I love to make up my own convenience foods! I know what is in them so they are much healthier. They are simple to just grab off my shelf (instead of going to a store for a specialty can of ‘whatever’) and to have on hand when there is no ‘run to the store’ option. And they are super easy to make up!
Enchilada Sauce is one of those insanely SIMPLE ones I can whip up and have canned up a batch in under an hour!  Excellent for stocking the pantry with staples for easy meals. Easy meals are a blessing for busy days, true, but when the SHTF they will help cut stress while still providing great meals!
So, pull out a nice big 7 quart or larger pot (or 2, I like to double this one!) and a wooden spoon. Prep all your canning equipment so it is ready to go (canner, rings, jars, lids, jar lifter, etc.) and then gather up the ingredients you’ll need for this ever so easy recipe!
Ingredients:
#10 can of tomato sauce from Costco (or 7 quart of home canned sauce)- a little olive oil (TB or so)
- 1  large onion chopped finely (or a handful or 2 of freeze dried onions- no mess – no tears– LOVE these!)
- 1 cup of organic corn flour,
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 1/2 cup of taco seasoning mix (see my recipe for this below)
- a little sea salt and pepper to taste, if you’d like
Pour your olive oil into your pot, bring to medium heat and toss in your onions. Saute until translucent. Toss in the remainder of your ingredients, stir, let simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes or so while you get the rest of your canning prep together, get your water heating, etc.
Once you’ve got everything ready and your sauce is nice and hot, ladle it into pint or quart jars. I do quarts at 20 minutes in my water bath canner.
That’s all folks. Simple. Makes making homemade enchiladas quick and easy, not to mention it makes a great soup base, too! I set my hot canned jars on a towel, let them cool and listen for that familiar *PING* of the lids sealing. After I leave them undisturbed for about 24 hours, they are ready for the pantry shelves!Recipes for enchilada sauce & taco seasoning! Ole! Click To Tweet
Homemade Taco Seasoning
If you want to make up your own homemade taco seasoning, here is that recipe I promised:
Ingredients:
Get out a Quart Canning Jar, a clean used lid and ring; along with a funnel and add in:
- 1/2 cup Chili Powder
- 1/4 cup Onion Powder
- 1/8 cup Cumin
- 1 TB Garlic Powder
- 1 TB Paprika
- 1 TB Sea Salt (to learn more about how sea salt and table salt differ, read this)
If you’re really adventurous you could add in a teaspoon (or more!) of Cayenne!
Put your lid on, shake it up, and it’s ready! This is so much cheaper and healthier than those packets you can buy in the store! Not to mention it makes another great pantry staple to have on hand!
2 TB = Â 1 store packet
Stocking your pantry from scratch is simple…and a labor of love.
Thanks so much for the recipes. I am working on how to make all my “convenience” foods from scratch. These 2 recipes are a great addition. Will be checking out your page for other ideas.
I am sorry to say this but the enchilada sauce is probably not safe to can in a water-bath canning process. This sauce contains a meat stock and flour (yuck!) — it should be pressure-canned.
Also, flour should be avoided when canning — another thickener should be used instead.
I would like to try this on a smaller scale (say, enough for one or two meals). Any idea how this would break down?
So why no need to pressure can this?
This recipe for enchilada sauce is UNSAFE for canning. It is a disaster waiting to happen. You’ve been lucky.
No flour and oil for canning. Insufficient acidifier for the tomatoes, i.e., bottled lemon juice. Insufficient processing time for tomato based sauces in a water bath canner. And meat stock can only be canned in a pressure canner. So many things wrong with this recipe.
It’s outrageous that even after other comments have pointed this out, you continue to post this recipe. People reading your blog may assume you follow safe canning practices. There’s a reason we don’t play around with canning recipes or use old recipes created when our produce varieties had different ph levels than they do today. When you’re dealing with products that need to be pressure canned and are not, the consequences can be fatal.
I’ve researched and spoke with canning experts and have received mixed information. Yes, the sauce contains a thickener, which may or may not heat through in the canning process. Thanks for adding your input.
I have been canning with oil and flour for years. Everyone is still alive in my family!
I made your enchilada sauce and it tasted great , but after reading a comment that it wasn’t processed correctly I’m afraid to eat the jars I canned. was wondering how long you have been canning this recipe and if you have had any spoilage. I liked the fact you used the tomato sauce from cosco cause I have several cans I bought on sale and would love to find more recipes that I could use it with cause fresh tom are not always plentifull when I’m canning.
Adding the thickener to the sauce is what some people don’t care to do, since there’s no way to be 100% sure the sauce heated evenly all the way through the canning process. Having said that, the author of this article has been canning and writing about canning for many years. Maybe in the future you could combine all the ingredients, except the flour, and can the liquid. Then, before using it in a recipe, warm it up in a saucepan and whisk in a small amount of flour to thicken. And, some people like a thinner sauce for their enchiladas. You could also use a pressure canner to can the enchilada sauce as is.