Homemade Enchilada Sauce

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This is probably one of the easiest Enchilada Sauces you could ever make and it’s so tasty! I won’t ever use the canned kind again.

My husband LOVES enchiladas, but for me, they are just okay. I really could never get past the tinny taste of canned enchilada sauce. So, the other day, when Jeff asked for enchiladas for dinner, I decided to make a Homemade Enchilada Sauce.

I had zero idea what I was doing, but threw some ingredients into the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender and was shocked that, not only did it taste like enchilada sauce, it tasted like a really good enchilada sauce!

Of course, I let Jeff be the final judge of how good this Homemade Enchilada Sauce and he gave it 5 out of 5 stars. Now, if only I could remember how I made it!

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That’s the way life goes, right? We throw random ingredients together and our dish turns out perfect, but we have no idea how to make it again because we didn’t write anything down. That’s the story of my life and you would think I would know better!

Anyway, I’ve made this Homemade Enchilada Sauce 4 times now and it is even better than the first time. It’s so simple to make, even if you don’t have the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender; so don’t worry, I’ll have instructions for how to make it several different ways below.

Is this Authentic Enchilada Sauce?

That’s always a debated question isn’t it? Who is to say what is authentic or not authentic. My husband always jokes that he won’t go to a restaurant that touts “Authentic” Food because they are usually anything but authentic!

I would say with 100% certainty that this Homemade Enchilada Sauce recipe is NOT authentic in any way, shape or form. Does it matter? Nope, because it’s delicious and EASY to make!

Like I said earlier, I had no idea how to make a homemade enchilada sauce and I didn’t bother to look up ingredients or other recipes because I like to wing it and see what happens.

When it ended up being so delicious that I had to write up a recipe, I then scoured the internet to see how off-base my recipe is. What I found is that, just like most things, there are a ton of different ways to make it!

Some use a roux base to thicken it, some use toasted ancho and passila peppers, some don’t even have any tomatoes in it. I’m sure they are all delicious in their own rights and so is my version.

Is this Enchilada Sauce Spicy?

Nope. Not even a little bit. I love spice and spicy foods, but for this one, I really wanted to keep it as close to the mild canned variety as I could (minus the tinniness), so the spices are simple and VERY mild.

If you like spicy, you can certainly spice it up by adding your favorite spice. I would suggest chipotle pepper because it will add a nice smokiness, but cayenne would work as well.

You could even add red pepper flakes if you want, or a spicy fresh or dried pepper.

What substitutions or changes can I make?

You can change anything you want and turn it into your perfect homemade Enchilada Sauce. Nothing in this recipe is off limits.

*These are just suggestions, I have not tested any of these variations. If you do, please let me know how they work out for you!

Skip the Tomatoes: Some people don’t like tomatoes and if that is you, then skip them. Instead, add 1½ cups (total of 2) of extra broth and I would increase the dark chili powder to 1 Tbsp to deepen the color.

You will also have to thicken the sauce. You can do this on the stove or in your electric pressure cooker by combining 1 Tbsp of oil with 1 Tbsp of flour and making a roux. Make sure to cook the roux for at least 3 minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Then add your other ingredients, but DO NOT pressure cook. Instead just simmer on medium until it reaches the desired thickness. I would probably skip the onion and use about 1 tsp of onion powder, so you don’t have to blend it at the end.

You can also thicken the sauce by making a cornstarch slurry. I would start with 1-2 tsp of cornstarch mixed in 1 Tbsp of broth or water. Add the slurry to the other ingredients and heat until it reaches your desired thickness. If your enchilada sauce gets too thick, add more broth. If it doesn’t thicken enough, add another teaspoon of cornstarch mixed in a little water.

Apple Cider Vinegar: You can use any type of vinegar you want, but I would stick to white vinegar if you don’t like apple cider vinegar.

Spices: You can add more or less of any spice you want. You can omit the salt or use a salt substitute. If you don’t have dark chili powder, you can use regular chili powder. Your sauce just won’t be as dark.

*A note about the chili powder I used. I used a dark chili powder from McCormick which is mild and adds the chili flavor, but without heat. Make sure you don’t add a chipotle chili powder unless you really LOVE spicy food! There are tons of different chili powders and, of course, use the one you like the most.

Sugar: The brown sugar in this recipe is completely optional. I added it because it balanced everything out, but you can skip it or use a sugar substitute.

Vegetarian Options: To make this vegetarian, simply switch out the chicken stock for vegetable stock or water.

Make More: This recipe makes about 2-2½ cups of enchilada sauce, which is perfect for making one batch of Chicken Enchiladas (recipe coming soon), but you can make more!

In the blender, I would only suggest doubling the batch so you don’t reach your maximum limits for hot liquids.

In your electric pressure cooker, you can make a double, triple, or quadruple batch without any issues (depending on the size of your PC). Just don’t go too far beyond that and never exceed the max fill line!

If you are close to the max fill line, instead of doing an immediate release, I would probably let the pot natural release for 5-10 minutes just to make sure you don’t have tomatoey liquid spurting out of the top.

What can I use this Homemade Enchilada Sauce With?

The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is enchiladas! I have a recipe coming soon and will link to it when it is released.

You can make cheese enchiladas, beef enchiladas, bean enchiladas, chicken enchiladas. Heck, you can even make seafood enchiladas… although, I don’t think I’ve ever seen those. Have you? Hmmm… maybe we are onto something here.

Use it as a salad dressing! No, I’m not crazy… I did just that! I made a recipe for Mexican Shredded Chicken (recipe coming soon) and put the chicken over a basic salad and used the enchilada sauce as a salad dressing. It was delicious!

It also makes a great dipping sauce. If you watched the video, you already know that this is how I tasted the enchilada sauce on camera. Since this is base for the rest of the meal, I had nothing to taste it on. So, I made a 5-minute cheese quesadilla in the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fry Oven and used the sauce as a dipping sauce for those.

I had no idea how it would taste, but guess what? It was delicious! It reminded me of a Mexican-style grilled cheese and tomato soup. Seriously, it is fantastic, so I hope you give it a try!

This sauce is so good, you can use it a ton of different ways! Let me know how you use it!

How do I make this Enchilada Sauce without the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender?

If you haven’t purchased the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender yet, it’s amazing! Just take a quick look at this video and you’ll see the time lapse of the blender making the enchilada sauce. Look at it boil!

AND THEN… it cleans itself! Simply Amazing!

If you have the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper or an Instant Pot, you can certainly make it in there. Here are the directions for both pressure cooker or stove top.

Pressure Cooking Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:

• 14.5 ounces Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• ½ onion, diced
• 2 tsp dark chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fine grind sea salt
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar

You want to decrease the amount of chicken stock when using a pressure cooker to make this enchilada sauce because there won’t be the same amount of evaporation that occurs when making it in the Cold & Hot Blender or on the stove.

You also want to dice up your onion so the full flavor of the onion gets into the sauce. The more surface area of the onion you expose, the stronger the flavor. Since the blender blends it up for us, dicing is not required when using the Cold & Hot Blender.

Add all ingredients to the inner pot of your electric pressure cooker. Put the pressure lid on and turn the valve to seal. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. Immediately release the pressure.

When cool enough, transfer to a regular blender, food processor and blend until smooth. You can also use an immersion blender to blend.

If the sauce is not thick enough, return to the inner pot and use sear/sauté on medium until it reduces to the thickness you like.

Stovetop Directions

Ingredients

• 14.5 ounces fire roasted tomatoes
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ onion, diced
• 2 tsp dark chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a deep stock pot and cover with a lid. I would vent the lid by sitting one side up on the edge of the pot. Cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes.

When cool enough, transfer to a regular blender, food processor and blend until smooth. You can also use an immersion blender to blend.

If the sauce is not thick enough, return to the pot and cook on medium until it reduces to the thickness you like.

How to Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce in the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender is how much prep time is saved. It’s pretty much dump and hit a button to make this homemade enchilada sauce and that makes me SUPER happy!

Literally, the only prep needed for this recipe is measuring out spices, and cutting the onion into chunks. Oh, and opening a can of fire roasted tomatoes. Easy Peasy.

Cut the onion in half and then cut one half into thirds. Add the chicken (or beef or vegetable) stock to the pitcher of the blender. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, onion chunks, spices, sugar, and select the sauce/dip function.

You can also make this a little quicker by using the pulse button a few times, then select the cook function on high and let cook for 20 minutes. Then select the smoothie function to blend it up. I just prefer to hit one button and walk away, so I use sauce/dip.

From this point forward, the blender does all the work. No stirring, no babysitting a pot, no boil-overs, nothing. Have I mentioned how much I love this blender?

When the cycle is finished, your enchilada sauce is ready. If you are using it right away, I suggest removing the center part of the lid first to let the steam out or wear protective gloves. It is very hot inside the blender and if you open the lid before the steam has escaped, you could get burned.

Pour into a storage container or use immediately. The enchilada sauce will keep 3-5 days in the refrigerator or you can let it cool and freeze it.

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