Tex Mex Enchilada Sauce
This enchilada sauce is quick, easy, and fabulous. It's made with American-style chili powder spice blend for tons of flavor without any fuss. Makes about 3 cups, perfect for one batch of enchiladas
Servings: 3 cups
Calories: 60kcal
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- ¼ cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (60 grams) tomato paste
- 3 cups (710 ml) lower-salt chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- In a small pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat until thin and shimmering.
- Add the flour and whisk to incorporate. Cook, whisking constantly, for about 30 seconds.
- Whisk in the chili powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, and salt, and cook 30 seconds more.
- Whisk in the tomato paste and cook 30 seconds more.
- Pour in the broth and whisk until perfectly smooth.
- Raise heat to high. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking from time to time, for five minutes. Sauce will be somewhat thickened and will continue to thicken up quite a bit as it cools.
- Off the heat, stir in the vinegar or lime juice.
Notes
- Chili powder refers to the American-style spice blend and not pure ground chili. The heat level of this ingredient varies dramatically by brand and will determine the spiciness of your sauce, so give it a taste. Different brands contain different spices, but most include at least ground chili, cumin, and oregano. Salt level also varies by brand.
- Use a good, lower-sodium chicken broth or, to keep things vegetarian, vegetable broth. Imagine No Chicken Broth is my favorite boxed veggie broth by far, since it somehow magically has the flavor profile of a good chicken stock rather than being weirdly red and tasting tinny or sweet, as some other vegetable broths can do.
- This recipe calls for all-purpose flour. Cooking it together with the olive oil makes a roux, which thickens the sauce as it cooks. To make it gluten-free, you can use a 1:1 GF flour blend. Check to make sure your chili powder is gluten-free, too.
- Sauce will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a year. You can even make a double batch, use half now, and freeze half for later.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 690mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g