Vivi’s Red Enchilada Sauce with 3 Chiles

This is the red enchilada sauce that Chicago’s Vivi Abeja, one of our favorite Mexican cooks, grew up watching her abuelita make for family and church gatherings. Well, actually “it isn’t the exact recipe my grandmother taught me, but it has all the same ingredients,” she says. ”I’ve changed my enchilada salsa recipe throughout the years with the amount of chiles I use to my liking. As we all should do with every recipe we come across.”

Amen. (P.S. That’s pretty much the Familia Kitchen philosophy. Respect, deeply, our abuela cooking traditions, but make them your own, whatever that means to you and your family.)

Like so many of the traditional Mexican recipes she grew up loving, this one brings so many childhood memories for Vivi. “My favorite time to have this salsa de enchiladas was in the summertime during August Fest in Little Village,” a neighborhood in Chicago with a Mexican heritage, says Vivi. “My grandmother would sell her enchiladas for the church during that festival, and that was my family’s go-to food stand every year.”

Vivi is freshly grieving the loss of her abuelita, Elisa Abeja, who died last month at the age of 92. She tells Familia Kitchen stories of the care and pride her grandmother took in making what she called “poor people food,” finding the most delicioso ways to use the least amount of ingredients in the Mexican dishes she made for her eight children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Over time, Vivi memorized her grandmother’s recipes, and soon she was the one in the kitchen. “I made enchiladas for my grandmother and myself when I would take care of her, and they were always a treat for us,” recalls Vivi.

What is Vivi’s favorite type of enchilada to make with this salsa? No surprise: The one from her family’s Mexican home state, Vivi says. “We make traditional enchiladas Michoacanas by filling them with crumbled-up queso fresco and small diced white onion. Those are my favorite. They remind me of my childhood. I also absolutely love switching it up and adding queso chihuahua instead of queso fresco. Or adding shredded chicken for some protein.”

Inspired by her grandmother’s faith and belief in the power of feeding others, Vivi started making and selling her grandmother’s family recipes on the streets of Little Village during the early days of COVID. Scouted for her talent, Vivi was invited to attend a community-based cooking school. She graduated in the first-ever class and is now a young chef in the Chicago restaurant scene. She also hosts a Mexican food cook-along Live series on her Instagram channel Vivis_Table.

All thanks to her abuelita’s cooking, says Vivi. Furthering her grandmother’s mission of “poor people food” is now her own personal and professional calling.

Making this enchilada sauce is an act of love and remembrance for Vivi. She will continue cooking it for family gatherings. “I love prepping this salsa because I can use it for many recipes. The same sauce we use for enchiladas is the same sauce we use for pampazos [fried Mexican tortas with sauce-soaked bread], caldos and chilaquiles. 

Vivi might even make this enchilada sauce for the Little Village church festival this summer.

For more of Vivi’s Mexican family recipes, check out her grandmother’s uchepos (fresh-corn tamales); chicken fajitas; carne en salsa verde stew; and sweet, crispy buñuelos.

Ready to Make Vivi’s Red Enchilada Sauce?

Vivi’s Red Enchilada Sauce with 3 Chiles

Recipe by Vivi Abeja

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 9 guajillo chiles

• 5 to 7 de árbol chiles

• 2 ancho chiles

• 1/4 onion, chopped in large chunks

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 tsp oregano

• 3 to 4 Tbsp chicken bouillon, powdered

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

• Prep the 3 types of chiles: Slice each one open and remove the seeds, veins and stem. Rinse the cleaned chiles under running water and set aside.
• Fill a large pot with water and place on the stovetop, on medium-high.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Add the chiles, onion and garlic. Bring to a boil again.
• Turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.
• Remove the chiles, onion and garlic. Reserve the chile water.
• In a blender, add the chiles, onion, garlic, oregano and chicken bouillon powder. Pour in 1 cup of the chile water. Pulse the ingredients, until smooth.
• In a large pan set to medium heat, add the oil. When the oil warms and starts to glisten, add the blended sauce.
• Cook the sauce for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Your red sauce is ready for making your favorite enchiladas. 

Notes

• Vivi loves making chilaquiles with this enchilada sauce (switch in the red salsa), as well as adding it to Mexican caldos.