Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce, easy and so delicious!

Do you love the enchilada sauce at your local neighborhood cantina? Well from here on out, you can make it yourself! Because a delicious restaurant-style enchilada sauce is now at your fingertips...

We love enchiladas in this house! Probably because of this sauce...

We now make our own tortillas. There is something so fresh tasting about a hot off-the-griddle, lightly freckled tortilla. They are not always perfectly round, but they are always delicious. Last night I made up a batch of this Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce and set it aside to cool while I made a batch of tortillas. From there I filled the tortillas with a ground beef mixture I stirred together, covered them in this sauce, and of course some grated cheese, and put them in the oven to bake.

But today's recipe is all about the enchilada sauce!

I won't be telling you how to make enchiladas with a specific recipe for the filling, because in this house, we will grill up extra meat on the weekends specifically for the opportunity to have enchiladas later in the week. Honestly, enchiladas are a great way to make a small amount of meat go a long way. No meat? No problem, a black bean, corn, and brown rice enchilada is also delicious! But today, it is all about the sauce!

So let me tell you how this is made...

The base for Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce is a roux that is cooked until tan in color, from there the spices, are stirred in and allowed to come up in temperature right there in the hot roux. Once the mixture is bubbling and you can smell the delicious aroma from the spices, it is time to add the liquid and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Nothing difficult, but this technique makes the best sauce!

Assembly is easy, use what you have, and bake!

Set the finished sauce aside while you fill some tortillas with your choice of filling, then cover with Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce, and bake until bubbly, 25-30 minutes. If you are a cheese lover like we are, about halfway through baking the enchiladas, give the tops of the enchiladas a good sprinkling of grated cheese...and let bake until done. And just like a sizzling platter from your favorite cantina, let everything cool briefly before digging in. 

Ingredients needed for this recipe:

• olive oil
• whole wheat flour
• chili powder 
• ground cumin
• garlic powder
• dried oregano, Mexican if available
• salt
• cinnamon
• tomato paste
• vegetable or chicken stock
• apple cider vinegar
• fresh ground black pepper

You will also need the following:

• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• medium-sized saucepan
• whisk

Now we are ready to begin!

Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce

inspired by: Cookie and Kate

UPDATED: 01.26.2024

3 T olive oil

3 T whole wheat flour

1 T mild style chili powder 

1 t ground cumin

1/2 t dried granulated garlic 

1/4 t oregano, Mexican oregano if possible

1/4 t salt

1/8 t ground cinnamon - don't leave this out!

2 T tomato paste

2 c vegetable broth OR chicken stock

1/8 t fresh ground pepper

1 t apple cider vinegar

Place the spices (chili powder through cinnamon) into a small bowl and set them aside. Heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot enough you can see a bit of a ripple in the oil when you tilt the pan. Dump the flour into the oil and immediately begin whisking. Cook stirring constantly until tan in color, adjust the heat level if needed, you want gentle cooking to achieve the tan color, cooking the roux slowly develops flavor. 

When the roux is cooked, remove the pan from the burner, add the spices, whisking everything together. The roux will be hot enough to "cook" the spices and everything will bubble up. Add the broth and the tomato paste. Return the pan to the burner, cook stirring with the whisk until thickened. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and the ground pepper. 

Now you are ready to assemble the best enchiladas you will ever eat!

Storage options for Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce. Feel free to make this sauce ahead and store it in the refrigerator for up to three days, before assembling enchiladas. I have not tried to freeze this sauce, mainly because it is so easy to make, I do not feel the need to make it ahead and freeze. But with that said, I think leftover enchiladas would freeze just fine, possibly with a slight loss of flavor when thawed and reheated. 

UPDATE:  For your convenience, a "copy and paste" version of Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce has been included below. 

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Printable "copy and paste" version:

Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce

inspired by: Cookie and Kate

UPDATED: 01.26.2024

3 T olive oil

3 T whole wheat flour

1 T mild style chili powder 

1 t ground cumin

1/2 t dried granulated garlic 

1/4 t oregano, Mexican oregano if possible

1/4 t salt

1/8 t ground cinnamon - don't leave this out!

2 T tomato paste

2 c vegetable broth OR chicken stock

1/8 t fresh ground pepper

1 t apple cider vinegar

Place the spices (chili powder through cinnamon) into a small bowl and set them aside. Heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot enough you can see a bit of a ripple in the oil when you tilt the pan. Dump the flour into the oil and immediately begin whisking. Cook stirring constantly until tan in color, adjust the heat level if needed, you want gentle cooking to achieve the tan color, cooking the roux slowly develops flavor. 

When the roux is cooked, remove the pan from the burner, add the spices, whisking everything together. The roux will be hot enough to "cook" the spices and everything will bubble up. Add the broth and the tomato paste. Return the pan to the burner, cook stirring with the whisk until thickened. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and the ground pepper. 

Now you are ready to assemble the best enchiladas you will ever eat!

Storage options for Restaurant Style Enchilada Sauce. Feel free to make this sauce ahead and store it in the refrigerator for up to three days, before assembling enchiladas. I have not tried to freeze this sauce, mainly because it is so easy to make, I do not feel the need to make it ahead and freeze. But with that said, I think leftover enchiladas would freeze just fine, possibly with a slight loss of flavor when thawed and reheated. 

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