I'm all about shortcuts in the kitchen IF they don't taste like a shortcut. While I do enjoy preparing a lot of things from scratch, sometimes it just isn't feasible to soak dried chiles to make a sauce when we're craving enchiladas. My pal Michaela over at An Affair From the Heart has a great blog post on How To Make Canned Refried Beans Taste Like A Restaurant's. In fact it's one of her most popular posts, which tells me everyone appreciates tasty shortcuts. A while back we made this sauce for some chicken enchiladas and it was fabulous. You would never know the recipe starts with a can of prepared enchilada sauce. Don't get me wrong, canned enchilada sauce tastes just fine. But it doesn't have the depth or richness you'll find in a restaurant's sauce. Between this sauce, and Michaela's Refried Beans, you'll have a restaurant quality Mexican meal in minutes!
 |
| This tastes just like a restaurant! |
 |
| I'm in love with my Cherry Red Le Creuset Saucier pan. It's perfect for making this sauce... |
 | |
| Don't forget to serve the Refried Beans from An Affair of the Heart with your enchiladas! |
 |
| Just like a restaurant's and ready in minutes. |
How To Make Canned Enchilada Sauce Taste Like A Restaurant's
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
1 cup chicken broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
In a saucepan over medium-high heat melt the butter until it becomes foamy. Add the flour and stir constantly for one minute. Stir in the canned enchilada sauce, chicken broth and salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce has thickened. (Approximately 10-15 minutes.) Keep warm over low heat until ready to assemble enchiladas.
Prep Time: Approximately 5 minutes Cook Time: Approximately 20 minutes
Found this lil quick enhancement, used beef bouillon broth (didn’t have chicken) and this came out AWESOME! thank you soo much!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds delicious and I’m going to try it next time! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI've been using this method for a while now thanks to your post and it really does make the canned stuff so much better. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWould this work for a green sauce?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteWould this work for a green sauce?
ReplyDeleteI think it probably would! As another reader commented above, they substituted beef bouillon for chicken with great results, so I think it this same method would enhance green enchilada sauce as well! If you try it before I do let me know how it turned out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great recipe. There are some brands who make good readymade enchilada sauce. However, home-made stuffs are always great.
ReplyDeleteThanks sounds good I am looking forward to trying it. Can I substitute salted butter?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I mainly keep unsalted butter on hand for baking but I don't think there is too much of a difference in saltiness flavor if you use either one!
DeleteI was not too sure how this would turn out, boy was I wrong! Yummy!
DeleteThx
Haven't made the enchiladas yet but the sauce is done it is delicious! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWe used the green sauce. It was so plain. I followed this, cut a lime in half, squeezed the juice from both halves in and chopped up some fresh cilantro. I let it simmer for a bit. It turned out delicious!
ReplyDeleteHello. I have a gathering tomorrow morning and was hoping I could do this today and possibly store it over night in fridge? Do you think this is wise? Or wait till tomorrow morning?
ReplyDeleteI think you could easily store it in the fridge over night!
DeleteI think you could easily story it in the fridge overnight.
ReplyDeleteI smothered my ground beef, bean and cheese burritos with this delicious sauce and baked for 10 minutes. Such an awesome hack on canned enchilada sauce.
ReplyDelete