Ancho Chile Sauce Recipe

Rich and creamy Ancho enchilada sauce in a green bowl.

5 from 8 votes

Ancho Enchilada Sauce is a super delicious red sauce recipe. It has just enough heat, and it's full of warming spices that will have you licking your plate. It was created for enchiladas, but it can be added to all sorts of dishes.

*Makes about 4 cups

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time45

Course: Condiments, Sauces

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Mexican sauces, using dried chiles

Servings:

Calories: 31kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

Ingredients

4½ ounces ancho chiles (about 10 peppers)
water
2 cups ancho chile hydrating liquid, reserved (see recipe instructions)
1½ cups vegetable stock
1½ tablespoons crushed garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1½ teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Hydrate dried peppers. Place the dried chiles in a medium-sized sauce pot and add just enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil, and then cover the pot and and turn off the heat. Let the chiles hydrate in the hot water until they're soft, at least 45 minutes.
Prep peppers. Use a slotted spoon to take the chiles out of the pot, and keep the liquid in the pot! Remove the stems and seeds. Add the hydrated chiles to the blender. (If you're very sensitive to the heat, I suggest wearing cooking gloves.)
Remove 2 cups of the hydrating liquid from the pot and pour it in the blender. (Do not throw out remaining liquid as you can use it as a stock in other recipes, like rice.)
Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend. Add the stock, garlic, cumin, sugar, salt and cinnamon to the blender. Blend until the mixture is as smooth as possible.
Use or store. Pour the sauce into a storage container with a tight fitting lid, and place in the refrigerator, where it should keep for at least 3 weeks.

Notes

Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.

Nutrition