Sonoran style enchiladas. What makes them so different from other enchiladas? Basically, they are stacked, layered tortillas that have been slathered with hot enchiladas sauce. The fillings can be as simple as crumbled queso with onion or more hearty with shredded or chopped meat. Skies the limit when it comes to building these Sonoran style enchiladas! More often than not you will see them mostly prepared with red enchilada sauce, but they are equally delicious in green enchilada sauce!

Start From Scratch!

If possible, always opt for homemade corn tortillas and homemade enchilada sauce! It will make all the difference in the world! If preparing homemade tortillas is not your thing, look for a good quality organic corn tortilla at your local market. The corn flavor and texture of the tortilla makes for a better enchilada recipe all together.

There is something so delicious about simple ingredients!

Yes, you could really make these enchiladas fancy and hearty if you wanted to. Shredded chicken or beef, chopped carnitas or chicharron would be delicious in this recipe. I have prepared this recipe stuffed with roasted poblano strips, mushrooms and plenty of melted Chihuahua cheese! Delicious! Grilled shrimp was amazing too!

Think outside the rolled tortilla!

I have good friends that are originally from Hidalgo, Mexico and they paint a total different picture of the enchiladas popular there. A simple fried corn tortilla until almost crispy topped with red or green spicy salsa, crumbled cheese and onions. That’s it! All the flavors of a cheese enchilada without all the fuss of rolling and sometimes frying the saucy tortillas in oil. That makes a big mess, but a big delicious mess! Lol! Sometimes I prepare them this way and top it off with eggs over easy. Tasty! You can get pretty creative with these enchiladas as well.

Using uncooked tortilla or previously cooked tortillas?

In all honesty, I have prepared this recipe with both uncooked and previously cooked corn tortillas. Did I notice any difference? Not really. Of course frying the freshly pressed corn tortilla eliminates cooking them on the comal first. Some people don’t prefer to fry the tortillas, but I feel you lose out on some of the tasty flavors of enchiladas. In the past, I have been known to simply brush the previously made corn tortillas with oil and place them on a preheated comal for a few minutes. That works too and minimal oil is used.

Get more accurate results with a kitchen scale!

Invest in a digital scale for your kitchen. I use the scale to get a more accurate weight on the dried chile pods, masa balls for tortillas, bread recipes, empanada dough and more. Typical investment is about twenty five dollars. Minimal cost of a new battery once in a while is all you need.

adding red chile pods to hot water in sauce pan

adding small chile japones pods to add some heat to the sauce

Rule of thumb, the smaller the dried chile pod, the more spicy!

Typically, but not always, the larger pods like guajillo and ancho(pasilla) are among the most mild. In my experience, chile New Mexico, chile Negro and chile California although larger pods can be spicy at times. Working with all these varieties for many years, that has been my experience. Next you have peppers like chile cascabel, chile puya, dried chipotle and chile morita. Among these, the cascabel is the most mild and I will usually add some chile de arbol when I prepare salsa or sauce using cascabel. Puya, chipotle and morita carry a good punch when it comes to heat level. Now the spicier small varieties include chile de arbol, japones, piquin and chiltepin. I use those sparingly, not unless I am preparing an extra spicy salsa or salsa macha.

softened red chiles going into the blender jar — Don’t be in a rush. Let the dried chiles cool in the cooking water.

Fresh cloves of garlic in small bowl, tomato bouillon powder in separate bowl — The tomato bouillon is optional. If you are not a fan of using that bouillon, you could saute 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste with the spices in the oil.

cumin seeds crushed in a mexican molcajete — Fresh ground cumin seeds.

fresh ground cumin seeds and granulated garlic in small bowl — A quick way to add more flavor to your sauce recipes is my frying and toasting the spices directly in the oil as it heats up.

crushed Mexican oregano added to enchilada sauce — Frying your sauces and salsas adds another level of flavor for sure, but it’s optional. It really is up to you, but I would suggest trying it.

using tortilla press to press small corn tortillas — I purposely pressed small 3 inch tortillas so that I could stack five tortillas! Looks more impressive! Lol! If you prefer, you can press larger 5 inch tortillas and stack them three high.

Let’s Get To The Enchilada Recipe!!

fried tortillas on paper towel lined plate

chopped onions and green onions in one bowl, crumbled queso fresco in another bowl