Instantly elevate enchiladas with a rich serving of this delicious Creamy Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce. Easy to execute, and deliciously creamy - try pairing it with enchiladas filled with everything from refried beans to carnitas!
The name of this sauce (Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce) is not meant to dissuade you from trying it on other things, but it does excel as an enchilada sauce. It’s a lovely, super creamy white enchilada sauce with cream cheese that can be used for all kinds of tasty applications, from tacos to pasta, and more!
This Mexican Sour Cream Sauce recipe is first and foremost, incredibly delicious. It’s also luxuriously creamy and rich. And of course, it’s easy to make, requiring just a few ingredients 🙂. There are a lot of easy white enchilada sauce recipes out there, but this one uses garlic and onion powders to bring out savoriness. I’m drooling just thinking about it! Also, adding just 2 tablespoons of cream cheese levels the sauce up to super incredibly creamy heights.
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How to Make Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce - Ingredients
To make this white enchilada sauce recipe, you will need salted butter, flour, broth (chicken or vegetable), garlic powder, onion powder, cream cheese and of course - sour cream.
- salted butter
- white all-purpose flour
- chicken or vegetable broth (plus extra in case you’d like a thinner sauce)
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- sour cream
- cream cheese (optional, but recommended)
Makes approximately 2 ½ cups sour cream enchilada sauce.
How to Make Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce - Directions
Making this creamy White Enchilada Sauce takes around 15 minutes; here's how you make it!
Add butter to a small pot over medium-low heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk continuously for 1 minute, until thickened.
Add chicken broth (or vegetable broth), garlic powder, and onion powder to the pot, whisking until fully incorporated.
Increase heat to medium-high and let it come to a boil, whisking occasionally. This will take around 5 minutes. It will look like a super thick gravy.
Once boiling, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. If adding cream cheese, add it now, and stir it in until it melts.
Add the sour cream after the sauce has sat for 5 minutes and stir until fully combined.
The sauce will be thick like pudding before it sets up. You can add more chicken broth at this stage if you’d like to thin it a bit; add a little bit and stir until the desired consistency is reached. I like it thick, but will often add 1-2 tablespoons of broth to thin it just a touch.
Taste and add salt or white pepper, if necessary. Pour over enchiladas, pasta, and more!
Helpful Tips
- When melting the butter, make sure you don’t brown it; you want it to be just melted before adding the flour.
- Heat will curdle sour cream so make sure you let the sauce cool at least 5 minutes before adding the sour cream to the sauce. Did I mention that the sour cream will curdle if the sauce is too hot?
- You don’t have to add the cream cheese (hence it being optional) but I find it makes this Sour Cream Enchilada sauce extra delicious and creamy. You could also add in a good melting cheese, like pepper jack instead.
- The resulting Sour Cream Enchilada sauce is THICC. I like it that way as it makes a fantastic blanket for enchiladas and is the perfect consistency for dipping tortilla chips into. But if you’d like it thinner, break out some extra chicken or vegetable broth and slowly add it until you’ve reached your desired consistency. I don’t recommend adding more than 3-4 tablespoons or so or it will become too thin (IMHO).
- Store leftover sauce in a lidded container in the refrigerator and it should last at least 7 days.
- This delicious sauce can be used for so much more than enchiladas; it’s fantastic on tacos and burritos, for use as a hot dip paired with tortilla chips, and especially fantastic used in place of hollandaise sauce for Mexican-leaning eggs benedict dishes. Also a great standin for alfredo sauce; try it on your next pasta dish!
- If you want a lighter (read: less caloric) version, go ahead and swap in a low-fat sour cream instead of using a full-fat one.
Variations and Suggested Additions
The following ingredients may be added to the Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce to enhance its flavor while preserving it’s smooth and creamy consistency:
- A pinch of cayenne pepper, for heat
- A bit of chili powder or paprika, for smokiness
- A ½ cup of shredded cheese, like mozzarella, for extra creaminess (instead of using cream cheese)
- Seasonings including ground cumin, for a bolder flavor
- Dried herbs including oregano, basil, and thyme, to add an herbaceous element
- Adding a small can of green chiles can also up the ante of this sauce - blend the green chile in to preserve the creamy consistency of the sauce.
Please note that these are just suggestions, and you may adjust the quantities or omit any of the ingredients to suit your own taste.
FAQ
Reheat leftover sour cream enchilada sauce on the stovetop over low heat, making sure to stir it every few minutes. A lid helps speed things up.
You can also microwave the sauce if you want it heated more quickly, but I recommend doing so in 30 second intervals. You’ll want to stir the sauce after each 30-second intervals. The cautious approach is best here to preserve the creamy consistency when heating up dairy in the microwave.
If sour cream gets too hot it will curdle and separate and its just not a good look. The key to avoiding the sour cream curdle here is to remove the sauce from heat and let cool for 5 minutes before adding. Your patience will be rewarded with a smooth, creamy sauce.
Related Recipes
Looking for other sauce-y recipes like this white enchilada sauce? Try these:
Creamy Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons white all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth (plus extra in case you’d like a thinner sauce)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese (optional, but recommended)
Instructions
- Add butter to a small pot over medium-low heat.3 tablespoons salted butter
- Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk continuously for 1 minute, until thickened.3 tablespoons white all-purpose flour
- Add chicken broth (or vegetable broth), garlic powder, and onion powder to the pot, whisking until fully incorporated.1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth , 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Increase heat to medium-high and let it come to a boil, whisking occasionally. This will take around 5 minutes. It will look like a super thick gravy.
- Once boiling, remove from heat and let cool down for 5 minutes. If adding cream cheese, add it now, and stir it in until it melts.2 tablespoons cream cheese
- Add the sour cream after the sauce has sat for 5 minutes and stir until fully combined.1 cup sour cream
- The sauce will be thick like pudding before it sets up. You can add more chicken broth at this stage if you’d like to thin it a bit; add a little bit and stir until the desired consistency is reached. I like it thick, but will often add 1-2 tablespoons of broth to thin it just a touch.
- Taste and add salt or white pepper, if necessary.
- Pour over enchiladas, pasta, and more!
Nutrition
Amanda
It was absolutely perfect. I also added a dash of smoked paprika as well
Tina M Salustro
So easy to make! Absolutely delicious I stirred in some mild green enchilada sauce with it even though it didn't need it. It was amazing !
Maur
So creamy and so tasty! I love the texture.