas, black bean enchiladas, beef enchiladas, and breakfast enchiladas.
It can also be used as a sauce in chilaquiles, chicken enchilada soup, enchilada meatballs, and chicken tamale casserole.
Storing and Reheating
- Storing: Store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Reheating: Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. You can also reheat it in a microwave.
More Mexican Recipes
Authentic Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 guajillo chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
- 2 ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
- 1 árbol chile, rinsed and stemmed
- Water, as needed
- ½ large Roma tomato, plus more if desired
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ⅛ tablet Abuelita Mexican chocolate (about 12 grams)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add the guajillo, ancho, and árbol chiles and enough water to cover them completely. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes to soften.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles to a blender. Add 1 cup of the chile-soaked water, ¼ cup of fresh water, and the tomato, garlic, salt, and Mexican chocolate. Blend until completely smooth. This step may take a few minutes, depending on the power of your blender. Add more water if the sauce is too thick for your liking.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Cover and store until ready to use. It’s perfect for making chicken enchiladas, red chilaquiles, and chicken enchilada soup.
Notes
- Dried chiles: If you’d like to make this sauce as mild as possible, I recommend removing and discarding the seeds of the dried chiles in addition to the stems.
- Mexican chocolate: If you don’t have Mexican chocolate, you can substitute 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon turbinado/raw sugar instead.
- Storage: Enchilada sauce can also be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The post was originally published in October 2016 and has been updated with new photos and new recipe tips and tricks.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
Hello this recipe sounds wonderful, but I get heartburn very easy. Which dried chillies do you recommend for the most mild sauce? And how many? Thanks so much!!
Definitely drop the arbol chiles. Those can be spicy. I would keep the other chiles but maybe only blend a few at a time, taste and add more if necessary.
Good flavor. Easy enough to actually use. Great all-around recipe.
2 notes, I found the sauce to be too watery. I ended up reducing it on the stove and it worked out well, but next time I’ll do 1.5 cups of water instead of 2.
Second, it’s spicy! I love it, but didn’t expect it from an enchilada sauce. Be warned if you’re cooking for picky eaters. Maybe drop the arbol pepper?
Agreed. I found this is to be more of a salsa than classic enchilada sauce.
Hi Isabel! This recipe sounds great! I think I’m going to give it a try next week. Do you suggest dipping the corn tortillas in the sauce before the fry/roll of the enchilada or do you suggest a pour over method after the enchiladas are rolled? Thanks!
Hey Marjorie, if you fry the tortillas first, I recommend dipping them right after that step. But if you’re not frying them, I would use the pour over method.
Hey I want to make this tonight I only don’t have the chocalate:( can it be substituted or on without it.
Hey Carmela, you can make it without the chocolate. That shouldn’t be an issue.
Isabel, I can’t wait to make this sauce. I make a similar sauce where I toast the chiles then blend them and then strain the chiles sauce from the blender through a strainer. It’s a lot of work and it’s really good but too time consuming. My girlfriend says she doesn’t toast or strain and I thought really? Hmmm my brother in law is a fabulous cook and told me to do all these steps. But now that I see your recipe I going to make the enchilada sauce this way. I’m will probably make it tomorrow because I love to be able to whip up enchiladas whenever I want and this recipe will allow me to do that. I love the mexican chocolate I’m sure it gives the sauce a rich taste similar to mole.
Hi Nina, I hope you love it! Both ways of making enchilada sauce are good, they’re just different. This is how my mom makes her enchilada sauce, so that’s why I do it this way. It’s super easy and quick!
Isabel,
I made the sauce and it’s fabulous! I love adding the Arbol chiles it adds heat and my family loves spicy. I doubled the recipe and I wouldn’t change a thing. This is my new red sauce for many things not just enchiladas. Oh, and the mexican chocolate was exactly what I had been looking for in an enchilada sauce.
My girlfriends are coming over on Cinco de Mayo and I can’t wait to use this sauce for my enchiladas.
I will never go back to the long process of making enchilada sauce.
Shhhhh, don’t tell my brother in law.
Thank you, thank you!
Woo hoo!! I’m so happy that you loved it and that you’re sharing it with your girlfriends. An awesome choice for Cinco de Mayo. I wish I could join you!
Thanks! I find it amusing, in a perverse, almost depressing manner, that almost every “scratch” enchilada sauce I found online (before this one) uses chili powder as the starting point. An improvement over the one I found a decade or so ago that used Ketchup, but still, chili powder?.
I hope to make this for my saturday dinner, and that I can find guajillo chilis, somewhere.
Thanks again for using chilis—cooking, not a science project!
Thanks, Paul. First of all, I can’t believe you found a recipe that used KETCHUP in an enchilada sauce! Wow – who would do that?! Haha, I can’t get over that. And second, thanks so much for all the kind words. I totally understand how you feel about the recipes that use chili powder. I’ve never actually tried them myself, but all I know is that my mom makes enchilada sauce with actual dried chiles so I wanted to keep it authentic. 🙂
Did you use a fresh out dried arbol Chili?
Hi Alexis, I used dried arbol chile.
Made this. Love it!!
Thank you! 🙂
Is it necessary to buy 3 different kinds of chilies?
Hi Kim, it’s not absolutely necessary but each chile gives the sauce a distinct flavor. If you can’t find all of the chiles, you can use only two of them. The flavor won’t be the same but it will still be good.
Used this recipe last night and it turned out excellent, thank you!
Thanks, Brandon! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 The sauce is seriously good on so many things.