This homemade green enchilada sauce recipe is a simple, flavorful way to make dinner a little more delicious! It’s also vegan, gluten, and dairy-free.
Green enchilada sauce is an easy way to make dinner healthy and delicious at the same time! It makes whipping up a quick, simple dinner a breeze. You can even tweak the ingredients for your flavor and heat preferences.
The process is really simple and straightforward. Simply chop up a variety of peppers and vegetables, roast and puree them, and you have green enchilada sauce! Keep reading for all the details.
Ingredients for Green Enchilada Sauce
- Tomatillos — 1 lb., husks removed and washed
- Poblanos– 3 large, or about 8 oz.
- Jalapeños — 1-3 large, with the seeds and pith (white webbing) removed
- Garlic — 6 cloves, peeled
- Cilantro — 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- Canned green chilis — two 4 oz. cans
- Olive Oil — 2-3 Tbsp.
- Salt– 1-2 tsp., to taste
- Broth — Veggie or chicken both work well
How to Make Mild Enchilada Sauce
The heat of your enchilada sauce will mostly depend on how many jalapeños you add. 3 large jalapeños will give you a spicy, hot enchilada sauce, while 1-2 will be more of a medium.
If you want to make a very mild green enchilada sauce, you can skip the jalapenos altogether! Replace them with a chopped white onion when roasting the vegetables and peppers, and continue with the blending the same way.
Tools You’ll Need
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Most of the tools you need to make green enchilada sauce are simple, like a knife, cutting board, and baking pan or sheet for roasting the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic. However, you’ll also need a blender or food processor to make the roasted veggies into a sauce.
- Any blender should work. However, if you have a smaller blender jar you may need to blend the sauce in several batches. I have (and love!) a Vitamix, and if you’re looking for a good blender, this one is amazing!
- If you prefer to go the food processor route, Breville, Cuisinart, or KitchenAid are all great options.
How to Make Green Enchilada Sauce
- Begin by preheating your oven to 450°.
- Assemble all of your ingredients and wash the fresh produce well
- Chop the tomatillos, poblano, and jalapeño peppers into pieces about 1 1/2″-2″.
- Spread the chopped vegetables along with 5-6 cloves of garlic on a large baking sheet in a single layer.
- Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt.
- Roast them for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables have browned and look a little shriveled. This could take more or less time, depending on the size of your veggies.
- Once the vegetables have been roasted, allow them to cool.
- Add the roasted peppers, tomatillos, and garlic to the jar of your blender or food processor along with the cilantro leaves, canned green chilis, and broth.
- Blend them until they are a smooth sauce.
- Salt the enchilada sauce, then blend it in and taste to see if you like the flavor. Add more salt until you like it.
- Store the enchilada sauce in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to use it.
Once you’ve made your green enchilada sauce, you can use it as a replacement for the canned kind in any recipe.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- When working with jalapeños, the oils that make them spicy can get on your skin and cause discomfort and burning. If possible, use disposable gloves when cleaning and chopping your jalapeños and especially avoid touching your face and eyes with anything that has touched a raw jalapeño.
- This green enchilada sauce recipe is very flexible and you can adapt it to your flavor preferences. If you don’t like cilantro, jalapeño, etc. you can simply eliminate it from the recipe! See the note above about making a mild enchilada sauce
- This recipe is easily made vegan by using vegetable broth for your liquid.
Is Green Enchilada Sauce the same as Salsa Verde?
While they have similar ingredients, green enchilada sauce and salsa verde aren’t the same thing. A sauce is cooked or made of cooked foods, while a salsa (like salsa verde) is made with fresh ingredients.
However, you could definitely use this recipe as a substitute for salsa verde in recipes like these Salsa Verde Enchiladas from For the Love of Gourmet.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy:
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Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Description
This homemade green enchilada sauce recipe is a simple, flavorful way to make dinner a little more delicious! It’s full of veggies and also vegan, gluten, and dairy-free.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Tomatillos
- 3 large poblano peppers
- 1–3 large jalapeños, seeded
- 5–6 cloves of garlic
- 2–3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 4 oz. cans of green chilis
- 1–2 tsp. salt, to taste
- 1 cups veggie or chicken broth
Instructions
Begin by preheating your oven to 450°. Assemble all of your ingredients and wash the fresh produce well.
Chop the tomatillos, poblano, and jalapeño peppers into pieces about 1 1/2″-2″.
Spread the chopped vegetables along with 5-6 cloves of garlic on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt.
Roast them for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables have browned and look a little shriveled. This could take more or less time, depending on the size of your veggies.
Once the vegetables have been roasted, allow them to cool.
Add the roasted peppers, tomatillos, and garlic to the jar of your blender or food processor along with the cilantro leaves, canned green chilis, and broth. Blend them until they are a smooth sauce.
Salt the enchilada sauce, then blend it in and taste to see if you like the flavor. Add more salt until you like it.
Store the enchilada sauce in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to use it.