On today's fast and easy vegan menu: homemade enchilada sauce! Aka, Smoky Maple Chipotle Enchilada Sauce. Never buy enchilada sauce again with this go-to, customizable recipe!..
Simmer the blended sauce to thicken and develop the flavors..
Ready to go or save for later!..
One of my most favorite entrees ever: enchiladas! Growing up in Santa Cruz, California, our family was always going out to eat to Mexican restaurants. And even before I was vegetarian, I always ordered spinach enchiladas. Moist, spicy, steamy, amazing enchiladas, smothered in red or green enchilada sauce, with a side of fluffy red rice and silky black re-fried beans. It was my version of restaurant heaven.
And enchiladas were also one of the first meals I learned to make for my family when I was in high school. But I always bought the enchilada sauce. I never knew it was SO easy to make it from scratch!
My Recipe. Today's recipe is a basic red enchilada sauce. Super easy to make with minimal ingredients. The best part about this sauce is that you can jazz it up with a few fun flavor accents. Try adding these to taste:
- peanut butter or whole peanuts
- cocoa powder or melted dark chocolate for a "mole" flavor
- fresh or roasted chiles for a smoky spicy flavor
- get creative with different spices
For this recipe I used a can of fire-roasted tomatoes as the tomato base. But you can substitute with tomato paste and veggie broth if you'd prefer. Use about 5oz paste and 1 cup veggie stock. (Though I have not tested that substitution so you may need to modify a bit to taste.)
You could also substitute the canned or boxed tomatoes with fresh tomatoes that have been oven-roasted until they blister. Something like this..
..I wish I had some tomatoes on hand, but I will absolutely be trying that method the next time I make this sauce. Which should be very soon since the ending meal was so freaking fantastic. And easy!
In a few days I will share the enchilada recipe - but for today let us start with the sauce.
Easy Vegan Enchilada Sauce
By
Published 06/09/2015
Ingredients
- 14.5 ounces fire-roasted tomatoes (diced + canned) - lightly salted
- 2-3 cloves raw garlic
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional, adds more heat)
- ¼ cup flour - oat used
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil - *sub with a veggie oil, or a nut or seed oil/butter (tahini, peanut..)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice + a pinch of zest (sub with 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar)
- salt to taste (at least ½ tsp)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a high-speed blender. Blend on from low to high for a few minutes, until silky smooth.
- Transfer the blender sauce to a small sauce pot. Simmer over medium heat for 2-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Simmer until thickened a bit and flavor matures.
- You can pour this sauce into a mason jar for use within 1-3 days - seal jar and place in fridge. Or use right away for enchiladas, taco sauce, burgers and more. If using as a raw sauce (not to be cooked anymore) you may want to simmer the sauce a bit longer to "cook" the flavors.
Yield: about 2 cups
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 03 mins.
Cook time: 00 hrs. 05 mins.
Total time: 8 mins.
Tags: enchilada sauce,diy,howto,sauce,mexican,spicy,tomatoes,vegan,glutenfree,dinner,enchiladas
Lynley W says
Wow!!! This good!!!
This would also make great Spanish style tomato soup of the just the flour was removed then and added some kind of Kream!!
Sauce is done now to the enchiladas!!
Gone are the days of canned enchilada sauce. 😁🙏🏻
Wendell Stoker says
Holy smokes, this is a delicious sauce! I doubled it, used a handful of almonds instead of oat flour. It made two 8x8 pans of enchiladas, and the leftover sauce has been fantastic as a "ketchup" on black bean burgers, tofu scramble, home fries.
I'm pretty sure I've made every recipe of yours containing the descriptor "smoky maple"!
Kathy Patalsky says
Haha I love that! Smoky maple is indeed a Go-to flavor for me!
RockMyVeganSocks says
Truth be told, I have never bought enchilada sauce. I have always made mine, but I always make it the same way. This recipe sounds so different than what I normally make and so tasty! I can't wait to see the enchilada recipe to go with it =)
Amanda @ Sweets and Greens says
Oooh, too easy! Only 3 instructions, everyone can make this.
Kathy Patalsky says
yes! 🙂 easy
MatchaManiac says
Thank you recipe, cannot wait to try it!
Kathy Patalsky says
Hope you love it!
Rebecca P. says
I just made homemade enchilada sauce! It was amazing!
Kathy Patalsky says
so easy right? Never buying again.
Livomac says
Oh after seeing how yummy that sauce looks, I can only imagine how yummy the enchiladas will be, and luckily I have some tortillas on hand that need to be used up. Can't wait!!!
Kathy Patalsky says
perfect! 🙂
Lani Strom says
Kathy, can you omit the oil or nut butter altogether?
Kathy Patalsky says
Yes! It just adds a bit more richness
DDDiane says
Could this sauce be frozen? I'm not sure I could eat 2 cups of sauce in 3 days. Well maybe I could...
Kathy Patalsky says
Yes you could freeze. The sauce gets used up in a flash for a batch of enchiladas, but for smallers dishes, freezing can work!
Catherine Jackson says
I literally had a bunch of tomatoes we got from the farmer's market this weekend that needed to be eaten soon! I roasted them las night and just made this enchilada sauce for dinner later this week! I did have to add in some veggie broth to the blender when mixed the ingredients though. I also subbed the tahini for olive oil because I have about 2 tubs of tahini in my fridge right now! I also threw in a garlic scape because I was a but short on fresh garlic cloves. I can't wait to try this with your upcoming enchilada post!
Kathy Patalsky says
Just posted the full recipe! 🙂 http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2015/06/easy-black-bean-spinach-enchiladas.html
Liz Thomson says
This sounds delicious! I've never tried making my own enchilada sauce!
Kathy Patalsky says
You must try it! I think you will love the results.
Kayla says
Welp, now I'm craving enchiladas.
Kathy Patalsky says
and my job here is done 🙂