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Green Enchilada Sauce is tangy and rich and, best of all, so easy to make yourself! Just roast green chiles, then simmer them with tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and spices. Give the mixture a quick blend and you’re ready to make enchiladas from scratch! Watch the video below to see the step by step process – you won’t believe how simple it is.
When it comes to comfort food, Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are hard to beat. I love the contrast of textures – tender chicken, silky green sauce, melty cheese, and tortillas that stay soft in the middle while the edges get perfectly crisp in those last few minutes in the oven. Once you try this recipe, you’ll find it difficult to go back to the canned version.
“AWESOME! I have been making this all summer and freezing it in vac packed bags so it lays flat and stacks nicely as needed for the winter stash! A very versatile sauce and I thank you for taking the time to share it!”
marshall
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Green Enchilada Sauce
- Hatch Chile Peppers: These have the best flavor for authentic sauce, but Anaheim chile peppers work well too. Pay attention to whether they’re labeled mild, medium, or hot – this will determine your sauce’s heat level.
- Olive Oil: I use extra virgin olive oil, but vegetable oil works just as well. You’re just looking for something to sauté the vegetables.
- Tomatillos: Look for firm, bright green fruit with the papery husk intact. They should feel like firm tomatoes when gently squeezed. Smaller tomatillos tend to be more flavorful than larger ones.
- Onions: White onions are traditional in Mexican cooking and provide the cleanest flavor. Yellow onions will work in a pinch but may add a slightly sweeter note.
- Garlic: Fresh cloves give the best flavor. Don’t worry about mincing them perfectly since everything gets blended later.
- Jalapeño Peppers: Look for firm, deep green peppers. Avoid those with soft spots or discoloration. For milder sauce, remove all seeds and membranes. I always wear gloves when handling these to avoid the burning sensation that can last for hours.
- Ground Cumin: This adds that distinctive earthy flavor. If you have whole cumin seeds, toasting and grinding them yourself provides even better flavor.
- Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper: I usually add these to taste at the end of cooking, as the chiles vary in saltiness.
Why Homemade is Sauce Worth the Effort
For years I made enchiladas with Hatch brand Green Chile Enchilada Sauce. But one day I read the ingredient label and began my search for a homemade green enchilada sauce recipe that would compare.
Recipe Testing Notes
The first few recipes that I tried were okay, but were largely flavored by tomatillos. I like tomatillos as the star in things like pork chili verde, but for enchilada sauce, having them as the primary ingredient makes the sauce too tangy for my taste. They still have a presence in this green enchilada sauce, but the roasted chiles are the star (as they are in White Chicken Chili and Pozole Verde).
A flavorful combination of roasted Hatch or Anaheim chiles, olive oil, tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeño, cumin and water, this homemade enchilada sauce is a a great copycat version of the Hatch brand sauce, but without the ‘extra’ ingredients.
I like to use 3 cups of green enchilada sauce per batch of Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas or (make Shredded Chicken to fill them, it’s easy!), a bit saucier than some enchilada recipes. That’s one perk of making your own sauce that you can use more or less according to your taste. And this sauce freezes very well. You’ll get 3 batches from making this just once! For convenience, freeze leftover sauce in one-batch portions.
More Must Try Mexican Food Recipes
- Carne Asada (The perfect building block for burritos, tacos, salads, and nachos!)
- Shrimp Tacos (And, in the summer, Grilled Shrimp Tacos.)
- Chicken Tinga (Made on your stovetop in less than an hour.)
- Red Enchilada Sauce (Made in just 15 minutes from pantry staples.)
How to Make Green Enchilada Sauce
Roast Hatch chiles (or Anaheim chiles) in a 400˚F oven until brown and blistered. Let steam and then remove skins, stems and seeds. Coarsely chop.
Meanwhile cook and stir tomatillos, onions, garlic and jalepeños in a saucepan until soft. Add chiles, cumin and water and bring to boil. Simmer, covered 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Puree sauce in batches (covering blender with towel instead of lid when liquid is hot). Use immediately or transfer to containers to refrigerate or freeze.
Green Enchilada Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Hatch chile peppers or Anaheim chile peppers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound tomatillos papery coverings removed and diced
- 2 medium white onions thinly sliced
- 8 cloves garlic peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 jalapeño peppers stem, seeds and membrane removed, chopped (see recipe note #1)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 3 cups water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F (204 °C).
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange chiles on it in a single layer. Roast chiles for 30 minutes then transfer to bowl and cover for at least 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
- When chiles are cool enough to handle, remove stems, skin and seeds; coarsely chop.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapeño; cook and stir until soft, about 15 minutes. Add chopped chiles, cumin and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Blend in 2 or 3 batches, taking care to have a similar ratio of liquid to solids and covering the blender with a towel not the lid if the sauce is hot.
- Pour sauce into canning jars or other heat-safe containers and let cool. Refrigerate or freeze sauce or use it right away!
Notes
- Please note that handling raw chiles that have been cut up can severely irritate your skin. I always recommend wearing gloves when working with raw chiles.
- Hatch chiles and Anaheim chiles may be used interchangeably, but Hatch are often hotter. Take care when buying your chiles, to notice whether they are ‘mild,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘hot.’ The spiciness of your sauce will reflect your choice of chiles! And note that seeds add heat. So if you want a mild sauce, be sure to discard them.
- Feel free to use chicken stock or chicken broth in place of water if you prefer.
- This sauce freezes beautifully and this recipe makes 9 cups, enough for 3 batches of 8 enchiladas. I recommend freezing leftover sauce in 3-cup portions.
- Refrigerate the enchilada sauce up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I use dry ancho chiles to make red enchilada sauce. I learned how to make it from a Mexican friend. But I’ve never heard of green enchilada sauce.
Wouldn’t it be easier to halve the fresh chiles, remove the stem and seeds before roasting?
Hi Bunny,
I like to roast them whole and then remove the stem, seeds and peel all at once, but you could definitely halve and remove stem and seeds beforehand if you prefer.
The chiles wouldn’t roast properly if you removed the stems and cut them before. The flavor would not be the same either
Hi Marissa . . . I just found your site searching for a green enchilada sauce. I’ve been making red enchilada sauce for years for my own twist on sour cream enchiladas but have wanted to venture into the ‘green arena’ for a long time. Your recipe and all the great comments have pushed me into action. I’ll be embarking this afternoon for serving tomorrow for a work party of volunteers on a local farm project.
Nice video work too!
Best,
Robert on Bainbridge Island, WA
Hi Robert…that’s fantastic! I hope you enjoy the recipe…I’d love to hear how it goes. We love Bainbridge Island btw! So many great memories… Keith and I lived in Poulsbo for 5 years not long after we got married and love that whole area.
Hi Marissa,
this looks great!
2 questions for you regarding the sauce/recipe:
Can I make it 2 days in advance, storing it in the fridge? (i.e. planning on using it for enchiladas Christmas but have to work all day on Christmas Eve…so I would like to make it on the 23rd.)
2nd … any thoughts on using chicken stock instead of water??
Thanks!! – Matt
Hi Matt!
Yes, you can absolutely make it a couple of days in advance. And it freezes really well too if you don’t end up using the whole batch.
Chicken stock will work great and will add a little depth of flavor. I make it both ways.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Cheers!
This sauce sounds delicious, Marissa! So much better than store bought 🙂
Thanks so much, Sabrina!
This is SO awesome! I love that you make your own sauce…those ingredient labels scare me too! And I totally agree about the tomatillos resulting in a tangier sauce. Your video is gorgeous too btw! I can’t wait to try this recipe, my sweet friend <3
Thank you, Beeta! xo
Lovely recipe Marissa! And such a great job on that video, beautifully done and the soundtrack was so cheery and relaxing. I still haven’t taken the plunge into video making but I know I need too…
Thanks, Sonali…I love the way you described the music! 🙂 Making the video was more fun than I expected…
YES! I love hatch green chiles! And omg, homemade is always better than store-bought! It’s crazy what you find once you start reading the back of labels. I can’t believe how easy it is to make your own sauce, I’ll be making my own from now on!
Thanks, Kathleen! It really is crazy – I always wonder why all of those mystery are necessary to make foods commercially.
I have been wanting to make homemade green enchilada sauce for a while now! I’m bookmarking this to save for a rainy day when the urge strikes…because I am always craving Tex-Mex, lol!
You and me too, Faith! Tex-Mex forever!! 😉
Marissa, are you shocked to hear me say I’ve never heard of green enchilada sauce? 🙂
I so love Mexican food, but nothing but the most simple of recipes are well known over here. This is why I really enjoy reading Mexican recipes from my US friends.
Really like your chicken in the crockpot idea, too. I have to try that!
Wha!? I hope you can get your hands on some fresh green chiles, Helen. Green Enchiladas are sooo good. If you try this out, I’d love to hear what you think! xo
Is is SUPER scary what is in canned food, right?! I grew up thinking canned stuff was ‘normal’ to eat, but now I totally steer clear because I don’t like all that extra crap with my food. Ew. Anyways, Green chile chicken enchiladas are TOTAL comfort food!! And your sauce looks BOMB, Marissa! Love the hatch chiles in here! Awesome job on the video too! I can’t wait to make your sauce… although I may eat it all with a spoon before it makes it to the enchiladas. 😉 Cheers!
aww, thanks so much, Cheyanne! I may have had a spoonful or two myself. 😉
Hi Marissa! I have become much more aware of what is in canned goods in the past decade as we are very salt sensitive, but also because if I can’t pronounce it or don’t know what it is I don’t want it! I cannot get a very wide variety of chiles here so I do use canned chiles. The brand I buy is Tres Hermanas, it is a New Mexico green chile and the ingredients are “green chile peppers, water, less than 2% of calcium chloride, citric acid and salt”. They come in varying degrees of heat, but I use the mild usually because I add my own spices. I could substitute these in making this(?). I’m just not sure of the quantity to use in place of fresh chiles.
Hi Dorothy! You got me curious about raw vs. roasted chiles. So I’m going to nerd out for a minute here. 🙂 I found this pretty funny post where someone did a home experiment to answer just that question. It turned out that roasted chiles weighed about 43% less than raw. So, if I started with 1 3/4 pounds / 28 ounces, then I probably ended up with 12 ounces, and lost another ?? ounces when I stemmed, peeled and seeded them. I saw that the brand of chiles you mention come in 10 ounce cans, of course some of that will be liquid weight. And, to me, canned chiles seem like they absorb more water. So, I’d use 2 drained 10 ounce cans of whole chiles and start out with just 2 cups of water instead of 3 in this recipe and add more if necessary. How’s that for a long winded answer. 😉
Hi Marissa! I do believe that is the perfect answer to MY long winded nerdy question!! Thank you so much, you always make me smile! 🙂
You are so welcome!! And you always make me smile too.
I have a whole lot of Hatch chiles here at the house and even though you don’t like tomatillos in there, and I do, I will adhere to your recipe and taste test. 🙂 Love the video, way to go Marissa!
I bet you and David buy the HOT Hatch chiles! My forehead starts to sweat just thinking about them. 🙂 Thanks for your kind words, my friend.
Update! Kevin, I decided to experiment with tomatillos and I’m a convert! What I discovered is that I like them better as an enhancement to the chiles instead of the main attraction as you’ll see in this updated recipe. 🙂
Wow! This is a must-try for me, Marissa. The ingredient list is so simple, but I’m with you when I read the list of “things” on the can of store-bought sauce. And the ease of creating the enchiladas after the sauce is complete is unbelieveable. Sign me up! Great photos, too.
Wow, thanks so much, Sally! If you give this a try, I’d love to hear how it goes…
Ooh hatch chillies! When we travelled through the US there was a lot of stuff about the green and hatch chillies. These look spectacular Marissa 😀
Thank you, Lorraine! I remember your Road Trip USA!! 🙂
I always wondered what the green enchilada sauce was made of- I definitely prefer it to red sauce and of course it’s hatch chiles! So delicious : )
Thank you, Medha!