This homemade green enchilada sauce is a quick and simple 8-ingredient sauce that you can use in many Mexican-inspired recipes. It's simply the BEST enchilada sauce—you'll love the homemade taste! This recipe uses frozen or canned diced green chiles for convenience. Let's get started, shall we?
You Will Love This Green Enchilada Sauce
If you love enchiladas here are two more homemade enchilada sauce recipes you might like: Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce (another green enchilada recipe) and this classic Red Enchiladas Sauce Recipe.
The Best Sauce
Making your own homemade green chile sauce is quite easy, and this recipe is a great substitution for any variety you get find in the grocery store. It tastes so much better too!
Quick and Easy
This recipe is intended to be a quick and easy enchilada sauce recipe. There are several ways to make this beautiful Mexican green sauce - like roasting your own chiles, for example, but I was looking for a substitution you could make in a pinch - it also needed to taste amazing and be as authentic as possible!
1 recipe = 1 (28 oz) can of store-bought green enchilada sauce
Freezable
This homemade green chili enchilada sauce recipe is freezable! I love to batch cook a bunch and freeze it for later uses!
Side note! I plan on growing my own anaheim peppers and hatch green chili peppers this summer. I know there will be an abundance, and I'll be looking for something to make with them.
With this green chili sauce recipe, I'll be ready no matter how many peppers my garden throws at me! 🙂
Healthy
- I think you'll love that this beautiful green sauce is low carb, keto, vegan, dairy-free, Whole30, gluten-free, and has no added sugar! Yay! So, on top of being easy, it's also quite healthy. 🙂
- There are only 2.6 net carbs as opposed to the store-bought variety, which has 4 per serving.
Homemade Green Chili Sauce Ingredients
- Avocado Oil - you can use avocado oil or olive oil, whichever you prefer.
- Onion - I used a yellow onion, but you could also use sweet.
- Garlic
- Diced Green Chiles - we used frozen hatch green chiles for convenience, but you can also use canned (equally convenient) or roast your own chiles in the oven. You can find instructions for roasting your own peppers in the FAQs below!
- Vegetable Broth - you can use vegetable broth or chicken broth.
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Salt - we use kosher salt or sea salt
- Pepper - fresh ground pepper always tastes best!
- Optional - jalapeno pepper for more heat
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
How To Make This Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Saute Onion and Garlic
Heat avocado oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add Remaining Ingredients
Reduce heat to medium. Add diced green chiles, vegetable broth, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and optional jalapeno.
Simmer
Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the liquid is reduced by about 25% or 3 cups in volume.
Blend
Use an immersion blender to blend ingredients to your desired consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer to a regular blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached. Transfer back to your skillet.
Use or Store For Later
If the sauce is for later use, let it cool, then store it in an airtight container for storage in your refrigerator or freezer.
How To Use It
This is a pretty diverse and easy green chili enchilada sauce recipe that can be used in many Mexican-inspired recipes! Here are some additional ways to serve if you want more inspiration!
- 1 recipe is equivalent to 1 (28-ounce) can of store-bought sauce.
- Makes a great topping for chicken enchiladas, pork, fish, and beef.
- It's a great sauce over tacos, burritos, and such!
Recipes That Use Green Chili Sauce
- Green Chili Pork Stew Recipe
- Lightened Up Green Enchiladas
- Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup Recipe either in the slow cooker or in a pressure cooker.
- Seafood Enchiladas
- Green Enchiladas with Chicken
- Chicken Zucchini Enchilada Boats
How To Store Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
Let the green enchilada sauce cool completely before storing it. Transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days and freeze for up to 4 months.
Can you freeze green chile enchilada sauce?
Yes, this recipe is freezable! Cool your sauce and place in a freezer-proof container. Freeze for up to 4 months.
Kori's Tips
- Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your liking. If you like more heat, add fresh diced jalapeno peppers.
- Use fresh green chili peppers in place of canned ones. Depending on the heat level you are looking for, you could use poblano, anaheim, or jalapeno peppers. See FAQs below for how to roast green chiles.
- The recipe calls for reducing the total volume from 4 cups to 3 cups, but you can reduce further for a more intense flavor.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, add the ingredients to a blender and pulse until you reach your desired texture. I prefer something between smooth and chunky!
Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce FAQs
Green enchilada sauce is most often made of diced green chili peppers (such as anaheim peppers, poblano, hatch, jalapeno, etc.), garlic, vegetable stock, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Additional jalapeno peppers may also be added for more spice. Sometimes recipes will add tomatillos as well.
Both use very similar ingredients, but green enchilada sauce is cooked, and salsa verde uses raw ingredients. Not all green enchilada sauce recipes use tomatillos, whereas most salsa verde recipes use tomatillos.
Making your own homemade green enchilada sauce is quite simple.
Saute onion until soft, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes to reduce and thicken the liquid slightly.
Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients to your desired consistency. Allow the sauce to cool if storing for later use.
Use a combination of peppers depending upon the heat level you are looking for. Poblano and Anaheim peppers are on the milder side, while jalapeno peppers are spicier.
Broil them whole on a baking sheet covered in foil for 10 minutes, until blackened and skin is bubbled, flipping halfway through. Remove from oven.
Wrap tightly in the foil you used to line the baking sheet, and let sit for about 30 minutes.
Once cool, rub the skin off the peppers. I highly suggest using gloves if possible.
Remove the tops of the peppers, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Use as needed in your recipe.
If you don't feel like making your own green chili sauce, here are a couple of good canned green chile sauce brands that I've used in the past. These are brands that you should be able to find in your local grocery store.
Old El Paso Green Enchilada Sauce
Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce
There are several types of enchilada sauce, generally red and green enchilada sauce. Red enchilada sauce is not similar to green enchilada sauce because red chiles and peppers are used. Green enchilada sauce is very similar to green chile sauce, but the main difference is that green chile sauce often contains vinegar and is thicker. Depending upon the recipe, green enchilada sauce is often made with tomatillos as well.
The difference between green and red enchilada sauce is the type and color of the peppers used. Green enchilada sauce is often made of green chiles and tomatillos, while red enchilada sauce is made of red chili peppers and red tomatoes.
Can I ask you a favor?
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📖 The recipe.
Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 1 cup onion (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 cup green chiles (diced or chopped; frozen or canned, do not drain)
- 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- optional: 1 diced jalapeno pepper (add to increase heat level)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add green chiles, broth, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and optional jalapeno.
- Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the liquid is reduced by about 25%, about 3 cups in volume.
- Use an immersion blender to blend ingredients to your desired consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer to a regular blender and pulse until the desired consistency is reached. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- If the sauce is for later use, let it cool, then store it in an airtight container for storage in your refrigerator or freezer.
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Kori's Tips
Nutrition
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More Easy Mexican Recipes:
If you're a Mexican food lover, be sure to check out these recipes:
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Homemade Salsa Verde Recipe
- Carne Enchiladas
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Chicken Tinga Tostadas
- Avocado Dressing (Vegan Salad Dressing)
- Chicken Fajitas Bake (Low Carb and Keto)
- Best Fajita Seasoning Recipe
- EASY Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole (Keto Low Carb)
- Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup (Low Carb Keto Soup Recipe)
Cindy Moon
Love this recipe for the soup!
seekinggoodeats
Thank you! 🙂
Lisa
The sauce looks amazing! I would like to make it but I would like to use fresh chili's. I don't know what kind of chilis to buy for the "green chilis". Are you talking green bell peppers, jalapenos, etc?
Thank you.
Kori
Hi! I would use a combination of peppers depending upon the heat level you are looking for. Poblano and Anaheim peppers are on the milder side, while jalapeno peppers are spicier. I usually use a combination but you can use just one kind if you prefer! Just for reference, I have a tomatillo enchilada sauce recipe you could look at to see the volume of peppers I used for that recipe. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
J
we live in west Texas, close to New Mexico, so we use Hatch long green Chile that's been roasted, peeled and chopped up. This makes it do delicious. you can even buy this Chile online.
Lisa B Januska
This does not call for tomitiallas, but you stated the difference between red and green sauce in your Green Enchilada Soup recipe and had them listed?
Kori
Hi! This recipe does not call for tomatillos, only green chilies. The Green Enchilada Soup calls for green enchilada sauce. Some green enchilada sauces will have tomatillos, but most do not. This one does not. I'm actually about to post new recipes for Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce and a red enchilada sauce this week. LOL 🙂 Hope you enjoy!