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Essential Sauces for Everyday
Recipe
1 hr 20 min

Red Enchilada Sauce

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Red Enchilada Sauce

We were in pursuit of the perfect red enchilada sauce, made with height-of-the-season tomatoes.

Time

1 hr 20 min

Yield

Makes four 1-pint jars

Why This Recipe Works

In pursuit of the perfect red enchilada sauce, made with height-of-the-season tomatoes, we surveyed existing recipes. Knowing that we wanted to process our sauce, we needed to avoid using oil for safety reasons. We swapped out the usual chile powder for fruity-tasting dried ancho chiles and smoky chipotle chile powder. Blooming the dried chiles along with the spices softened them, and their complex flavors infused our sauce. To safely can our sauce, we needed to acidify it, but we found that lemon or lime juice distracted from the deep chile notes. Instead, we turned to the clean, bright flavor of cider vinegar, which rounded out and enlivened our rich enchilada sauce.

Ingredients

5 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and torn into ½-inch pieces, seeds reserved (1¼ cups)
1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder
2½ teaspoons ground coriander
2½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ cup water
1 onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon salt
5 pounds tomatoes, cored and chopped coarse
6 tablespoons cider vinegar

Equipment

Dutch Oven

Instructions

  1. Toast anchos with reserved seeds, chile powder, coriander, and cumin in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in water, onion, garlic, and salt and cook until onions and anchos are softened and water has evaporated, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to simmer. Cook, stirring often, until mixture measures 10 cups, 10 to 15 minutes.
    Recipe Tip
    Five tablespoons of ancho chile powder can be used in place of the whole dried chiles.
  2. Working in batches, process mixture in blender until very smooth, about 1 minute. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer into clean pot, firmly pressing solids with ladle to extract as much juice as possible; discard solids. Return sauce to brief boil over medium-high heat, then remove from heat.
  3. Place dish towel flat on counter. Using jar lifter, remove jars from pot, draining water back into pot. Place jars upside down on towel and let dry for 1 minute. Add 1½ tablespoons vinegar to each hot jar. Using funnel and ladle, portion sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Slide wooden skewer along inside of jar to remove air bubbles.
  4. Let sauce cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 months. Before using, simmer sauce to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes.)

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Putting Simmering Sauces to Work
Recipe2 min read

Putting Simmering Sauces to Work

Red Enchilada Sauce

Recipe By

Published on August 27, 2026

Time

1 hr 20 min

Yield

Makes four 1-pint jars

Red Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

5 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and torn into ½-inch pieces, seeds reserved (1¼ cups)1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder2½ teaspoons ground coriander2½ teaspoons ground cumin½ cup water1 onion, chopped6 garlic cloves, minced1 tablespoon salt5 pounds tomatoes, cored and chopped coarse6 tablespoons cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Toast anchos with reserved seeds, chile powder, coriander, and cumin in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in water, onion, garlic, and salt and cook until onions and anchos are softened and water has evaporated, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to simmer. Cook, stirring often, until mixture measures 10 cups, 10 to 15 minutes.
    Recipe Tip
    Five tablespoons of ancho chile powder can be used in place of the whole dried chiles.
  2. Working in batches, process mixture in blender until very smooth, about 1 minute. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer into clean pot, firmly pressing solids with ladle to extract as much juice as possible; discard solids. Return sauce to brief boil over medium-high heat, then remove from heat.
  3. Place dish towel flat on counter. Using jar lifter, remove jars from pot, draining water back into pot. Place jars upside down on towel and let dry for 1 minute. Add 1½ tablespoons vinegar to each hot jar. Using funnel and ladle, portion sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Slide wooden skewer along inside of jar to remove air bubbles.
  4. Let sauce cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 months. Before using, simmer sauce to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes.)
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