Cinco de Mayo is coming up and I will have two recipes for you to help celebrate. I cook and eat Mexican all year round because it is one of my favourite cuisines. I even have a huge cookbook called Mexico that I often look for inspiration. To start my mini-Mexico series of two posts, I bring to you homemade red enchilada sauce. It is way better than anything you can buy in a can and is not hard at all to make! Next week I will be posting a Mexican casserole that uses this red enchilada sauce, so be sure to keep watch for that!

Red Enchilada Sauce

Last year for Cinco de Mayo I posted a Mexican salad and drunken chicken (both incredible and inspired from the Mexico cookbook) as well as some history behind the Mexican holiday. Check it out here! 

For the red enchilada sauce, start out by heating 2 Tbsp. oil in a saucepan over medium heat. I used avocado oil, but you can use any vegetable or canola oil. Add in flour and stir for about a minute, until the flour basically absorbs the oil and makes a little roux.

Stir in the spices and mix well and then gradually add in chicken stock, whisking to remove lumps. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, until thick. That’s it! Done! 

Use the red enchilada sauce right away to make your own enchiladas or refrigerate in an air-tight container and wait to use for next week’s post of Mexican casserole. It stores in the fridge for up to two weeks.