Canning Enchilada Sauce (Ball Canning Recipe)

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Enchilada Sauce in a jar is a great meal starter, and this simple pressure-canning recipe for enchilada sauce will allow you to make it ahead and preserve it on your pantry shelf.

If you love the idea of having homemade enchilada sauce at your fingertips whenever you need it, then pressure canning is the perfect solution! This sweet, spicy sauce is made with caramelized onions and just the right amount of heat. It works well for smothering homemade enchiladas, but that’s just the beginning.  It can also be used for braising meats, adding to tacos, or even spicing up beans or eggs.

By pressure canning this enchilada sauce, you can preserve it for months, giving you easy access to one of your favorite homemade condiments any time you need it.

Ingredients for Enchilada Sauce

This is a tested pressure canning recipe for enchilada sauce adapted from the All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving.  You’ll need the following to make 8 pints:

• 12 dried New Mexican chile peppers
• 2 cups boiling water
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 cups coarsely chopped onion (about 4 large onions)
• 6 cups canned diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground red pepper

Outside of New Mexico, you can often find New Mexican Chili peppers near salsa and hot sauce in the grocery store.  They usually come in 4 ounce packages, which is just right for this recipe.  (The recipe calls for 12 chili peppers, or 3 to 4 ounces of dried chili pepper.)

You can use whole chili peppers, or they also often sell crumbled hatch chili flakes in 3-ounce pouches.  In that form, they’re stemmed and ready to go.

The brown sugar and salt in this recipe are for flavor, not for preservation.  Feel free to reduce (or increase) them to your taste. 

Personally, I think 1/2 cup brown sugar makes the sauce a bit too sweet.  We went with 1/4 cup, but my family tends to prefer low-sugar recipes.

How to Make Enchilada Sauce

To start, you’ll need to prep the dried New Mexican chiles. Rinse off any dirt and pat them dry with a paper towel. Next, heat up a griddle or large skillet on high and toast the chiles for about 8-10 seconds on each side, just until they puff up and start to blister. Be careful not to let them burn, as this can make the sauce taste bitter. Once they’ve cooled a bit, remove the stems and seeds, and tear the chiles into large pieces. Place them in a medium-sized bowl and pour 2 cups of boiling water over them. Let them soak for about 20 minutes until they soften, then drain, but save about a cup of the soaking liquid for later.

Now, let’s get those onions caramelized! In a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes fragrant. Then, toss in the chopped onions and cover the pot. Let them cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften. After that, uncover the pot and cook the onions for another 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until they become a deep, caramelized color.

Once your onions are nicely caramelized, it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients. Stir in the diced tomatoes, brown sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin, ground red pepper, and the softened chiles along with the soaking liquid. Give everything a good mix, then remove the pot from the heat and let the flavors blend together for a minute.

When the mixture is ready, it’s time to blend it into a smooth sauce. Working in batches, transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until it’s completely smooth. Pour the pureed sauce back into the Dutch oven, and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. As it simmers, the sauce will thicken and darken in color, so keep an eye on it and stir to prevent it from sticking.

With the sauce ready, now it’s time to prepare for canning. Sterilize your canning jars and keep them warm. Once the sauce is thickened to your liking, ladle it into the warm jars, leaving about 1 inch of headspace at the top. Use a non-metallic spatula to remove any air bubbles, then wipe the rims of the jars clean. Place the lids on top of the jars and screw on the bands until they’re fingertip-tight.

Canning Enchilada Sauce

Next, you’ll pressure can the sauce.

Fill your pressure canner with about 2 inches of simmering water, which should be around 180°F. Carefully place the jars on the canner’s rack, making sure they’re not touching. Secure the lid on the canner, vent the steam for about 10 minutes, and then bring the pressure to 10 pounds (for a weighted-gauge canner) or 11 pounds (for a dial-gauge canner). Process the jars for 50 minutes.

After the processing time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner cool to zero pressure. Let the canner stand for another 5 minutes before removing the lid. Carefully remove the jars from the canner and let them cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Then, sit back and admire your homemade enchilada sauce, ready for use whenever you need it!

Pressure Canning Altitude Adjustments

With pressure canning, the processing times stay the same at higher altitudes, but the pressures change.  Here are the altitude adjustments for pressure canning:

For dial gauge pressure canners:

• 0 to 2,000 feet in elevation – 11 lbs pressure
• 2,001 to 4,000 feet in elevation – 12 lbs pressure
• 4,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation – 13 lbs pressure
• 6,001 to 8,000 feet in elevation – 14 lbs pressure

For weighted gauge pressure canners:

• 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation – 10 lbs pressure
• Above 1,000 feet – 15 lbs pressure