Enchilada Sauce

Enchilada sauce is a smooth, savoury red sauce that forms the backbone of enchiladas — tortillas rolled around a filling, covered in sauce, and baked. A mild red version offers the earthy, slightly sweet flavour of dried chillies and tomato without significant heat, making it approachable for most palates.

Beyond enchiladas, it’s a handy sauce to keep on hand for Mexican-inspired cooking: spooned over burritos, used as a braising liquid for pulled meats, or stirred into rice and bean dishes for extra flavour. Ready-to-serve versions save considerable time compared to making it from scratch with dried chillies.

Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisines have a strong following in Australia, and jarred enchilada sauces are widely available in supermarket international aisles alongside other Mexican cooking staples.

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How it's made

Dried or fresh chillies are cooked with tomato, onion, garlic, and spices such as cumin and oregano, then blended into a smooth sauce. The mixture is simmered to develop flavour and thickened to a coating consistency using flour or cornflour. Commercial versions are cooked in bulk, pasteurised, and sealed in jars or cans for shelf-stable storage.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 30kcal
Protein 0.6g
Carbs 4.4g
Fat 0.9g
Fibre 0.5g Sugar 1.8g
Mass Distribution

1 can is about 283 g — roughly 80 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈0.77kg
Freshwater ≈153.12L
Land ≈0.65m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

In the kitchen

Used as

mexican cooking sauce

Classic dishes
  • Enchiladas
  • Chilaquiles
  • Huevos Rancheros

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Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

SR Legacy

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromChile Pepper, product goes well withchicken goes well withcheese goes well withcorn tortilla goes well withonion goes well withsour cream shares a sourceChile Peppers shares a sourceHot Chili Sauce shares a sourceSriracha Sauce
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