The Best Enchilada Sauce Canning Recipe – Large Batch

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A large batch canning recipe for homemade enchilada sauce that will elevate your enchiladas with its delicious, warm, spicy flavor.

Want to know a secret to make flavorful, authentic enchiladas? Make the sauce from scratch. This enchilada sauce canning recipe uses garden fresh tomatoes, along with dried chilies that give a depth of flavor unlike any sauce bought from the store.

This year’s garden has been bursting with produce. I’ve made all of the things on my checklist, and there is still a large table full of tomatoes waiting for me. What a lovely challenge to have, right? After giving it some thought, I decided to make enchilada sauce. This sauce isn’t an instant recipe, but recipes that require a little more to make just have a little something extra. And since it’s a canning recipe, all of your diligence will be preserved in beautiful jars to enjoy throughout the months to come.

Ingredients

• Tomatoes-Paste tomatoes are the best option because they contain less water, which means less water to cook out in the final sauce. If you don’t have a paste tomato, no worries, any tomato will do. It just means the cook time might be a bit longer.
• Dried Chilies-I used a combination of Ancho, Guajillo, California, and chipotle peppers.
• Onions – I use yellow onions, but you can also use white onions. I’d stay away from sweet onions or purple onions though.
• Garlic – Use fresh garlic for the best flavor.
• Oregano – I use dried oregano. It will have a stronger flavor than fresh so add more if you plan to use fresh oregano.
• Ground cumin – A favorite flavor in enchilada sauce so don’t leave this one out.
• Red pepper flakes – You can tailor how spicy you like your sauce to be.
• Salt – Adds flavor to the sauce.

Step 1: Preparing the Sauce Before the Peppers

Wash and core tomatoes. Blend tomatoes in high powered blender until the seeds and skin have become pureed. Transfer the pureed tomatoes into large stock pot. Alternatively, you can use an electric roasting pan set to 300 degrees.

Next, mince the onions and the garlic and sauté in oil in pan over medium heat until they are translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Add to tomato puree mixture.

Step 2: Preparing the Peppers

In a hot cast iron skillet, place dried peppers into pan to toast 10-30 seconds on each side or until each side is toasted lightly. Be careful to not burn them, otherwise they’ll have a bitter flavor. Once the peppers are toasted, allow to cool. Once cooled, remove the stems and the seeds.

Place the peppers into a large pot of water and bring to a boil. This will rehydrate the peppers and they’ll become soft. Once the peppers are soft, blender with some of the cooking liquid until smooth. Add pureed peppers to tomato mixture.

Step 3: Simmer

Once all of the ingredients are added, simmer for 30-45 minutes to let the flavors develop.

The first time I made this, the oregano flavor was really intense. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I decided to let the sauce cool and stuck it in the fridge until the next day when I was going to can it. When I heated the sauce the next day, I tasted it and all of the flavors had melded together perfectly. So don’t worry if the oregano tastes strong initially, it’ll mellow out to a lovely flavor with time.

Step 4: Straining Enchilada Sauce

With the enchilada sauce flavors are on point, the next step is to get the texture right. There are a few ways to do this next part. If you have a sauce master, this is probably the easiest way to get a smooth sauce.

But I do not, so I simply used a metal mesh strainer and ladled it through allowing the sauce to go through, while leaving all of the seeds and skins behind. The result is a smooth, lovely sauce. This step is completely optional, but definitely worth the effort.

Step 5: Pressure Canner Instructions

Ladle hot sauce into hot pint jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.

Wipe rims and place two-piece top onto the jar, tightening to finger tight.

Place jars in a pressure canner on the rack with 2″ of water in the bottom. Place lid on canner and lock. Allow the steam to vent for 10 minutes.

Process at 10 pounds of pressure, pints for 50 minutes, or quarts for 60 minutes.

Turn off the heat; cool the canner to zero pressure. Let stand for 5 more minutes before removing the lid. Let the jars cool in the canner for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and place them on a wire rack or towel.

Allow to cool and sit, undisturbed for 12-24 hours, once removed from the canner. Check that all jars are sealed properly. If not, place it in the refrigerator and use it right away. Sealed jars will store on the shelf for 1 year.

If you don’t plan to can this sauce, it freezes really well too. I use these food containers to freeze foods in.

I’d love to hear if you have made this enchilada sauce! Please leave a comment and rate this recipe!