Easy Recipe for Red Enchilada Sauce With Tomato Paste (2024)

FAQs

How to turn tomato paste into sauce? ›

Substitute Tomato Paste For Tomato Sauce

Mix together 1 part tomato paste and 1 part water until well blended. Then, season your "sauce" to taste. Tomato sauce is typically seasoned with herbs, garlic, and onion. You may even find the sauce benefits from a drizzle of olive oil or a pinch of sugar.

Tomato sauce is a good way to replace enchilada sauce if you're looking for a milder alternative. It's easy to take a pre-made tomato sauce and spice it and add other ingredients to get closer to a real enchilada sauce.

Red enchilada sauce may also be called salsa roja, salsa roja para enchiladas or mole rojo. It is a sauce made out of ancho/ pasilla/New Mexico and/or Cascabel chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, broth, cumin, oregano, etc. all blended together then simmered until thickened.

Tomato Paste Substitute From Tomato Sauce

Simmer, stirring constantly, for about 7 minutes, or until reduced by about two-thirds. Use a splatter screen to avoid a mess from the bubbling as the mixture thickens. You should have about 3 ounces of tomato paste from an 8-ounce can.

"Case in point: adding just a tablespoon of tomato paste to things like chilis, stews, or beans replaces the need for large amounts of tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes; both of which will water down the dish they are added to."

Tomato paste brings a number of things to a dish: a burst of the meaty, savory flavor known as umami, concentrated sweetness, mild acidity and thickening quality. It's often added to reinforce and add depth to the taste of tomato-based dishes like marinara or tomato soup.

The main difference is that red sauce is made from dried red chile peppers instead of green peppers, and the spices used are sometimes slightly different.

Salsa roja ( lit. 'red sauce') is a type of spicy red sauce in Mexican cuisine. It is made of jitomate (red tomato), ground with onion, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to taste.

If you taste your enchilada sauce and find it has a bitter or sour aftertaste, this could be simply due to the acidity of the peppers or tomato, if added. Not to worry. Mix in agave syrup or brown sugar, starting with 1/2 teaspoon and adding more until the taste is evened out to your liking.

To make your canned enchilada sauce taste homemade, grab some butter, a little flour, and some chicken stock. This trifecta of ingredients infuses a canned enchilada sauce with a satisfyingly thick texture and a rich, savory flavor.

What is normal enchilada sauce called? ›

The most common “red” enchilada sauce may also be called salsa roja, salsa roja para enchiladas, or mole rojo. This is a sauce made out of ancho/pasilla/New Mexico and/or Cascabel chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, broth, cumin, oregano, etc.

Or you can omit the flour and instead add a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and cold water whisked together) to the sauce once it is simmering to thicken it. Make it creamy: Whisk in 1/2 cup of heavy cream to turn this recipe into a delicious creamy enchilada sauce.

Because tomato paste is a concentrated form of tomato puree, you can dilute it to the consistency of tomato sauce without much fuss. Adding one cup of water to three-quarters of a cup of tomato paste will result in a tomato base with the same texture and thickness as tomato sauce (after some brisk stirring).

Basically you just need one 6 oz tin of tomato paste and 1 1/2 cups of water. I would add pepper, garlic powder, italian seasoning and a sugar packet to it at the time, though now I do it up fancier with onions, fresh garlic, mushrooms and beef or meatballs so it can be as sparse or done up as your budget allows.

- Add it to stews for a deeper umami flavor. - Mix it into store-bought marinara sauce for added depth. - Use it to make homemade BBQ sauce. - Add it to Bloody Mary mix for a tomato juice substitute.

Make a Substitute Using Tomato Sauce

The mixture will thicken as it bubbles. 1 cup of tomato sauce should yield a little over 1/3 cup (about 3 ounces) of tomato paste.

Tomato Paste

This umami-rich paste can transform into a makeshift tomato sauce when mixed with water. Here's how: Sauté tomato paste in olive oil with minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Add water, roughly following a ratio of 1:1, tomato paste to water, and mix well.

Tomatoes are flexible and you switch paste for sauce with a little kitchen wizardry. Add one cup of water to three-quarters of a cup of tomato paste to get a tomato base with the same consistency as tomato sauce. Then add a little sugar and a generous amount of salt, pepper, and garlic and onion powder.

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.