homemade enchilada sauce

i have searched high and low here in the UK for enchilada sauce and my hunt has turned up empty. That is a sad day in my book because i LOVE enchiladas and you can't have enchiladas without that rich, spicy, chili based gravy to soak in all the nooks and crannies of a tortilla and its fillings. you just can't. you would just be eating a plain old naked bald burrito. 

I have had visiting friends from the States come visit me and they have come bearing gifts like the wise men and they offer me wheat thins, cheetos, and jarred enchilada sauce. Sadly though, i have run out of it quickly because our family eats enchiladas at least once or twice a week. i know. [insert covered eyed monkey emoji.]

i decided that i would have to get creative and surely enchilada sauce could not be too difficult to make, could it? turns out, it isn't and that was a great relief to me and my enchilada..habit.  i searched pinterest, and of course trusty Pinterest did not let me down. there were many recipes to choose from, so to me, that is encouraging in that i can create my own using a variety of ingredients found in different recipes. 

I made it a few times, tinkering around a bit adding and subtracting, trying bits and pieces from different recipes, and i finally narrowed it down to my own tried and true method that i will share with you. prepare yourself, because this is hardly an effort to make, and it stores really well in the fridge so like me, you can have enchiladas twice a week and have plenty of sauce to bathe your wraps in. 

in making enchiladas, i am all about the easy is best, so i do take a few short cuts and my family seems to enjoy them all the same. Please don't mistake me in saying i take short cuts in flavor and quality, i just make the enchiladas more like a casserole so i don't have to dunk each individual tortilla in the sauce, fill it, wrap it, and then figure out how to jam as many enchiladas as i can in the dish. 

i make my enchiladas more like a casserole, covering the bottom of the dish in enchilada sauce, cutting corn tortillas to begin my base of enchiladas, spread filling-ground beef, chicken, or roasted veggies, then drizzle a bit more sauce, cheese, and then reassemble a similar layer, and finish with a final tortilla layer, soak it in sauce, and top with piles of shredded red leicester cheese-at least while i am here in England, since they don't have colby jack:) enchilada lasagna maybe? 

ok, well, this was just supposed to be about the sauce, not an entire sermon on how to make an enchilada dish. i'm sorry. 

let's get on with it.  now, i do want to tell you that this sauce is quite salty to taste, but trust me, it won't seem that salty once it sinks into your enchiladas, the tortilla and meat cut the saltiness majority, so you'll be fine.  i haven't figured out how to not make it salty when i am cooking it, so if someone figures out a way for health's sake, then please do share:)

i otherwise don't mind it. 

here goes:


in a small sauce pan, you will combine:

2 tablespoons of olive oil, and about 2-3 tablespoons of flour. 
stir and mix and create a bit of a thick paste, on medium to low heat.

add 3 heaping tablespoons of chili powder, 
1 teaspoon cumin, and about 
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
also 1 teaspoon of garlic minced/or paste
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

continue to stir. the mixture will turn a beautiful deep  brownish red color.

drop in a chicken stock cube and add 2-3 cups of water

stir and make sure all flavors are mixed together, keeping it on medium heat

i like to cook it down a bit to really concentrate the flavors and spicy chili powder to permeate everything..taste-it will be salty! but so flavorful, bold, and massive taste!

turn off heat. i stick mine in a jam jar and it makes about 2 dinners worth of enchilada sauce.