Easy Vegetarian Enchilada Sauce

This enchilada sauce is super easy to make and comes together quickly. It doesn’t use beef or chicken broth so it’s completely vegetarian and vegan-friendly, but still had plenty of flavor. The spices and chipotle in adobo sauce make it nice and smokey with a bit of a kick. In addition to enchiladas, this sauce can be used for chilaquiles, as a taco salad dressing, or over egg dishes like huevos rancheros.

I love enchiladas but was pretty disappointed when I realized that my go-to enchilada sauce listed chicken in the ingredients. I then realized that most enchilada sauces use some sort of chicken or beef broth and/or fat. My first couple attempts at homemade enchilada sauce had more of a thin salsa consistency than what I was hoping for but after a few tries I finally came up with a recipe that has the proper consistency of an enchilada sauce and all of the flavor that one would expect, but without the beef or chicken!

I usually use a 15-ounce can plus a smaller 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, but if you’re not as in love with the tomato flavor, or if you don’t feel like opening a second can, sticking to just 1 15-ounce can should work fine. Depending on how much tomato sauce is added, this recipe makes about 4-5 cups – enough for a batch of my veggie enchiladas.

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Easy Vegetarian Enchilada Sauce

Fast and easy vegetarian enchilada sauce

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Mexican

Keyword

enchilada sauce, enchiladas, sauces, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings

cups

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 tbsp chili powder
• .5 tbsp cumin
• 5. tbsp garlic salt
• 1.5-2 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce from the can, not the actual chili
• pinch cayenne pepper optional
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 15-23 ounces tomato sauce depending on how tomato-y you like it

Course Main Dish Cuisine Mexican Keyword enchilada sauce, enchiladas, sauces, Vegan, Vegetarian Servings cups Ingredients 3 tbsp butter 3 tbsp flour 1.5 tbsp chili powder .5 tbsp cumin 5. tbsp garlic salt 1.5-2 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce from the can, not the actual chili pinch cayenne pepper optional 2 cups vegetable broth 15-23 ounces tomato sauce depending on how tomato-y you like it

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, chipotle in adobo sauce, and cayenne pepper to the butter and cook about a minute.

   
3. Stir in flour and cook for another minute.

   
4. While whisking continuously, slowly add the vegetable broth. Continue stirring to incorporate all spices and flour for about 3-4 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

   
5. Add the tomato sauce and bring it to a low simmer. Continue stirring for another 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning, then transfer to a heat-proof jar for later, or wide, shallow bowl to use immediately.

   

Recipe Notes

If you are making this sauce to use with these enchiladas, once you finish with the large skillet after making the sauce, pour the sauce into a wide shallow bowl and set aside for later. Do not wash the skillet, but instead use the layer of remaining sauce in the pan to start cooking the filling.