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Authentic Enchilada Sauce

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Elevate your Mexican dishes with this rich, smoky, and flavorful authentic enchilada sauce. Made from roasted tomatoes, Ancho, Guajillo, and Pasilla chilis, with a hint of Chipotle in Adobo, it’s the perfect homemade sauce to take your Mexican cuisine to the next level.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 head of fresh garlic
  • 1 cup Olive Oil
  • 4 small Roma tomatoes, roasted and peeled
  • 1/2 white onion, peeled, quartered, and roasted
  • 3 dried Ancho chili peppers
  • 3 dried Guajillo chili peppers
  • 2 dried Pasilla chili pepper
  • 2 Chipotle in Adobo (use less to reduce the heat or more to increase it)
  • 2–2 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Place the peeled cloves of garlic from one head into a small ramekin dish and just cover with Olive oil.  Place in the preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes.  When done, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Reserve the infused garlic oil from the confit.
  3. While the garlic is roasting, clean and destem the tomatoes.  Place the tomatoes and the onion in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.  When done roasting, remove from oven and set aside to cool.
  4. Preheat the cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
  5. Using a sharp knife, remove the stem from each chili pepper, then, using kitchen shears, cut down one side of the chili pepper, open the chili to remove the seeds and membrane, flatten the chili. Repeat for each chili pepper.  (see note #1) When the chilis are cleaned, separate them into batches of 2-3 chilis.
  6. Add 1 tablespoon of the infused oil from the garlic confit to the preheated skillet.  Add a single batch of chilis to the skillet.  Toast the chili peppers until fragrant, about 20-30 seconds per side. Keep a close eye on the chilis as they are toasting.  Things can quickly escalate and leave you with burned chilis. When toasted, remove the chilis from the heat and place in a large bowl.  Repeat with each batch until all the chilis are toasted.  Remove the pan from the heat.
  7. Reconstitute the chilis by covering them with boiling water.  Allow to steep in the hot water for at least 20-30 minutes.
  8. In a blender or food processor add the chilies, roasted tomatoes, 6 large cloves of the roasted garlic, roasted onion, and enough chicken stock enough stock so that you can process the mixture. Process until smooth. Strain the sauce through a fine mess strainer. (see note #2)
  9. Heat 1 tablespoon of the garlic infused oil from the confit in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, add the strained sauce, then stir in enough additional chicken stock to thin down to a consistency similar to ketchup. Add the oregano, cumin, paprika, sugar, and salt.  Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add additional chicken stock as necessary to maintain the consistency. (see note #3)
  10. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning as needed.  (See note #4 below)

Notes

  1. I’ve taken a number of steps in this recipe to remove any bitterness from the enchilada sauce.  The first is removing the membranes from the inside of the peppers.  Removing the membrane not only reduces the bitterness, it also reduces the heat, as does removing the seeds.
  2. Straining the sauce removes small pieces of the skin and left over membranes that can sauce bitterness.
  3. Simmering the sauce is an important step.  It allows the flavors to come together and enhances the overall taste.
  4. If the sauce has a slight bitter taste, add additional sugar, a quarter-teaspoon at a time.  If the sauce needs a bit more flavor, add additional salt, a quarter-teaspoon at a time.

Find it online: https://foodienoise.com/authentic-enchilada-sauce/