Canned Red Enchilada Sauce

Hi all - Figured I'd ask the crowd.

I've been craving enchiladas rojas lately. I've also been lazy. Made a batch a few weeks ago for dinner with a taste testing of sorts. La Victoria brand vs. La Preferida. La Victoria won hands down, but it was just a case of it being the tallest midget. I know how to make my own red, (toasting, rehydrating dried chiles, blender, straining, and cooking.) I seek the canned version of that heavy, deep, earthy, chile flavor, not the tomato sauce with a lil bit of cumin flavor. I'm not lookin for green, or any kind of mole, I want red. Anyone know of a brand I should check out?

Not a can, but a pouch: the Rick Bayless Frontrera sauce pouches available at the Whole Foods on Kingsbury are quite good, and I'm fairly certain there's a red enchilada type option among them.

The Frontera sauces are pretty good:

http://www.fronterafiesta.com/store/sea ... auce/27-99

Old-ass Chow thread here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/296092

I do use El Pato in a pinch. I like the graphics on the can as much as the sauce, which is less acidic and more peppery than La Pref.

Grazi -
What brought this question on was the fact that I made up my mind to make enchiladas with Rick's red enchilada packet, but when I got to the ol neighborhood Jewel(s,) they had every frickin Bayless packet EXCEPT the plain Red Enchilada one. I was thinking of settling for his New Mexican Red Chile, but I opted for the can trial instead. I'll definitely grab a can of El Pato as well. I usually only look El Pato's way for "in a pinch" salsa if Herdez is not available, so I never though to check for that brand.

Here is a website if you want to make your own enchilada sauce. I have not made it but always was meaning to.

http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/ ... ecipe.html

If you aren't making it, this is what you want:



or



They make several varieties, both red chile and green chile, in various levels of heat. At least one or two are generally available at the larger Whole Foods stores. Good stuff, as you might imagine.

Hatch Red Enchilada Sauce has been spotted.
Local Jewel - 2.99 can. Didn't pull the trigger even after the better half tried to coax me into it. She hates my frugal side at the grocery store. HATES IT! To me, if Jewel has it for 2.99, that means I should be able to find it elswhere for 1.69. If not, I know where to get it. Also spotted: Herdez Enchilada Sauce, but only verde. I have hope that maybe Herdez has a red on offer as well.

Trials coming in the near future.

Count me not a fan of the Hatch cans. I've made my own enchilada sauce from scratch for nearly three decades now--ever since I bought Huntley Dent's Feast of Santa Fe. I guess I got spoiled--and used to the taste of homemade. (You may also consider this post an unabashed plug for that book; one of the most-used in my house; a superb, completely reliable cookbook.) I have tried various canned versions over the years, most recently the Hatch. My personal reaction? I found it too...thin. I thought it lacked nuance and had too little depth of flavor. Acceptable in a pinch, I suppose, but no more. I'd rather spend the time making it from scratch; although simple enough, it does take time. One thing I do like about Dent's recipe is that I can use whatever particular chile I have on hand or a combination. (Typically, our freezer hosts about 8-10 kinds of chiles.) Sometimes I feel like using guajillo, sometimes ancho, sometimes cascabel, though I generally use Dixon....

I noticed the Frontera pouch in the store for the first time a few weeks ago and so decided, what the hell? Why not help solidify the Bayless empire? Have yet to try it though. I'm not optimistic but then, who knows? Maybe I'll be wrong. It has happened. (Once, I think, many years ago....)

Gypsy Boy- I was actually hoping to make some homemade Enchilada sauce. A chef friend recommended one of Rick Bayless' recipes which used flour. In your experience, do most enchilada sauces use flour? I just ask because I'm trying to make some low carb recipes and never imagined the sauce would contain flour.

Can't speak to most sauces; I've been so happy with mine, I've never really sought out other recipes. I'll have to pull out a Bayless cookbook and see what all he uses. I guess I can possibly imagine using a little masa to thicken, though it doesn't seem necessary to me. FWIW, the recipe I referred to and use contains no flour at all.

Count me not a fan of the Hatch cans. I've made my own enchilada sauce from scratch for nearly three decades now-

. . .and I have been making mine from scratch for well over four decades. The OP in this thread specifically asked for canned sauce recs. The best I've found is the Hatch red, medium heat.

Thank you for your assistance. I actually read the initial post and have followed the thread. In fact, you might have noticed that my first sentence mentioned Hatch cans. I also mentioned what I ordinarily do because I thought it might be helpful to place my opinion in a context. I offered my own personal reaction to the Hatch cans. Sorry it's not the same as yours but I don't think that invalidates my opinion or makes the context less worthwhile.

Gypsy Boy wrote:Can't speak to most sauces; I've been so happy with mine, I've never really sought out other recipes. I'll have to pull out a Bayless cookbook and see what all he uses. I guess I can possibly imagine using a little masa to thicken, though it doesn't seem necessary to me. FWIW, the recipe I referred to and use contains no flour at all.

Thanks! I'll check out the recipe you suggested, as well as the Hatch.

I've made my own enchilada sauce for 5 decades. Yep, been doing it since before I was born. I win!

=R=

While searching at my local Tony's Finer, I was intrigued by a jar of "Herdez Chile Pasilla Simmer Sauce." Being a fan of Herdez salsas, (as much of a fan of a canned salsa that one can be, I guess,) I had illusions (delusions? Man, I need to write more!) of grandeur for this stuff being a 'for real' canned substitue for homemade rich chile goodness. Not so. It was more like a Taco Bell attempt at a pasilla sauce. Too sweet, and about half of that deep chile flavor I'm looking for. It just seems that a jarred version of real deal enchilada sauce should be pretty simple to pull off, unless the demand is just not there. Have yet to try the Hatch, but I will, soon.

I'm a bit late checking back in here but I did want to note that, as a result of this thread, I bought a plastic sack of Bayless's enchilada sauce. I'm not at all a fan of his jarred salsas, so I wasn't optimistic. Truth be told, it's a perfectly fine sauce. A little thin to my way of thinking, but the flavor was good and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a pinch.

Gypsy Boy wrote:I'm a bit late checking back in here but I did want to note that, as a result of this thread, I bought a plastic sack of Bayless's enchilada sauce. I'm not at all a fan of his jarred salsas, so I wasn't optimistic. Truth be told, it's a perfectly fine sauce. A little thin to my way of thinking, but the flavor was good and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a pinch.

The thin part is not really an issue because it all tightens up in the oven.

OK, OK, I gave in and ordered a 6-pack of Bayless's sauce. I'm going to try it tonight. I'll report back.

But I'm here to report something interesting on this subject, enchilada sauce. A new neighborhood market just opened up, replacing a local place that, after a dozen years, failed [KC is one of the toughest supermarketing areas in the country...]. I figured they'd have a good selection of enchilada sauces, in addition to their vast run of Herdez, La Costeña, etc. chiles, pickles, etc. I was right. There was (of course) the whole run of La Preferida stuff, the essential Old El Paso red and green, and then, to my surprise, Las Palmas and Rosarita! Excitement because those were the standard sauces of my kidhood, growing up in Sacramento. Everyone, anglos and latinos both, used one or the other of these two. And there *were* rivalries, too!

I always was preferential to Las Palmas, and it's great to know that I can now get it here.

My only issue is that this new market is a Walmart Neighborhood Market. Sigh. But I have to say this: the old market didn't serve its demographic. This new one does: the store is crowded every day, 12 hours a day. That's its job and it's doing it.

Geo

I did wind up trying Rick's red. Not a fan. Again, it was more tomato than chile for my preference. I think I should try his New Mexico Red in the same line of packets though. Still have a few more brands to try. I might bite the bullet and pay up for that hatch can tho. (I'm just cheap as shit.)

I might bite the bullet and pay up for that hatch can tho. (I'm just cheap as shit.)

While I swear by several recipes in Mr. Bayless's first cookbook, I don't think much of his prepared foods. It's a false economy to buy bad food to save 50 cents - and life is too short to eat bad enchiladas. Pop for the Hatch.

Santander wrote:I do use El Pato in a pinch. I like the graphics on the can as much as the sauce, which is less acidic and more peppery than La Pref.

I'm a fan of El Pato too. The can, I mean; never tried the sauce.



I've made enchiladas a few times but never thought about buying canned sauce. Perhaps I should. I often have stale tortillas and rarely feel like making the sauce from scratch. A can in the cupboard could come in handy. Looking forward to more of the taste-off.

Putzing around a Target last week, I found the big can of Las Palmas on sale for 1.66. Picked it up and was mildly surprised at the ingredient list..NO TOMATOES!!! FINALLY!!

Cracked it open for some eggs at breakfast. SCORE!
It's a tad thin, but easily the best I've tried so far. I'll reduce it by 1/8 and make some enchiladas in the next few days. Probably dr. it up a little with some extra garlic too. Great starting point.

OK, so I tried the Bayless red sauce pouch. Not terribly impressed: decent flavor, but not to be preferred over Las Palmas (which I am *sooo* pleased to have found locally!), esp. since it costs more per pouch/oz, and any recipe is going to take two pouches.

Had to make the try, of course! Tnx for the suggestion, LTHers.

Geo