Authentic Guajillo Enchilada Sauce
Real enchilada sauce does not contain any tomatoes! It’s just chili peppers and spices. YUM. This sauce is made with guajillo peppers. Guajillo peppers are one of the most widely-used dried chiles in Mexican cuisine. They are a bright red and fruity variety, typically used to flavor soups and make salsas. Their maroon skin is flat and smooth, unlike other kinds of dried chiles.
Guajillos are much sweeter than you’d expect from a Mexican pepper. They do have some heat, but their flavor profile is actually very fruity (think plums, prunes, and peaches), tart, tangy, and slightly smokey.
This sauce is a breeze to make! Just rehydrate the peppers and toss all ingredients into a blender, then simmer… the longer you simmer the better it is! Hope you’ll try it.
Ingredients
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 TBS ground cumin
1 tsp Mexican dried oregano (find in Latin markets, or any dried oregano will work)
juice of 1 lime
2 TBS coconut sugar or any minimally processed sweetener
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp tamari or other low sodium soy sauce
1¼ cup water
Method
Cut off the stems of each pepper with scissors and REMOVE ALL THE SEEDS. Unless, of course, you want super hot sauce! I recommend wearing gloves for this process as these chilis are a bit hot.
Place chilis in a pot or small bowl and cover with water to soak.
Let soak until soft (about an hour is good).
Rinse well! The soak water will be very bitter. Traditional enchilada sauce sometimes retains some of this bitterness. Depends on the chilis you use but I prefer guajillo chilis for their deep flavor and medium heat.
Place chilis and all remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. I recommend VITAMIX! I found this new one on sale now at Amazon for under $300.
Add love! 💗
Transfer the mixture into a saucepan and stir well. Let the sauce simmer for at least 30 minutes on very low heat. The longer it simmers the less bitter it will be.
Makes enough sauce for 6-8 enchiladas. Enjoy!
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