Easy Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe For Canning
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This red enchilada sauce recipe is one of those sauces I forget about frequently, but when I come across a jar on my canning pantry shelf, I’m pretty excited about it. Â It’s not just for enchiladas, but to add to soup, smothered burritos, and even more. Â It’s flavorful and versatile and that’s what I like about it. Â
Enchiladas are a really easy dinner, too. Â For me anyway. Â Make a batch of homemade fresh milled tortillas, pop open a jar of canned beef or chicken, a pint of black beans, mix everything together with some enchilada sauce, roll ’em up, and add the rest of the sauce. Â Bake to perfection. Â It’s a meal we all enjoy and one that it quite easy on the chef! Â That’s the beauty of home food preservation… it makes life easier in so many ways. Â One meal prep… many meals down the road!
One batch of this recipe makes a years worth of red enchilada sauce for me, since I also make green enchilada sauce once my garden starts winding down and I AM OVER canning tomatoes. I start picking them green and make a green sauce that is more tart with lime juice instead and keep this red one more savory and mild. I keep the spices in the recipe relatively simple, so if there’s something you want in yours, absolutely add it! Whatever you think should be enchilada sauce flavors can be tossed right in. I’m not judgin’.
Green or Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe?
I honestly can’t choose a favorite between the two, but you can try both and let me know what you think! Green enchilada sauce is super delish as well!
Water Bath or Pressure Can?!
I give instructions on how to use a pressure canner for this recipe, just because I add quite a bit of onion and garlic to it. I don’t want to acidify this sauce which is the approved method for canning tomatoes using either water bath or pressure, but again, I’m not worried about it, so I do choose to steam can mine. You could easily acidify it with citric acid and water bath or just extend the water bath times, but that is entirely up to you.
How to Roast Tomatoes
If you are canning sauces like this enchilada sauce, you will not regret the extra step of roasting them first. It adds an extra depth of flavor that is well worth your time. Plus, it makes the skins slip off super easy.
To roast your tomatoes, start by washing the tomatoes and removing the cores. Slice large tomatoes in half or quarters and line them on a sheet pan, skin side up. Place sheet pan in the oven with the broiler on high and allow them to cook for about 15 minutes, or until the skins are blistered. Once they’re roasted, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then start working to slip the skins off.
If you would prefer no tomato seeds in your sauce, run the roasted tomatoes through a food mill prior to adding to the pot.
How to Roast Garlic
This is also a step you’re going to want to take for this sauce. I promise. It seems silly, but it’s not! And you can do a big batch and save the rest of the garlic in the fridge or even freeze it in portions to add to other canning or dinner recipes. This is the scent that should be in candles… OH MY GOSH, it makes your kitchen smell delightful.
Start by cutting the top part of each garlic bulb off. About the top 1/4-1/2 inch of it.
Place the garlic in a small foil lined pan or ramekin cut side up. Drizzle each bulb with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Cover tightly with foil. I normally make a pouch, kind of like hobo dinners.
Roast the garlic packet at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. My air fryer is like a small oven and works amazing for this, especially in the summer so I don’t have to heat my kitchen, I put it out on the porch and let it go! You should smell the garlic cooking and the garlic should be a deep golden color and be very tender. Remove the garlic from the oven and uncover and allow to cool just enough to be able to handle it and peel the garlic. You can usually just squeeze the bottom of the bulb and they’ll all pop out. Smash them up and freeze in individual cubes what you don’t use.
Once you have roasted garlic on hand, you will put it in EVERYTHING. Mark my words!
Now, let’s make homemade enchilada sauce!
Equipment You Might Want:
- Baking Sheet Pan
- Food Mill
- Immersion Blender
- Large Stock Pot
- Pint Jars
- Canning Lids & Screw Bands
- Jar Funnel
- Water Bath Canner
- Pressure Canner
- Steam Canner
- Jar Lifter
Ingredients:
- 25 pounds paste tomatoes, cored & halved
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, optional
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 bulb garlic, roasted
- 6 Tbs chili powder
- 3 Tbs salt
Step 1: Prep
Start by washing produce and prepping to roast. For how I roast tomatoes and garlic, see above blog post where I give step-by-step instructions.
Run tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds, if desired. Otherwise, slip skins after roasting and add them to a large stockpot.
To the tomatoes, add chopped bell pepper, chopped jalapeno if adding, chopped onions, and roasted garlic cloves.
Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or til tomatoes have reduced and thickened and peppers and onions are soft.
Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
To the puree, add the chili powder and salt, adjusting to your taste as desired.
Continue to simmer the sauce until it is the right consistency you want. I prefer it to mound on a spoon, we like it pretty thick, and that’s the beauty of homemade sauce. What I do doesn’t have to be what you do consistency wise because I’m not in your kitchen! :D (I think the store bought stuff is like water… its so baddddddd).
Step 2: Canning
Once thickened, ladle into prepared pint jars to 1/2 inch headspace if water bath canning or 1 inch of headspace if pressure canning.
Remove any air bubbles and add more sauce if needed to maintain headsapce.
Wipe jar rim and place lid on top and secure with a screw band. Place jars in the canner.
Process pint jars in a pressure canner at your elevations recommended pounds of pressure for HIGH ACID FOOD (example: <1000 feet is 5 pounds) for 20 minutes or in a water bath canner or steam canner for 40 minutes.
Once processing time is complete, remove hot jars from the canner to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours.
Step 3: Storage
Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Ideal storage conditions are between 50-70F. Shelf life is ’til you eat it. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for best flavor and nutrition, but they’ll last far longer than that if you need them to.
Any jars that did not seal after canning may be reprocessed, frozen, or refrigerated to use soon.
Notes:
If you like it spicy, add any chili peppers, hot peppers, or cayenne to the sauce. Whatever you want!
I hope you enjoy this simple red enchilada sauce recipe!
Equipment
- Baking Sheet Pan
- food mill
- Large Stock Pot
- pint jars
- Canning lids & screw bands
- Water bath canner
- jar lifter
Ingredients
- 25 pounds paste tomatoes cored & halved
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 1 jalapeno optional
- 2 onions chopped
- 1 bulb garlic roasted
- 6 Tbs chili powder
- 3 Tbs salt
Instructions
- Start by washing produce and prepping to roast. For how I roast tomatoes and garlic, see above blog post where I give step-by-step instructions.
- Run tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds, if desired. Otherwise, slip skins after roasting and add them to a large stockpot.
- To the tomatoes, add chopped bell pepper, chopped jalapeno if adding, chopped onions, and roasted garlic cloves.
- Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or til tomatoes have reduced and thickened and peppers and onions are soft.
- Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
- To the puree, add the chili powder and salt, adjusting to your taste as desired.
- Continue to simmer the sauce until it is the right consistency you want. I prefer it to mound on a spoon, we like it pretty thick, and that’s the beauty of homemade sauce. What I do doesn’t have to be what you do consistency wise because I’m not in your kitchen! :D (I think the store bought stuff is like water… its so baddddddd).
- Once thickened, ladle into prepared pint jars to 1/2 inch headspace if water bath canning or 1 inch of headspace if pressure canning.
- Remove any air bubbles and add more sauce if needed to maintain headsapce.
- Wipe jar rim and place lid on top and secure with a screw band. Place jars in the canner.
- Process pint jars in a pressure canner at your elevations recommended pounds of pressure for HIGH ACID FOOD (example: <1000 feet is 5 pounds) for 20 minutes or in a water bath canner or steam canner for 40 minutes.
- Once processing time is complete, remove hot jars from the canner to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours.
- Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Ideal storage conditions are between 50-70F. Shelf life is ’til you eat it. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for best flavor and nutrition, but they’ll last far longer than that if you need them to.
- Any jars that did not seal after canning may be reprocessed, frozen, or refrigerated to use soon.
