Salsa Roja para Enchiladas
Use the visual recipe as your guide. Jump to the full recipe below for preparation details. All of the ingredients should be available at your local grocery store.
Homemade Enchilada Sauce Can’t Be Beat
Homemade enchilada sauce beats canned enchilada sauce every time. Period. If you have never made it from scratch, you should give this authentic Mexican recipe a try. It is much easier to make than you may think and the results are phenomenal.
A Versatile Sauce
It’s great for topping chicken enchiladas, beef enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, enchilada casserole, or even wet burritos.
Three Different Names, Equally Delicious Results
Depending on where you are, red enchilada sauce may also be called salsa roja, salsa roja para enchiladas or mole rojo. Whatever you call it, the results are equally delicious.
How to Make An Authentic Mexican Red Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ancho chiles (mild fruity dried chili pods)
- 4 pasilla chiles (mild fruity dried chili pods)
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon marjoram
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- Salt to taste
The recipe calls for dried ancho chiles and pasilla chiles. Both are mild chiles with a pleasant fruity taste. Ancho chile translates as the “wide chile” and pasilla chile translates and the “raisin chile” due to its wrinkled texture and raisin-like fragrance.
Toast the Chiles
- Toasting the chiles enhances the flavor of the chiles and make them more pliable and easy to work with.
- In a hot comal or pan, you toast them for about 10 to 15 seconds per side. If you leave them on the heat too long they develop an acrid taste which you want to avoid. It is quite obvious from the smell that you have toasted them too long.
- Discard any chiles that are overly toasted.
Char the Vegetables
- Charring the vegetables is another step that helps develop the flavor of your sauce. You want to blacken them.
- Char them in a dry pan. Don’t oil the pan.
- Avoid using a non-stick pan for charring. It’s not good for the pan and it’s difficult to get a good char on the veggies.
Prep the Chiles
- Remove the stems, seeds, and veins from the chiles.
- Tear the stems off using your fingers split the chiles down the side to get to the seeds and veins. Don’t worry if you are unable to remove every last seed from the chiles. A few seeds won’t affect the flavor or texture.
- Save the seeds. They are edible. You can toast them and use them as a condiment to add heat to a variety of dishes.
Reconstitute the Chiles
- Add the chiles and all of the other ingredients to your pan.
- You are going to simmer the chiles for 15 minutes to reconstitute them and to soften the vegetables.
- Add just enough water to the pan until the ingredients are nearly covered.
Getting a Smooth Texture
- After blending, strain the sauce to give it a smooth texture and to remove the chile skin which is hard to digest.
- Push down firmly on the pulp to extract as much flavor as possible.
- Discard the pulp that remains in the strainer.
Fry the Sauce
- Once you have strained the sauce, you must fry it. I know frying the salsa sounds crazy but this is the step that most helps it develop a rich flavor. Do not skip this step.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil or enough to cover the bottom of your pan and get it really hot. Then you slowly pour the sauce into the hot oil. The sauce will begin to sizzle and the oil continues to sizzle as you pour all of the sauce into the pan.
- Once you have fried it, which takes about 30 seconds, be sure to turn the heat down to low.
- (NOTE: The oil tends to spatter. Be very careful with this step to avoid getting burned.)
How to Avoid a Bitter Enchilada Sauce
Dried chiles are a seasonal natural product and the level of heat and bitterness can vary greatly which means at times your sauce isn’t going to turn out the way you had planned.
But, don’t worry. You will almost always be able to fix it. It may take a little trial-and-error until you get it just right.
Methods to reduce the bitterness of your sauce:
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons agave syrup
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter (This is a reader recommendation that I haven’t tried but I think it would an interesting note to your sauce)
You want to add these ingredients little-by-little to avoid overpowering your sauce. A little goes a long way.
It’s an Easy Enchilada Sauce. Time to Start Cooking!
The first batch you make will be really good, the second batch will be excellent and your third batch will be out of this world. It doesn’t take long to learn to make an authentic salsa for enchiladas. Well? What are you waiting for?
Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Recipe for an easy red enchilada sauce, also known as salsa roja or mole rojo, prepared with dried ancho and pasilla chiles. Use it as a base for Pozole too.
Servings 8 servings
Calories 113kcal
Ingredients
- 8 ancho chiles mild fruity dried chili pods
- 4 pasilla chiles mild fruity dried chili pods
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon marjoram
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Toast the chiles in a hot pan until fragrant. (about 10 to 15 seconds per side)
- Allow chiles to cool and then remove stems, seeds, and veins.
- Char the onion, tomatoes, and garlic in a hot pan.
- Place the chiles, onion, tomatoes, garlic oregano and marjoram in a pot with just enough water until the ingredients are almost covered.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low.
- Simmer for 15 minutes to reconstitute the chiles and soften the veggies.
- Blend the chiles, onion, tomatoes, garlic, oregano marjoram, and the soaking water until smooth. It usually takes about a minute.
- Add water little by little if necessary to blend. You may have to blend in two batches
- Strain the mixture.
- Add two tablespoons of cooking oil to a hot pan add the strained sauce to fry it.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- Add salt to taste.
- Allow the sauce to sit for at least 2 hours so that the flavors meld.
- Warm the sauce before serving.
Notes
Optional
- You can add a pinch of cumin.
- Substitute chicken broth or vegetable broth for the soaking liquid.
- The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
- To runny? If it is a little runny and you need to thicken it just simmer until it has reduced the desired consistency.
- Too thick? If it is a little too thick, add water a couple of tablespoons at a time until it has reached the desired consistency.
- Too bitter? Add only one of the following to reduce bitterness: ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 to 2 teaspoons agave syrup.
- Use any neutral flavor cooking oil to fry.
- Serving size is about ½ cup per person.
- You can also use this enchilada sauce as the base for red posole or on poached chicken breasts.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/2 cup | Calories: 113kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 497mg | Sugar: 5g
Kirk says
Thanks Doug for the recipe!
Michael says
Is there any reason not to start with Fresh Chillies if possible?
Revill says
Yuck. i threw it out. Even the chickens wouldn’t eat it.
Rodrigo says
Maybe try an easier recipe next time. Not everyone can get it right. I made it and it was excellent
Mommalene says
Can i coat my tortillas with the sause and throw it in the oven till the cheese and beef cook instead of letting the sause sit for two hours?
Dawn says
Has anyone puréed the entire batch so it didn’t need straining??
Michelle says
I did and it still needed straining.
Mike says
Delicious. Tastes nothing like storebought. Huge, complex chili flavor. Added a couple chiptotles in adobo, boom! Will make again.
Carla says
I just made this sauce and it is simmering now. I also added a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste and a little cumin. It is going to be fabulous for shredded beef and cheese enchiladas! Tastes great already. Thank you for sharing!
Michelle says
I made this last night. The recipe is great! I also had some problems with bitterness, but a little sugar and cayenne pepper solved the problem. Thank you!
Douglas Cullen says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Dried chiles can vary in flavor and heat quite a bit. Sometimes you need to adjust the sauce a bit. I like to use sugar of the sauce is on the bitter side. A pinch of baking soda helps cut the bitterness too. Cheers!
Glenn says
Is this red sauce similar to the one at El Tarascos in Manhattan Beach? I hope so
Moxie says
This is a recipe I’ve been using for years, and it’s fantastic. To avoid the bitterness, I try NOT to toast the peppers too long. If they start to char, the sauce will be bitter. I also use an Oxo Good Grips food mill instead of a strainer – it’s fast, and works like magic to remove skins, seeds, etc. The end result is a smooth, tasty sauce.
Jenny says
I used this as a guide for the batch I made this weekend and by far it was the best enchilada sauce I’ve made!
I never would have added marjoram before reading this. I did toss in a little cumin and used chipotle en adobo since I didn’t want to make a run to the store for the dried chiles. Turned out great, and I loved the smokiness the chipotles added to the flavor of the sauce.