Authentic Red Chile Sauce made entirely from scratch — this classic Mexican enchilada sauce is luxuriously rich, you can’t get anything like this out of a can!
Red Chile Sauce is the life-blood of Southwestern cooking
You can’t really pretend to know the cuisine until you’ve made this staple garlic and chile sauce from scratch. The process that transforms dry leathery peppers into a smooth rich sauce is multi-stepped, but simple, and so satisfying.
In the end you’re left with an authentic sauce that is itself the starting point for an endless list of traditional dishes, like enchiladas, tamales, chili, huevos rancheros… I’m looking forward to having a few jars in the freezer this winter.
ingredient list for red chile sauce
- New Mexico or California red chile pods
- cumin
- coriander
- oregano
- white pepper
- flour
- garlic
- olive oil
This recipe calls for New Mexican or California dried chilies
If you can’t find them in your grocery store, be sure to ask, they often stash them in out of the way spots. You can always buy them online, too. They keep forever, so I suggest stocking up for future sauce making. I used the California chiles, which are a little less hot than the New Mexico variety. My sauce had a perfect hint of heat, not overwhelming at all.
The additional flavors in this red chili sauce, like the recipe itself, are simple. Roasted garlic, a few classic Southwestern herbs like cumin, coriander and oregano, and some salt. I added my own kick with a touch of sherry vinegar at the very end to satisfy my taste for a little tang in my sauce. I think it brought it to life.
Your homemade chile sauce will keep up to 10 days in the refrigerator, and you can freeze it for longer storage. Let it cool completely, then pack in freezer safe jars or containers, making sure to leave a little headspace to allow for expansion during freezing.
Red Chile Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 cloves garlic
- 6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- salt
- 8 ounces dried New Mexico or California red chile pods, stemmed and seeded
- 5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground oregano, preferably Mexican
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350F
- Peel and toss the garlic cloves with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Wrap them in foil and roast for 30 minutes. The cloves will be softened and fragrant. Place the cloves in the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the blade attachment,
- Put the chile pods in a large heavy bottomed stockpot. Heat the pot over a medium flame and stir the chiles until they start to toast and release their aroma. This will take about 2-4 minutes, but watch carefully, they burn easily. Stir continuously.
- Fill the pot with water, and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally so all the chiles get submerged, and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chilies, but reserve 5 cups of the cooking water.
- Working in 2 batches, puree the chiles along with the garlic cloves. Run the machine until the chiles are ground down to a smooth, thick paste, and stop to scrape down the sides of the machine if necessary. Process in the reserved liquid and run until smooth. Again, you will need to do this in batches so your machine doesn’t overflow.
- Strain the sauce through mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Be sure to push the sauce through with the back of a spoon to get all the liquid through. Discard the solids.
- Set the same pan over medium heat add 5 tablespoons of oil, and then add the flour, stirring until it forms a paste. Add in the spices, and stir continuously until smooth.
- Whisk in the chile mixture, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Cool the sauce and then store in tightly closed containers in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
I love enchiladas, this sauce looks awesome.
Can’t wait to try this sauce! Thanks.
Having travelled to Arizona & New Mexico I have come to appreciate their LOVE of Chiles – Red and/or Green – with Hatch Chiles being one of the main staples in Southwest cuisine. I love the mix of cultures – Indigenous Pueblo, Spanish, & Cowboy – that influence SW Cooking; it’s hearty, homey, complete comfort food at it’s simplest & finest. Definitely food that warms the heart & soul…not to mention leaves this Californian craving more! Whatever you do, please don’t ask me to choose Red or Green because I’ll always say CHRISTMAS! Some may think I’m a glutton for punishment because you never know how hot the Chile is going to be until you eat it. Oh drat! Now I’m craving a sopapilla stuffed with Chile Verde, Jack Cheese, lettuce/tomato for lunch LOL!
For me, it is cheese enchiladas sprinkled with chopped white onion. That way the red or green chile is the star. And i love both!
My very favorite recipe from your site is the Green Tabasco Martini, followed closely by your Chile Verde with Chicken. I took the martini a step further by infusing vodka with cucumbers. Yummy.
Wow Phyllis, I’m going to have to try that!
I used 2-3 small unpeeled Armenian cucumbers from Trader Joes chopped in 1/4″ pieces. Put into a clean glass jar and added 1 750 bottle Ketel One vodka. Covered and put in a closet for 4 days. Strain back into original bottle, but save the pieces to use in the martini. You can use any vodka of choice. Thanks so much for that recipe and your entire site. Love it.
It’s between Migas and Stacked Chicken Enchiladas
I LOVE nachos…
Anything with corn.
Chile Rellano’s are my favorite.
I can always go for enchiladas and am glad to see a red sauce that can be made in a larger batch to make popping a can open less likely to happen. That stuff is horrible. I have whirred tomatoes in a blender with other flavorings in lieu of the dreaded can but this stocked freezer approach is even quicker.
Thanks for the book winning opportunity.
Cheers!