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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.
Perfect…and thank you for sharing Isabel. What is your cheese of choice for enchiladas?
Thanks 1,000,000
🖒 Jeramie
Thanks, Jeramie! I love any mozzarella, Oaxaca or Manchego for melting on enchiladas. And then just for a little topping at the very end before serving, I like adding some crumbled cotija 🙂
The way I’ve been making it, I use 2-3 pasilla peppers for every guajillo pepper, and even without the arbol peppers it’s spicy enough for me, but maybe that’s because I soak them in about 3 cups of chicken or beef broth (depending on what kind of enchiladas I’m making) and use ALL the broth in the blender instead of only a cup of the soaking liquid. So maybe a lot of the heat is left behind in the 3 cups of water you DON’T use in your sauce. I also scrape the meat off the skins of the guajillos after soaking, just because they don’t seem to blend all that well and I don’t care for the texture. But the chocolate is the secret, and whatever proportions, it’s so much better than the canned stuff!
Do I leave the seeds inside the Chile’s after blending them ? No straining?
I remove the seeds before soaking the chiles.
Making this recipe yet for the third time tonight. It’s quick and tasty. My husband has to watch his sodium, so we cut the salt in half, and it’s still delicious!
Aw, thank you Lisa. 🙂 I’m so glad you guys like it. That means a lot.
Hi Isabel
I can never fine a good Posole in my town so I decided to try and make my own well with your help and recipe let me tell you I’m white as rice and cant even pronounce some of the chilies but I made it and it was the best I’ve ever tasted. I’m so going to hang on to this one my friends couldn’t believe I made it they thought I bought it from a market. My secret now thank you Happy New Year!!!!!
Can I use abu chocolate drink mix instead of a chocolate bar and can I use only the first type of chili? Thank you
Yes! That should definitely work.
Hi! This sounds amazing! I can’t have most chocolates, including the one you suggest. I do, however, have a completely sweetener-free chocolate chip. It is just pressed cocoa mass. Would that work as a substitute or is the sweet flavor essential to the dish?
Hi Monica, the chocolate I used definitely has sugar in it but I think the cocoa itself adds a nice rich component on its own as well. I’d go ahead and try it with your sweetener-free chocolate! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
I am going to have to use a different chocolate because I don’t have that brand here…I think I will try 100% unsweetened baking chocolate. What do you think?
AND – how many GRAMS of chocolate do we use?
This recipe is a game changer. I made it last night and the sauce came out great. The enchiladas were absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing this!!!
Yay! I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks for letting me know. It definitely puts a smile on my face.
So I melt the chocolate before putting it in the blender?
Nope. Just put the sucker in without melting!
Such an easy recipe! And so inexpensive too. I used my vitamix and mixed sauce for 3ish minutes and it was super watery (and I used less water than recommended). So I read comments and mixed some more, for 6.5 minutes. It turned into a nice sauce with a smooth consistency. But I’m worried if that over cooked the chiles because the sauce tastes a little bitter and pretty salty. Or am I just used to a tomato based sauce? I’m preparing to make the red chicken enchiladas this weekend, super stoked to make everything from scratch, from the sauce to the tortillas!
Hi Emily! Thank you for sharing! Yes if the chiles are cooked too long then that can make them a little bit bitter. If it came out a little too salty, you can add some tomato to help. Let us know how your enchiladas come out!