If you read the label of a can of enchilada sauce while shopping you might be disheartened. Most brands are high in sodium, have artificial coloring (I kid not), preservatives and worse? Questionable cheap fats that are not healthy. We can do better, it can taste fresh, control the sodium and use good oils. Once you try a batch you won’t want to go back to a nasty can! The one downside is you use canned tomato sauce, buy organic if you can. To cut the sodium even further, buy no-salt added tomato sauce and low sodium broth. For the chili powder I used Frontier’s Fiesta blend, which you can find in bulk at natural food stores.
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp garlic, minced (2 cloves)
- 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup chili powder (no-salt added)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- Salt to taste
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium, add the garlic and cook till golden. Whisk in the flour, cook for a minute. Whisk the chili powder in and then the remaining ingredients until smooth, bring to a simmer, lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for 15 minutes, whisking often. Season to taste with salt if desired. Let cool before using, can be made a day or two in advance.
Makes about 3 cups.
For dinner I made an enchilada stack casserole with high fiber corn tortillas, the sauce, plenty of vegetables sautéed and a little 2% Mexi-blend cheese. All layered like lasagna and then baked for 30 minutes. Yum! Especially with ripe avocado on the side.
~Sarah
yum!