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Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes!

 

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes!

Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce

Butternut squash season is in full swing. While we are big fans of butternut squash soup around here, sometimes I like to find other ways to use it. 

The result was this Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce. 

 

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes!

Making homemade red enchilada sauce is a lot easier than you might think. And it definitely tastes a lot better than anything you will find in a can! In fact, it was so good that my husband and I were actually eating it by the spoonful!

This butternut squash red enchilada sauce recipe will make enough for two meals, so I made a delicious enchilada casserole with it (recipe coming soon) and froze my leftovers to use another day. 

First you’re going to peel, seed and cube a butternut squash, then toss the pieces with some olive oil. Roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Once your squash is ready, you can start on the rest of the recipe. Heat your olive oil, and sauté your onion until it softens, about 3-4 minutes. Then add your garlic and sauté another minute or so. 

Now you’re ready to add your butternut squash, red chile powder, allspice and water. Stir or whisk to make sure your mixture is smooth…you don’t want any lumps of the chile powder. Bring your mixture to a boil; then reduce your heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. With the butternut squash, the mixture will be relatively thick. 

Turn off your heat. Temper a cup of light cream with about a half cup of the red chile sauce, whisk to combine, and then slowly add the cream and red chile mixture back into the pot. It will look like the picture below. 

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes!

Season to taste with salt, and your butternut squash red chile enchilada sauce is ready to go!

Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce

Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce

Yield: 5
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 large clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
  • 1/4 cup red chile powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup light cream
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Peel, seed, and cube butternut squash.
  3. Toss with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
  4. Roast squash for 30 minutes.
  5. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in medium sauce pot, and sauté onion until softened and translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
  6. Add garlic, and sauté another minute.
  7. Add roasted butternut squash, chile powder, allspice, and water. Stir to make sure there are no lumps in the chile powder.
  8. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Mixture will be relatively thick.
  9. Turn off heat. Temper 1 cup of light cream with about a half cup of the red chile sauce. Whisk to combine, then slowly add back into the red chile sauce mixture.
  10. Season to taste with salt.

Notes

Recipe adapted from The Santa Fe School of Cooking

I can think of lots of different ways to use this butternut squash red enchilada sauce, and I’ll be sharing some of them with you soon! What would you make with it?

Add a seasonal twist to your homemade red chile enchilada sauce by adding roasted butternut squash. The resulting Butternut Squash Red Enchilada Sauce recipe is a versatile sauce that you can use with a variety of Mexican dishes!

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soniaseoexpert325

Monday 15th of May 2017

Just roasted my first butternut squash the other day and was surprised at how easy it was. This sounds like a great recipe to try!

LikeableNut

Friday 23rd of October 2015

Oh wow, this sounds exceptional! So much better than those horrible cans of enchilada sauce. Hugs to you for swinging by Snickerdoodle Sunday with your greatness- hope to see you again tomorrow!

Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)

Kathryn

Thursday 22nd of October 2015

I love that you added butternut squash to this enchilada sauce! What a flavor (and nutrition) bonus! I'm pretty sure this is going to be good on ALL.THE.FOODS but my first instinct is to pour it over some enchiladas and then use the extra in some sort of turkey and veggie enchilada soup. Mmm, the possibilities!

stephinthyme

Monday 19th of October 2015

What a simply dreamy sauce - brilliant twist with the roasted butternut squash!

Little Cooking Tips

Monday 19th of October 2015

This is truly an exotic sauce and recipe, for us Greeks:) It sounds very appetizing and interesting! How do you use this in enchilladas Michelle? Do you spread this on top before baking them? Sorry for the silly question, we don't know much about Mexican cuisine:) xoxoxo

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