Homemade Enchilada Sauce

If you want to make authentic Mexican enchiladas, you'll have to whip up a batch of homemade enchilada sauce. This enchilada sauce recipe will take only about 10 minutes. If you want to save it for another time, store it in a plastic container in the refrigerator. You can make it a day or two ahead of time before you want to make the actual enchiladas. This way, you can cut down the cooking time but still have the great homemade enchilada sauce.

Recipe for Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients You Will Need:
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour
¼ cup chili powder
1 can tomato sauce
1 to 1 ½ cups water
¼ tablespoon cumin
Pinch garlic powder
Pinch onion salt
Pinch cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt, pepper to taste
Teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
Red chiles (optional)

Take a sauce pan, and heat the vegetable oil in it over medium heat. Next, drop in the flour and chili pepper, and reduce the heat. Be sure not to burn the flour. Let the sauce sauté until it turns a light brown color. Now, you'll have to stir in the remaining ingredients: tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, onion salt, cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir the ingredients together, and continue to cook the enchilada sauce for about 10 minutes. If at any point, the sauce looks too thick, add in a few teaspoons of water to thin it out. When it's finished, transfer the sauce into a medium-sized bowl if you plan on using the sauce immediately or into a plastic container with a lid if you want to use it later on.

Spice It Up
If you want to make the sauce a bit spicier, you can certainly do so. Try adding a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce to the mix. Or, take 10 long red chiles, which can be found in most supermarkets, take out the seeds and finely chop them. Put the chiles into a food processor, and add the puree into the sauce.