Easy Homemade Healthy Enchilada Sauce is vegan, oil-free and easy to make in 10 minutes! Made with chili powder, maple syrup and spices. Perfect for vegan enchiladas!
HOMEMADE HEALTHY ENCHILADA SAUCE
One of my absolute favorite things in the world is enchiladas. I grew up eating them and I just love that spicy enchilada sauce that is smothered all over the corn tortillas. I love the enchilada sauce that has a very slight sweet note to it. Well, STOP buying store-bought if you do and make this vegan healthy homemade enchilada sauce, it is to die for!
I used to buy the canned kind and use it for my enchilada dishes years back, but these days I just can’t do it. The canned stuff has so many nasty ingredients and oil. This vegan enchilada sauce is fat-free and oil-free! In addition, this homemade enchilada sauce takes a whopping 10 minutes to make. Now, we’re talking.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN RED ENCHILADA SAUCE
Add tomato sauce, water, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, brown rice flour, salt and maple syrup to a small pot. Whisk very well.
Heat over the stove on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, whisking continuously until thickened some. Let cool.
This vegan red enchilada sauce is perfect for making vegan enchiladas or even a casserole!
I’ve been making this homemade enchilada sauce for years now and I also like to dip potato wedges in it!
Can’t wait to hear what you think of this Vegan Homemade Enchilada Sauce! Be sure to leave feedback below after you make the sauce and what ways you used it or if you make the potatoes as well! Ā I’d love to see your creations on Instagram. Add my hashtag #thevegan8 to your captions, so I don’t miss the notifications.
Homemade Healthy Enchilada Sauce (Vegan)
Ingredients
ENCHILADA SAUCE
- 1/2 cup (120g) tomato sauce
- 1 cup (240g) water
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt, this will vary depending on your tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons (20g) brown rice flour
- 1 tablespoon (20g) pure maple syrup
TO MAKE ENCHILADAS
- You can also use this sauce for homemade enchiladas. It's what I use, but I would double the sauce ingredients, just to ensure you have plenty for a large batch.
Instructions
- Add all of the enchilada sauce ingredients to a small pot and whisk until well mixed. Turn to medium-high heat and once boiling, whisk it continuously for 3-5 minutes until it has thickened some. Remove from heat let it cool.
Okay, those potatoes are simply gorgeous!! I love eating multicolored potatoes when I’m back home but I just haven’t been able to find them here! They add some much color to the meal! You know I am a HUGE fan of your chili cheese fries (and your spinach fries) so I know I am going to love these! The enchilada sauce looks so rich and perfect for dipping!
Thank you so much Ceara! I love, love how beautiful they are too! They are fairly common where I am, but yukon gold potatoes or even red potatoes would work just fine I think, just make sure to cut them about 1/2 inch thick, so they cook properly through. Thanks!
Sorry, I updated it, it is 1/2 cup! Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Miia! I just updated it…sorry about that, it is 1/2 cup tomato puree!
Hi Odette…sure agave would be the best substitute!
Gayle, I updated it..sorry about that, it is 1/2 cup!
Thank you Florian! I love fingerling potatoes because they have such a wonderful taste and texture…almost sweet-like!
Hard to believe, but I only recently “discovered” enchilada sauce. And I LOVE it! Haven’t made my own, so I’ll have to give your recipe a go!
What?!! Wow, that is hard to believe. I practically drank the stuff growing up, haha! But it was always filled with lots of oil. Yuck.
LOVE!!!! I swear you and I need a potato party…and a taco party…and a burger party…and a sauce party…LOL! The look insane. I love enchilada sauce and potatoes so why the heck not put them together! Can’t wait to show you my latest potato recipe! I think yours and mine would make a great couple š
Thank you so much Sophia! Yes, I think our potatoes need to go on a date, hahaha!
Hi Emma! Thank you! These are a waxy kind and the closest sub for the fingerling is yukon gold potatoes or yellow butter potatoes. They are similar in flavor and texture. The fingerling have a very faint sweetness to them when baked, which I love, but as long as you cut the potatoes all around 1/2 inch thick, they should bake up the same as the fingerling ones. The fingerling potatoes are so small that I literally just cut them all in half, it was so fast!
Thanks Brandi. We don’t have yukon gold or yellow butter here either but I think I’ll try what we call “new” potatoes. They sound most like your description.
I LIVE on a potato kick, haha! Heck, potatoes are my middle name…I eat them pretty much daily!
Thanks so much for sharing Kelli! I’ll check it out!
Thank you so much Natalie, you are so sweet!! I’m a HUGE potato eater…I eat them daily and my blog is full of potato recipes and since I wanted enchilada flavor without all the work of enchiladas, it just sounded only natural to combine my enchilada sauce with my love of potatoes and use it baked and then as a dipping sauce and oh boy, was it delicious!! I coat my potatoes also with lime juice and cornmeal and just spice them up a lot in general, so this was just a natural idea that popped into my head! š
I can’t believe you’ve never had enchiladas!!!
Potato heaven!!!! I LOVE enchiladas and enchilada sauce…we would make them more often if it weren’t so time consuming. I bet this captures all the flavors and comfort of the standard enchiladas. I love how colorful those potatoes are! Looking forward to trying this!
Thank you so much Mandy!! Definitely enchilada flavor without all the work! I LOVE enchiladas, but this was a great quick fix!
Omg I luv this! Nom nom!!!! Making more tw!
I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe Tiffany, thank you so much for the feedback!
Hi Brandi!
You have come to my rescue so many times, and you’ve done it again!!!
I just started receiving veggies from a market delivery service weekly and last week I got 2lbs. fingerling potatoes. I’ve had no clue what to do with them as I’ve never had them or prepared them before. Da-Da-Daaaaa Here comes Brandi to save the day!
One question though, I don’t have brown rice flour. What can I substitute it with in the Enchilada sauce?
Thanks! <3
Hi Diana!! Thank you so much! Yes, I think regular all purpose flour should work just fine..just whisk it really well into the ingredients before heating it up, to make sure it doesn’t clump. Or, you can try cornstarch, but just use 1 tablespoon for the sauce since it has twice the thickening power and since it can clump up, mix it with 2 tablespoons of the water listed until smooth prior to mixing it with the other ingredients. AS soon as it starts to thicken, remove it because it tends to thicken quicker. Don’t let it boil. Let me know how it all turns out!
What a great idea, and they look delicious! I like that it’s oil-free, and I do think the potatoes take on a greater flavour when they get to cook in the sauce. I look forward to trying it out!
Thank you so much! Yes, the sauce gives them so much flavor and then using it as a dipping sauce is just like an enchilada party in your mouth!
Haha, thank you so much Angela!
Enchiladas have always been one of my favourite things to eat too! They’re just so tasty, and are a complete comfort food for me. I love that you created a healthy twist on such a classic dish, and transformed them into a yummy potato recipe! I’m still trying to find fingerling potatoes where I live – I’m obsessed with the purple ones lol. They’re so beautiful and I really want to try them! This recipe is making me want them even more – my mouth is seriously watering over these delicious photos, and for the sauce, WOW! I love all of the flavours you used. This is definitely the perfect recipe for me, and I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks so much sweet Harriet for always such kind comments!! I hope you get to try this…it’s really delicious and will totally remind you of enchiladas! Thank you for the compliment on my photos too! xx
Thank you so much Jennifer! I hope you get to try it and yes, please just link back to the recipe and don’t print it on your blog please, thank you so much!!
These look incredible, Brandi. Can you believe I’ve never had enchilada sauce? I think I know what must be done š
Thanks so much Audrey! I cannot believe how many people have not had enchiladas before, I grew up on them!
We used this enchilada sauce on a black bean taco salad. It was very good! Thank you
What a wonderful idea, thank you so much for the feedback! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! Since the brown rice flour is such a little amount, could we use any type flour? I would use my own oat flour. I would love to hear what you think. Thank you Brandi!
Hi Sarah! Sure, I would just use regular all purpose flour, just make sure it’s really blended in. This sauce is on the spicy side, so feel free to adjust if you like. Let me know what you think of it!
Thank you so much š I’ll let you know how it goes!
I saw a great recipe for cornmeal crusted baked fries, I feel like that would give you a great crunch! Like, to coat the potatoes in the enchilada sauce and then roll in panko or cornmeal before baking. Either way I need to try this!
That sounds pretty yummy!
I made this last night and it was just amazing. I eat roasted potatoes all the time and seriously this is the perfect way to eat roasted potatoes. I don’t know why I didn’t make this sooner. The sauce in itself is incredibly delicious and simple to make but on the potatoes wow that is next level. This is my new favorite way to eat roasted potatoes. And I am sure the sauce can be used in lots of different ways. I just want to put it on everything at this point. Hahaha Awesome recipe thanks Brandi you found a way to make one of my favorite things to eat even more enjoyable. š
Yay! Thank you so very much Christina for such amazing feedback! I’m so happy you loved these, I need to make them more often myself! I love enchilada sauce so much!
I’m so excited to make these potatoes! I have always made roasted potatoes with oil. I just found your blog and can’t wait to try everything since I’m trying to lower husband’s BP and Cholesterol and fix my digestive issues. We are in transition with Dr. Furhman’s Nutritarian Plan and looking for healthy, no oil veggie recipes. Thank Brandi!!
Thank you so much Lori!!
Been needing a fabulous vegan fat-free enchilada sauce for a couple of months; can’t wait to try this!
Do you have a favorite chili powder?
Chef AJ often uses a couple of dates as sauce sweeteners; I’m going to try blending the water with a couple of those and see how it works, in place of agave or maple syrup. I’ll keep you posted!
Hi Meg! I just use standard chili powder by McCormick or Fiesta. It doesn’t really matter as long as it is the American kind of chili powder which is a combo of different spices, whereas some countries “chili powder” is from habanero peppers and would be WAY too hot.
Hi Brandi-
This recipe ROCKED!!!
Fortunately, I doubled the recipe as I was making it! I used salt-free veggie broth instead of water and used Mexene brand chili powder.
I used just two medjool dates and blended them in my Vitamix with the broth and the tomato sauce. I started concentrating on measuring out the spices and the next thing I knew, the contents of the Vitamix were pretty warm. So I thought, “what the heck!” and added the spices and rice flour to the whirling mixture for about a minute.
It might have thickened on it’s own, but I poured the mixture into a saucepan and brought it to a boil in less than 2 minutes.
Voila, 5 minute enchilada sauce!! It smelled so good I didn’t bother to ccok the potatoes; I took some cold diced cooked ones out of the fridge and poured the hot sauce right over the top. The sauce warmed up the taters to lukewarm and OOOOHHHHHH MAN!!!! Was my dinner ever delicious!
I’m storing the rest of the batch in a mason jar. This will probably be my new go-to sauce for my visit to Potato Island!!
Thank you again; you need to run this recipe again, or maybe make it for your YouTube channel. If I had one, I’d create my Vitamix version and link to yours. But I don’t know how to film or edit, so you’re on your own with that, LOL!
Covering you with blessings the way this sauce covered my potatoes, LOL,
Meg
Meg, this feedback absolutely cracked me up, you are so funny!!! I’m so happy you loved this enchilada sauce so much, thank you so much for leaving this comment!!
Howdy Brandi, me again!!
A second quart (double batch) of Vitamix Version 2.1 just completed!
No salt this time, and the other spices were heaping spoonfuls (or should we call them, “loving spoonfuls”?!) instead of level.
I didn’t even cook it in the saucepan (one less pot to wash, right?!). It STILL came out nice and thick and OH so tasty! I am cooling it with the lid off the mason jar, so condensation doesn’t thin the robust richness that coats my potatoes the way ice cream used to coat the walls of my arteries š
The key seems to be to whirl liquid and dates at high speed until hot, then add spices, whirl for another 30-45 seconds, then add the flour and whirl just until blended; it probably wasn’t even 20 seconds on high speed.
Not sure if the thickening effect of the flour would be destroyed by the whirring blades (I know wheat flour actually forms a mechanical bond with water during it’s thickening process, which I’m pretty sure would be altered by prolonged Vitamix abuse, LOL!).
I brought a pint of this to work and my co-workers ate more than half of it; most were eating it with a spoon, right out of the jar (no double-dipping, LOL!) and could not believe it was fat-free! Now I know how crack dealers get started! You give a little sample, and then have to beat your customers, er, co-workers, off with a stick!
I think this will be my last post on the enchilada sauce recipe. I’m going to have to go try your other sauces, so be prepared for your comment word count to go up!!
Love and Easy Enchilada Sauce,
Meg
The only enchilada sauce my picky husband approves and enjoys….and I have tried several other recipes but none, he said, came even nearly close to your recipe. This is the only enchilada sauce I will be using from now on. Thank you so much Brandi! ā¤????
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Chen! Thank you so much for the amazing feedback!!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I made it along with comments from Chen and it is awesome! I’m making WFPB Mexican lasagna for a group of ladies that are omnivores and I wanted a salt, oil, and sugar free enchilada sauce for it. This is perfect!
Thank you so much Lisa, so happy to hear you loved it! Thank you to Chen as well!!
DELICIUOS! Thank you.
KS
Hi Brandi.
Iām going to make the enchilada sauce to go with another recipe because I have faith in your recipes. I hate the canned enchilada sauce. Anyway for the tomato sauce – can I just use plain tomato paste with water added?
Also I made your pizza sauce last night. THE best!!!
Thank you!
Thank you so much Ruth! You can try that, I never have, but you will need to dilute it until it is the consistency of a smooth tomato sauce.
This sauce is INCREDIBLE. I doubled it and made enchilada with black beans, sweet potatoes, bell pepper and spinach and they were SO AMAZING. Thank you again!!
Brandi, I have been experimenting with a fajita pasta recipe but it was too dry. Then I came across this enchilada sauce! It was SOOO GOOD! It was perfect for my recipe and will be in my regular monthly rotation! Like others, I’ve never had enchiladas before. š I think I will try the sauce with the potatoes next. I love your recipes! Thanks for all you do!
Woohoo, so happy you loved this sauce Linda!!
Will any flour do okay? I hate to buy brown rice flour for one recipe. Thanks.
Never mind. I saw in the comments to use AP flour.