Cheese Enchiladas Rojas are done up with a Tex-Mex style red chile sauce, plenty of cheddar cheese, and a touch of onion.
Cheese Enchiladas Rojas
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
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Welcome back to #MexicanRecipes where I am hosting a blog event where my friends and I are sharing Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes all week long just in time to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. For my second offering I am sharing my recipe for Cheese Enchiladas Rojas, which just simply means cheese enchiladas with a red (rojas) sauce.
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I love making my enchilada sauce from scratch! It is very simple to do so no need to buy that canned stuff with the tinny taste. The chile powder I use in this is a ground chili which although it sounds like chili powder, the one I use is pure, while chili powder blend will also have things like cumin and coriander mixed in, which will change the taste.
So if you want that authentic flavor, you will want to use the pure ground powder. It’s really not hard to do if you have a spice grinder- you simply toast the California or New Mexico dried red chiles, then tear off the stem and shake out the seeds, and grind it up. (I have a small coffee mill that is dedicated for such things, although you could use a molcajete e tejolote – stone lava bowl mortar and pestle.)
Easier still you can buy ground chile powder (chile molido in Spanish) in the Latin foods sections of most grocery stores and tiendas.
A little tip for prepping the tortillas.
These enchiladas are really the easiest kind of enchiladas to make, using shredded cheese and a sprinkle of onion. I know you will see lots of recipes that do not do the little dip in oil before filling, but I have to tell you that if you’ve had problems with the tortillas cracking and splitting, that would be why, since the little bit of oil makes them quite flexible.
Also you should try to use really fresh corn tortillas- they are like bread, and just like bread, they can get stale and really don’t have that nice quality anymore. It doesn’t mean you can’t still use them, they are easily baked or fried into chips. I have an air fryer and I think it makes wonderful tortilla chips without any fat at all.
Join me Wednesday when I share my recipe for Taco Salad Boats- I am going to try and make those the way they used to make them at the Casa Gallardo restaurant years ago with the avocado dressing I loved. Although they used the big fried tortillas, these will be much smaller. This posting will be a joint blog event with #FoodieExtravaganza.
Thursday I will be posting jointly with #FilltheCookieJar with my recipe for Mexican Chocolate Bizcochito cookies, that are like lightly spiced chocolate wedding cookies.
And Friday I’ll be finishing up #MexicanRecipes week with an easy recipe for pico de gallo, which is my version of salsa fresca, or fresh salsa. Join me each and every day!
~Sue
Cheese Enchiladas Rojas
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Cheese Enchiladas Rojas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons ground pure New Mexico chile powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 3 cups chicken broth or water
- Salt and pepper
- 12 fresh corn tortillas
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup minced white onion
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Heat butter and flour in a saucepan and whisk to form a roux.
- Add chile powder, cumin, garlic, tomato paste, water, salt and black pepper.
- Cook stirring, about 15 minutes or until sauce thickens and reduces to about three cups.
- Pour half of the sauce into a large casserole (lasagna size).
- Heat oil and dip tortillas into oil for about 5 seconds (you don't want them to puff or crisp and they soften quickly); drain tortilla.
- Place tortilla flat on a plate with 1/4 cup cheese on top and roll up.
- Place seam side down in the casserole and repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Top enchiladas with the rest of the sauce, then the remaining cup of cheddar, then sprinkle with onions.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and cheese has melted.
- Yield: 12 enchiladas
Notes
Nutrition
Happy #MexicanRecipes
Let’s have a fiesta of Cinco de Mayo inspired recipes all week long!
- Mango and Peach Margarita from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Cheese Enchiladas Rojas from Palatable Pastime
- Mexican Fruit Salad from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Zippy Tortilla Chips from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas from Frugal Pantry
- Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers from The Chef Next Door
Check back each and every day for new recipes by following along with the hashtag #MexicanRecipes on social media.
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Enchiladas are my husband’s favorite and this version is perfect for Meatless Mondays.
I am adding this to my Meatless Mondays planner ideas! My hubby was just asking enchiladas too! Guess what he’ll be getting?? Thanks!