Red Enchilada Sauce | How To Make Enchilada Sauce
This Red Enchilada Sauce (Salsa Roja) is made from scratch using dried chile pods like guajillo, ancho, and chile de Arbol along with traditional Mexican spices. It has a gorgeous deep red color and is packed with a ton of robust, deep, and complex, chile flavors. This sauce is versatile and can be used in many Mexican dishes.
Servings 4 cups (approx)
Ingredients
- 12 dried Guajillo chiles
- 7 dried Ancho chiles
- 4 to 5 dried Arbol chiles, you may add more to increase the heat
- 1.5 quarts boiling water
- 1/2 white onion
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sweetener of choice or a small piece of dark or semi-sweet chocolate, optional, if required
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Wipe dried chiles with a damp paper towel to remove dust and dirt.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, let it heat up for a few minutes. Place the dried chile peppers, toast for 15-20 seconds on each side, pressing with a spatula. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool down. Do this in batches if required.
- Or place the chiles on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast it in a preheated oven 350°F for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove and discard the stems, shake out the seeds. Cut open the pepper with a pair of kitchen scissors and remove the membrane.
- Transfer the chiles to a big heatproof bowl. Add boiling water. Cover and let it sit for 30 minutes or until they soften and turn plump.
- Transfer the chiles into a blender, add the onions and garlic. Taste the soaking liquid, if it is bitter, do not use, add fresh water/stock. If it is not all that bitter, then add about 2.5 to 3 cups of soaking liquid and grind until smooth.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over a big bowl. Add the sauce in batches, extract out as much of the pulp by pushing it down with the back of a spoon or spatula. Use a clean spoon to scrape the pulp on the bottom of the strainer.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet, add the strained sauce. Fry the sauce for 1-2 minutes, add Mexican oregano, cumin, and salt.
- Note: Please be careful here, and do it gently, as there will be some splattering as soon as the sauce hits the skillet.
- Mix well and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check for seasoning, adjust with more salt if needed.
- Is the sauce bitter at this point? Add 1 teaspoon of sugar or honey or a small piece of dark or semi-sweet chocolate.
- Sauce still thin? Continue simmering for a few more minutes, until it thickens.
- Sauce too thick? Adjust the consistency by thinning it out with few tablespoons of water at a time.
Video
Notes
This recipe makes about 4 cups of sauce. If you are accustomed to the tomato-based enchilada sauce and have never tried the authentic version before, chances are you may not like this at all. So, I suggest trying half of the batch. The sauce does taste better with some onions and tomatoes in it, but I've made it a number of times without the tomatoes, and we love it just as much!
The sauce tastes fabulous once it is incorporated into any dish, be it enchiladas or pozole or chili con carne. I hope you do try it sometime.
Checkpoints to avoid bitterness:
-
- Avoid over toasting
- Discard the seeds
- Taste-test the soaking liquid for bitterness before using it to blend
- Definitely strain the sauce!