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! 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.
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. 🙂
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 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!
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 🙂 I’ll let you know how it goes!
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!
These look incredible, Brandi. Can you believe I’ve never had enchilada sauce? I think I know what must be done 😉
Thanks so much Audrey! I cannot believe how many people have not had enchiladas before, I grew up on them!
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!!
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
Haha, thank you so much Angela!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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! 🙂
I can’t believe you’ve never had enchiladas!!!
Thanks so much for sharing Kelli! I’ll check it out!
I LIVE on a potato kick, haha! Heck, potatoes are my middle name…I eat them pretty much daily!
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.
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 😉
Thank you so much Sophia! Yes, I think our potatoes need to go on a date, hahaha!
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.
Thank you Florian! I love fingerling potatoes because they have such a wonderful taste and texture…almost sweet-like!
Gayle, I updated it..sorry about that, it is 1/2 cup!
Hi Odette…sure agave would be the best substitute!
Hi Miia! I just updated it…sorry about that, it is 1/2 cup tomato puree!
Sorry, I updated it, it is 1/2 cup! Let me know how it turns out!
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!