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Spicy Enchiladas with Chile de Arbol Sauce

These spicy enchiladas with chile de arbol sauce are full of flavor and spice! They’re very easy to make. Give them a try if you think you can handle the heat!

Spicy enchiladas with a chile de arbol sauce.

These spicy cheese enchiladas are not like any you will find in a restaurant.

They are a lot more authentic and in my opinion, better tasting.

In fact, I hardly ever go out for enchiladas these days.

Whenever I get a craving for spicy enchiladas I always turn to this recipe.

It is so much cheaper to make these instead of going to a restaurant.

Plus this recipe makes a lot so you will have enough for lunch or dinner the next night.

A friend and her mother taught me how to make these years ago and they’ve been a regular in our household ever since.

I think they make an excellent dinner for a meatless Monday accompanied with some rice and maybe some beans.

Spicy enchiladas ingredients

Arbol chiles

Arbol chiles are small dried red chili peppers. They are very spicy. I use them in a variety of recipes including salsa macha, beef birria and pollo encacahuatado. You can find arbol peppers at your local Mexican grocery store.

Garlic cloves

These will add flavor to the chile de arbol sauce.

Abuelita chocolate

This will be added to the chile de arbol sauce. But don’t worry, it’s not going to make the sauce overly sweet. What it does do is add a another layer of flavor to the sauce. This chocolate is great in other recipes including chocolate atole, hot chocolate coffee and mole.

Vegetable oil

For frying the red enchilada sauce and tortillas.

Corn starch

For thickening the chile de arbol sauce.

Corn tortillas

For the enchiladas. Make sure to get corn tortillas and not flour tortillas. Corn tortillas are also great for making chilaquiles, migas, tostadas and hard taco shells.

Shredded mozzarella cheese and diced white onion.

For filling the enchiladas. The diced onion gives the enchiladas some texture as well as flavor.

How to make the chile de arbol sauce

Bring the peppers and water to a boil over medium heat. Cover and let simmer for about 15 min.

Then transfer the peppers and about 6 cups of the water to a blender. Add the garlic cloves and blend for 1 1/2 minutes.

Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pot over medium heat. Once hot strain the sauce into the pot using a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids.

Next add the chocolate to the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate has melted.

Next mix the corn starch with a little bit of cold water until smooth. Add to the sauce. Simmer over medium low heat until thickened.

Season the sauce with salt to taste. Set the sauce aside.

Softening corn tortillas for enchiladas

Now it’s time to soften the corn tortillas. This is done by quickly frying them.

Just heat up enough oil for frying in a skillet over medium high heat.

Once hot, quickly fry the tortillas one at a time for a few seconds on each side. Then transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain..

This step is very important as softening corn tortillas for enchiladas will prevent the tortillas from becoming soggy and breaking.

frying tortilla

 Assembling the Cheese Enchiladas:

In a large bowl combine the shredded cheese and diced onion. Mix well.

Dip the tortilla into the arbol sauce.

tortilla in enchilada sauce

Next you want to fill up the tortilla with the cheese and diced onion.

I like to fill my enchiladas with as much cheese as I can. However, you have to be careful not to fill it too much or you won’t be able to roll the tortillas up.

tortilla with enchilada sauce and cheese

Then roll up the enchilada as shown below.

filled and rolled enchilada

Repeat the above steps with the remaining tortillas and cheese.

Before eating, heat the enchiladas in the microwave for about 40 seconds to melt the cheese.

Then add more enchilada sauce if desired.

Tips

  • This recipe is not for those sensitive to spice.
  • After handling the arbol peppers do not touch your eyes. The residue from the arbol chilies will burn.
  • Heat the enchiladas in the microwave before eating to melt the cheese.

For those of you who are new to using dried Mexican chiles here is an excellent guide you should read by Curious Cuisiniere that will tell you all about the most common dried chiles and how to use them.

Spicy enchiladas recipe

If you’re a fan of spicy food, you definitely need to give this recipe a try!

They’re totally different from the enchiladas you will get at most Mexican restaurants.

Cilantro, sour cream, and avocados all make delicious garnishes with this meal.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below and don’t forget to leave it a rating!

enchiladas

 

enchiladas
3 from 2 votes
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Spicy Enchiladas with Chile de Arbol Sauce

These super spicy enchiladas are made with dried arbol chilies and chocolate! They’re not your average enchiladas. 

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword cheese enchiladas, enchiladas
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 15
Calories 240 kcal
Author Carissa

Ingredients

  • A handful of dried arbol peppers
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 or a whole tablet of abuelita chocolate
  • Vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • 30 corn tortillas
  • 1 white onion diced
  • 5 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 8 cups of water

Instructions

  1. Bring the peppers and 8 cups of water to a boil over medium heat.
  2. Cover and let simmer for about 15 min.
  3. Transfer the dried peppers and about 6 cups of the water from the peppers in a blender with the garlic cloves and blend for about 1 1/2 min.
  4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot over medium heat.

  5. When the oil is hot strain the blended sauce into the oil using a fine mesh strainer.

  6. While straining use a spatula to make sure you get all of the liquid into the pot.
  7. Discard the solids.

  8. Add the chocolate to the sauce, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for about 10 or until chocolate is melted.
  9. Mix the corn starch with a little bit of cold water until smooth.
  10. Add corn starch to the sauce. Simmer over medium low heat until thickened.
  11. Season the sauce with salt to taste. Set the sauce aside.

  12. Heat up enough oil for frying in a skillet over medium high heat.

  13. Once oil is hot, fry each tortilla for a few seconds on each side. Don't let the tortillas get crispy.

  14. Drain the tortillas on a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet.

Assembling the enchiladas

  1. In a large bowl combine the shredded mozzarella cheese and onion and mix well to make sure the onion is evenly distributed.
  2. Dip a tortilla into the sauce.
  3. Grab some cheese and lay it inside of the tortilla.
  4. Roll the tortilla up.
  5. Repeat this process until the tortillas and cheese are gone.
  6. Heat the enchiladas in the microwave for a little bit to melt the cheese.
  7. Garnish with cilantro and avocado (optional)
  8. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Nutrition Facts
Spicy Enchiladas with Chile de Arbol Sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 240 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 29mg10%
Sodium 264mg11%
Potassium 140mg4%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 254IU5%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 237mg24%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
spicy cheese enchiladas #mexicanfood #dinner #spicy
cheese enchiladas with a spicy chocolate sauce makes for a delicious mexican dinner.
Recipe Rating




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Holly J Amparan

Friday 12th of January 2018

My husbund grandma makes one similar but uses crackers as the thickener. I use the club crackers . They add a depth of flavor.

Carissa

Tuesday 6th of February 2018

That sounds really good! Thank you for sharing Holly!

Susan

Tuesday 12th of December 2017

do you have any idea what size package of arbol chilies would have 100, or do you buy them individually? Are they dried or fresh? Thank you!

Carissa

Tuesday 12th of December 2017

Hi Susan, I buy them in a large bag. It doesn't say how many is in there but the large bags have a lot more than a hundred. You can use what you need and save the rest for another recipe. I hope that helps!

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