5-Minute Paleo Enchilada Sauce Recipe

August 1, 2017 by Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN

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Looking for the perfect topping to my super easy enchilada recipe? Whether you’re making enchiladas, tacos, fajitas or burritos, this homemade enchilada sauce has your meal covered — literally. You can also use this recipe to make a delicious sauce for chicken, fish, grass-fed beef or vegetable dishes.

Isn’t it true that pretty much everything tastes better homemade? The best enchilada recipe you ever taste is likely to be one that uses homemade enchilada sauce. Making enchiladas at home doesn’t have to be hard at all — put meat, cheese and other ingredients of your choice into a tortilla and cover with green enchilada sauce or red enchilada sauce. This recipe is for a red version of this classic sauce. The best part: making enchilada sauce is even easier than making homemade enchiladas!

This recipe is not just simple, it is loaded with flavor as well as antioxidants and nutrients. Before we talk about how to make this delicious sauce, let’s look at why making enchilada sauce at home is the way to go.

Why You Should Make Your Own Enchilada Sauce

One of the best things about making any sauce at home is that you can be 100 percent sure that it avoids any food allergens you may have and that it also meets any other personal dietary requirements.

When it comes to this enchilada sauce recipe, it’s completely gluten-free so no worries if you have an allergy to gluten or are just looking to reduce your gluten intake. This recipe also makes the list of paleo-approved recipes.

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, then there is another great reason to make your enchilada sauce at home — you can make sure it is truly free of animal products. If you want this recipe to be totally vegan, then you can use vegetable stock. Otherwise, you can reap the benefits of bone broth by using chicken stock (bonus points if you use a homemade version).

Whatever stock you choose, you will end up with an enchilada sauce that is full of flavor and made just the way you like it.

Nutrition Facts

One serving of this enchilada sauce recipe contains about: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

10 calories
<1 gram protein
0 grams fat
2.3 grams carbs
1.2 grams fiber
<1 gram sugar
208 milligrams sodium
3.7 micrograms vitamin K (4.6 percent DV)
1.8 milligrams vitamin C (3 percent DV)
0.4 milligrams iron (2.2 percent DV)
78 milligrams potassium (2.2 percent DV)
105 IUs vitamin A (2.1 percent DV)

Enchilada sauce recipe ingredients - Dr. Axe

This recipe is not high in calories or fat, but it contains vital nutrients like vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A and potassium. Thanks to the inclusion of oregano, this recipe contains a significant amount of vitamin K, which is essential for so many functions in the body — especially proper clotting of blood. (11)

When you consume this enchilada sauce, you also get the benefits of tomatoes, onions and garlic. Raw garlic benefits are known to include decreased inflammation, improvements in heart health and even the potential prevention of food poisoning. (12)Garlic is also loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants as are all of the dried herbs and spices flavoring this recipe like smoked paprika, cumin and chili powder.

How to Make Enchilada Sauce

This enchilada sauce recipe really couldn’t get any easier unless you bought pre-made enchilada sauce. But why do that when you can have the homemade version in five minutes or less?

The only thing you need to do to prep for this easy enchilada sauce is to chop up half of an onion.