Ditch the cans and make this homemade enchilada sauce instead! All it takes is 6 pantry ingredients and 10 minutes. Get the recipe now.
Even if you’re short on time, I promise this homemade enchilada sauce is worth the extra effort!
Growing up we had enchiladas a lot. With two picky kids, it wasn’t always easy finding recipes that the whole family would eat, but enchiladas were always a safe bet.
While we’d alternate between shredded beef and chicken, we almost always used canned enchilada sauce.
And even in college when I was starting to really get into cooking things from scratch, I never through to make my own homemade sauce as I figured the ingredients would be too expensive on a college-budget and it’d take too much time.
I was very wrong about both.
While I’m sure there are phenomenal enchilada recipes out there that use freshly roasted chile peppers and other higher-end ingredients, this homemade enchilada sauce is for those of us who want a simple, yet homemade, meal in as little time and as cheaply as possible.
Speaking of tomato paste, I’ve been so sad that our local grocery store stopped selling the tube versions.
I rarely ever use a whole can of tomato paste in one go, so I loved being able to just squeeze out as much as I needed, knowing that the rest wouldn’t go bad before the next time I needed some.
However, I’m pretty happy with my solution.
While I know putting leftover tomato paste in ice cube trays is nothing new, I took it one step further and used these herb freezing trays from Pampered Chef.
The lid is perfect as it helps cut back on freezer burn and the disks easily pop out. I put 1 ounce of paste into each well so that I don’t have to worry about measuring it out when it’s time to cook.
I use it at least once a month in either these healthier chicken enchiladas or my favorite veggie enchilada casserole.
It’d also be delicious for a breakfast spin on enchiladas, smothered over a veggie burrito, or used to add flavor to pulled pork or chicken.
What other creative ways do you use enchilada sauce? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
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