These Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce are a great recipe and have been family favorite for over 30 years in my home! Cheese filled tortillas are smothered in an easy homemade enchilada sauce and baked in a casserole dish.
This is the best recipe for vegetarian cheese enchiladas I have ever made, and is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. I feel it is as very close to an authentic cheese enchiladas and the homemade red enchilada sauce is the absolute must part of this entire recipe.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
✔️The homemade red enchilada sauce is far better than any can of enchilada sauce you will find.
✔️ It is easy to adapt this meatless meal for meat eaters by adding ground beef or rotisserie chicken with the cheese in the center of the tortilla to up the protein.
✔️ You can make your own restaurant-style cheese enchilada recipe that the whole family will love right in your own kitchen.
🥘 Ingredients
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Flour tortillas, you can make your own flour tortillas or buy them.
🔪 Instructions
To make the sauce
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil until hot. Add the onion and garlic to the hot oil and cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, or until onion is tender.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano and pepper. Bring the enchilada sauce mixture to a boil, then, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.
To assemble the enchiladas
- Using a pair of tongs, dip each tortilla into the enchilada sauce, being sure to coat both sides. Lay the sauce coated tortilla on a flat surface and place 2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese into the center each tortilla and roll the tortilla tightly around the cheese.
- Place the rolled cheese filled tortilla seam side down in prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered in in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream and lime juice. Drizzle the sour cream mixture over top of each serving and sprinkle with cilantro.
🥄 Equipment
🥫Storage
Store any leftover cheese enchiladas in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 3 months. These are easy to reheat right in the microwave in 45-60 seconds, until hot.
📖 Variations
- Use 4 cups of fresh diced tomatoes in place of the canned tomatoes.
- Monterey jack cheese or a Mexican cheese blend can be used in place of the cheddar cheese.
- Make these extra cheesy enchiladas by sprinkling the top of the baked enchilada with cojita cheese.
- Sprinkled the baked enchiladas with chopped green onion in place of cilantro.
- Keep it vegetarian and up the protein by adding chopped Vegan Steaks to the filling
💭 Top Tip
- Be sure to fully submerge the tortilla into the red enchilada sauce. This will softens the tortilla slightly making it easier to roll, and the oil in the sauce will coat the tortilla, allowing it to get crispy around the edges when baking.
🙋 FAQ's
I recommend flour tortillas or sturdy yellow corn tortillas, as they will need to hold to being dipped into the sauce before rolling.
No, simmering the sauce for the hour needed will reduce the liquids and thicken the sauce all it needs to be.
📚 Related Recipes
Green Chicken Enchiladas - low carb recipe
Chicken Enchilada Casserole - low carb recipe
🍽 Serve with...
Serve these vegetarian cheese enchiladas with a side of Spanish Rice, homemade refried beans, or warm pinto beans.
🏫 The last word
A few readers have asked about the amount of oil in this recipe. As I have continued to make these over the years, I have reduced the amount of oil in the original recipe to ½ cup and adjusted the amount in the recipe card.
The oil, in my opinion, is an important part of this recipe as it coats the tortilla when dipped. However, other readers have reduced the amount of oil even more and had a successful recipe. Use your own discretion when making the recipe and go for the amount of oil you feel comfortable using.
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If you love this cheesy enchilada recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce
Equipment
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Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 36 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Remaining ingredients
- 10 flour tortillas
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup cilantro , chopped
Instructions
To make the sauce
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat oil until hot. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, or until onion is tender.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano and pepper. Bring the enchilada sauce mixture to a boil, then, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.
To assemble the enchiladas
- Using a pair of tongs, dip each tortilla into the enchilada sauce, being sure to coat both sides. Lay the sauce coated tortilla on a flat surface and place 2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese into the center each tortilla and roll the tortilla tightly around the cheese.
- Place the rolled cheese filled tortilla seam side down in prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Bake uncovered in in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream and lime juice. Drizzle the sour cream mixture over top of each serving and sprinkle with cilantro
Frankie
I saw someone else questioned the 1 cup (!!) of vegetable oil (on top of 3 cups of cheese). Talk about rich! It is totally unnecessary and unhealthy to have that much oil. I've seen other red sauces with just a couple of tablespoons of oil. Also, could be best to say deep 12-inch skillet. The flavor of the sauce was good, though the diced tomato chunks seemed unusual for enchiladas.
Shelby Law Ruttan
Frankie, I believe you would see I indicate you do not have to use a whole cup of oil in response to the comment you are referring to. I prefer to do so. Thank you for the ideas regarding the skillet and diced tomatoes. When I update this post, I will be sure to include your suggestions in the top tips. I'm sorry it wasn't up to par for you. I hope you find the perfect enchilada recipe for yourself. My entire family loves this one exactly as written and has enjoyed it for years.
EmIly
The recipe is no longer available
Shelby Law Ruttan
Hi Emily, the site has been having technical difficulties with the recipe card. It is being worked on and hopefully will be working again in the morning.
Deborah S Denman
IS THIS CORRECT 1 CUP OF OIL ??
Shelby Law Ruttan
Hi Deborah, yes, the 1 cup of oil is correct. The oil will coat the tortillas when you dip them in the sauce and helps to crisp them up around the edges. However, you do not have to use a full cup of oil. You could easily cut it to 1/2 cup of oil, or even less if you are looking to reduce the amount of fat.
Chanie
We love this recipe! I first made it for a neighborhood gathering and everyone loved it! If I want to freeze some, at what point in the process should I do that?
Shelby
Hi Chanie, I don't see why you couldn't freeze it after it's all been assembled and prior to baking. Then, when it's time to bake, remove from the freezer at least 15 minutes if not more before putting in the oven to bake. That is when I would sprinkle extra cheese on top. If you freeze in a glass dish, definitely let it sit longer than 15 minutes. You could probably freeze after baking also and then reheat in oven or microwave.