Vegan Red Enchilada Sauce

Today I am sharing a recipe of homemade Vegan red enchilada sauce recipe which gets its deep red color and distinct flavor from a secret ingredient used. Make this at home and you will never buy store-bought one’s again.

Enchilada sauce is a tomato based red sauce which is the commonly used in Mexican cooking. It’s extremely versatile and not confined to only making enchiladas. You can use this enchilada sauce in almost anything you want , example – pasta, pizza, wraps , baked dishes , or on the side as a dip .

I discovered about this tip on our trip to Mexico in 2013. Being an ardent Mexican cuisine fan , I have made enchilada sauce at home for years now , yes it was satisfactory but not the best. Tasted more like pasta sauce , which isn’t wrong but something was missing. I just couldn’t figure out what was it until the chef at a restaurant in Mexico was kind enough to share this game changing secret ingredient. Are you ready to know what it is …. it’s cocoa powder . Are you surprised . I had the same reaction, whoa.. cocoa in the sauce.. so interesting and out of the box for me  and I couldn’t wait to return back and experiment it. It took me about 2 tries to get the proportions right, the way I always expected it to taste and bingo I had the most amazing home made enchilada sauce . I was feeling so accomplished. And soon this sauce became our house favorite.

Moreover I have made a healthier version of this sauce- how ?

I have swapped  all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour

Added mexican spices which completes this sauce .

This sauce is  vegetarian and vegan.

You might ask , but this sauce is vegetarian , and sorry to break the bubble but authentic Mexican restaurants add chicken broth in it . You might want to check it with your servers before ordering it.

Why home-made

For all reasons above. You can control everything going into this sauce.

Make ahead of time

Make a big batch of this sauce and freeze in portion size ziplock bags or containers for future use. Stays good up to 3 months in the freezer and 5 days in the fridge.

Highlights

Vegan

Healthy

Beautiful flavors

Make ahead of time

Versatile

For this vegan enchilada sauce , I have used fresh tomatoes – blanched and pureed . 

Feel free to use store-bought tomato purée .

Pictorial  process of blanching  and cooking is shown  below –

Blanching is a technique used to peel the tomatoes easily, tomatoes are boiled for a minute or two then given a ice bath to stop further cooking. 

In a large pot , bring some water to boil which is enough to cover the tomatoes . Meanwhile take a knife and make a X slit under each tomato , this will help it peel faster .Once you see a rapid boil add in the tomatoes. Cook for 1 minute or until the skin starts to split  . Meanwhile fill another bowl with cold water and some ice. Now transfer the boiled tomatoes carefully in the cold water bowl .

Let it sit there for a minute, now carefully peel when cool , it should peel off easily .

cook the flour , add tomato purée , spices and cocoa , cover and cook – its that simple!!

 thick rich sauce is ready!!

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Vegan enchilada sauce

this healthy vegan enchilada sauce is versatile and can be made ahead of time.

Course dip, sauce

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Adjustable Servings -3 cups

Author Khushboo Kothari

Ingredients

• 850 grams / 7-8 medium size tomatoes or 28 oz / 1 lb ready tomatoe puree
• ½ cup water / vegetable broth
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup wheat flour/ white flour
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon chilly powder
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• ½ tablespoon dried oregano crushed
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder / 2 cloves freshly grated garlic
• ½ teaspoon grounded pepper
• Salt to taste
• Additional water for blanching

Instructions

• Blanch and puree the tomatoes – pictorial shown above .
• Heat oil in a pan on low – medium heat.
• Add in the flour and cook it for a minute stirring constantly .
• Slowly add in the tomato puree ,stirring constantly to avoild lumps , now add the water and spices , sugar , salt . give it a quick stir .
• Cover and let it cook on medium heat for 10 -12 minutes. Stir occasionally .
• Tate test and adjust the spices and water .
• Once thickened to desired consistency , switch off the flame . The sauce will thicken more after cooling. Use immediately or let it cool down and store for future use.

Notes

Tomato quality differs, taste test and adjust liquid and spices.
I have used raw sugar, use any granulated one.
Make ahead of time and freeze.

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I hope you give it a try and make it a regular affair at your place.

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