Easy Red Enchilada Sauce {15 minute Recipe} (2024)

FAQs

What to use if I don't have enchilada sauce? ›

Tomato sauce is a good way to replace enchilada sauce if you're looking for a milder alternative. It's easy to take a pre-made tomato sauce and spice it and add other ingredients to get closer to a real enchilada sauce.

Red enchilada sauce may also be called salsa roja, salsa roja para enchiladas or mole rojo. It is a sauce made out of ancho/ pasilla/New Mexico and/or Cascabel chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, broth, cumin, oregano, etc. all blended together then simmered until thickened.

The main difference is that red sauce is made from dried red chile peppers instead of green peppers, and the spices used are sometimes slightly different. This sauce has vinegar, garlic, onions, and other spices like oregano, chili powder, and basil.

Use Las Palmas^® Mild Green Enchilada Sauce to make delicious Mexican staples. Offering a mild level of spice to enhance but not overpower your enchiladas, this sauce is sure to make your meal a hit.

Pre-fry your tortillas

Fry each of your tortillas in hot oil before adding in your enchilada filling. This will help keep the tortillas from soaking up too much of your sauce too quickly, which can also cause them to break apart.

This rich concoction gets its flavor from tomatoes, chili powder, and other spicy seasonings. Green enchilada sauce follows the same basic formula but adds fresh green chiles for a brighter taste. Westernized white enchilada sauce is usually dairy-based and uses cream soup or stock to deepen the flavor.

Salsa roja ( lit. 'red sauce') is a type of spicy red sauce in Mexican cuisine. It is made of jitomate (red tomato), ground with onion, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to taste.

Red Chile Sauce is made from New Mexican Red Chiles, and it's earthy, pungent flavor is so unique - it's really hard to explain to people who have never visited the Southwest.

While some recipes use flour tortillas, corn tortillas are traditional — and for good reason — are the better option for enchiladas. Corn tortillas have a distinct flavor that plays a key part of the enchilada experience, compared to flour tortillas, which are more like a blank slate.

Short and Spicy Answer

While they may seem similar in color and taste, Taco Bell's red sauce and traditional enchilada sauce are not exactly the same. Each has its own unique recipe and flavor profile that sets it apart.

How to tell if enchilada sauce is bad? ›

If the enchilada sauce has an unpleasant odor, it has gone bad. A taste test can also tell you if the enchilada sauce is bad, especially when it doesn't taste like enchilada sauce. Other signs of spoilage include the appearance of mold on the surface or a runny texture, which indicates that the sauce is going sour.

Hatch Organic Red Enchilada Sauce

If you're looking for the best red enchilada sauce, Hatch makes the best enchilada sauce we found. This can is all you need to cook enchiladas at home that taste like they came from a restaurant. First of all, the sauce is the ideal thickness.

Old El Paso Mild Red Enchilada Sauce, 1 ct., 19 oz. 4.5 out of 5 stars, average rating value.

The most common “red” enchilada sauce may also be called salsa roja, salsa roja para enchiladas, or mole rojo. This is a sauce made out of ancho/pasilla/New Mexico and/or Cascabel chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, broth, cumin, oregano, etc.

Anyone deeply familiar with Mexican cuisine knows that traditional enchilada sauce doesn't actually contain tomatoes – as several folks flamed me last week to remind me. Traditional sauce is made with dried chilies that have been rehydrated and then toasted until they take on a nice, hot, smoky flavor.

Salsa vs Enchilada Sauce

These two sauces might overlap in their ingredients, but the key difference is that enchilada sauce is thin, smooth, and served hot. It's also considered an important part of dishes like enchiladas, while salsa roja is a cold table sauce that can be added to anything.

If you add spices to spaghetti sauce you get enchilada sauce.

Salsa and enchilada sauce are completely different things. You can not make one into the other. Salsa usually has tomatoes along with fresh peppers. There are so many other things that can be added to salsa I won't even try to list them.