Homestyle Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce

This mild Green Enchilada Sauce is made with roasted green chiles and a few easy to find herbs and spices. It is delicious, fresh and so simple to make that once you have tried it you will never reach for a can of sauce again. Get a batch made and enjoy the best green enchiladas this Cinco De Mayo.

Here in Australia cans/jars of green enchilada sauce are hard to find. Well certainly in my part of Australia, I am pretty sure that in central Sydney you can buy anything you want! 😉

But here in rural WA to get green enchilada sauce I have to drive up to Perth which is almost a 3 hour round trip. That is a long way just to make dinner!!! What is more have you looked at the ingredients in those cans of sauce?

Which is where one of my favourite food blogs ever comes in. Mel over at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe has been blogging for 10 years and I first started reading her blog over 6 years ago. I love her approach to food, she cooks for her family, shares recipes that they love, doesn’t worry about fads or the latest pinterest craze, uses real butter and I have never had a failed recipe from her. Can you tell I have a bit of a blogging crush on her 😉

Honestly if you haven’t been there before then you have to go and check her out, 5 kids, an amazing blog and she even has two cows! I want a cow!!! Actually I want pigs more than a cow 😉 But a cow would be super cool too. Not sure what Billy would make of that though….do goats and cows mix??? Pretty sure that Lambchops would just keep well clear 😉

Anyway, this homemade green enchilada sauce is based around her recipe. I love it for several reasons.

1. It tastes like the well known canned brand only fresher and better. Result as that means no one is upset that dinner doesn’t taste quite the same as it used to!
2. It is really quick to make and keeps for over a week in the fridge and a couple of months in the freezer.
3. It doesn’t have tomatillos in it, which are hard to find here. I know some people might be shocked and upset by this but I was told by a friend who lived in mexico for some years that many homestyle sauces don’t have tomatillos in them as they can be expensive to buy. So I am calling this homestyle green enchilada sauce 😀
4. The recipe is really easy to double or triple if you have company
5. And finally it has sooooo many uses. I have several coming in the next couple of weeks and Mel has even more on her site!

I have changed the recipe a little, because that is what I do and because I can’t always find the poblano chilies or the canned chillies that she mentioned. I get around that with an easy supermarket alternatives but I have given you a couple of chilli/pepper alternatives within the recipe notes.

Later in the week I am using this sauce in an amazing hot dip that is the perfect appetiser for Cinco de Mayo. Oh and I have another Cinco de Mayo recipe coming next week too!

But this sauce is so good, make a batch, mix it with some shredded chicken, stuff it into some flour tortillas with some lettuce and demolish. Dinner done winner winner! Thank you Mel!!!!

Enjoy x

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Homestyle Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

This mild Green Enchilada Sauce is made with roasted green chiles and a few easy to find herbs and spices. It is delicious, fresh and so simple to make that once you have tried it you will never reach for a can of sauce again. Get a batch made and enjoy the best green enchiladas this Cinco De Mayo.

Course: Sauce

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 green chillies (see notes)
• 1 green capsicum/bell pepper (see notes)
• 1 tsp oil - any oil with a high smoke point will work
• 1 onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro/coriander
• zest of half a lime

Instructions

Start by roasting your capsicum/bell pepper and chillies.

1. Pre-heat your grill/broiler to the highest setting.
2. Cut the capsicum/bell pepper in half and remove the seeds.
3. Do the same with the chillies.
4. Line a baking sheet with foil and drizzle over the oil.
5. Place the capsicum/bell pepper halves and chilli halves cut side down on the tray and place under your grill.
6. Grill them for 15 minutes or until the skin is completely blackened.
7. Remove them from the oven and use tongs to place them in a plastic bowl. Cover it with cling film and let them sit for 10 minutes.
8. After this time the skin should push off easily. Don't wash it off as you will loose all the love sweet roasty flavour. Don't worry if there is still some charred skin stuck. I like to leave some on as it adds a greta smoky flavour.
9. Cut the flesh into thin strips and then cut the strips into small dice. Set aside.

Start the sauce.

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Place a saucepan over a low heat and add in the oil, cook the onions for about 5 minutes then add in the garlic and cook for a couple of extra minutes. You want them to be soft and translucent but not coloured or charred.
3. Add the flour to the onions and stir it about to soak up all the oil and get a slight golden colour to it.
4. Gradually add in the vegetable stock, storing constantly and adding a small amount at a time. Stir it constantly until you have added all the stock.
5. Add in the chopped capsicum/bell peppers and chillies, the oregano, cumin, pepper, salt and smoked paprika.
6. Then cook at a low simmer for 20 minutes. Stir it occasionally to ensure it don't stick. If it starts to get too thick add a splash of extra water.
7. Once the sauce has cooked for 20 minutes it should be nicely thickened and the vegetables should be meltingly tender.
8. You can use a stick blender to create a super smooth sauce or leave it chunky.
9. Stir in the chopped coriander and the lime zest.

It keeps in the fridge for a week. (actually it would probably keep longer but I have never managed to resits eating it for that long 😉  )

Recipe Notes

I use the standard green chillies that I can buy in the supermarket. I find those mixed with the green bell pepper gives the right level of heat for our family But as an alternative you could use 4 large anaheim chili peppers  or 3 poblano chili peppers. Just roast them in the same way.
Or as Mel uses a tin of roasted chilies.

Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

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