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These Sonoran enchiladas are not your usual wrapped style – this recipe is for flat enchiladas, crisp fried tortillas coated in a smoky red chile sauce and layered with Oaxaca cheese, queso fresco, Mexican crema and more fresh toppings – just like they’re served in Obregón, Sonora.
I grew up in Obregón, Sonora, and somehow I went most of my life without really experiencing proper Sonoran enchiladas. Not the rolled kind everyone thinks of – the real kind. These are flat, stacked, and deliciously saucy. I didn’t try true Sonoran-style enchiladas until I was an adult, and honestly, I’m a little mad about it. If you’ve never had them this way, prepare to fall hard.
Why You’ll Fall For These Sonoran Enchiladas
When I tried Sonoran red chile flat enchiladas for the first time, I couldn’t believe how different they were from anything I’d eaten growing up. Each tortilla gets fried until golden, then dipped in a bold, smoky red chile sauce that soaks into every layer while keeping the edges slightly crisp. Oaxaca cheese melts into the sauce, the queso fresco adds saltiness, and the Mexican crema softens everything into pure magic. The flavors are amazing and it’s dangerously addictive – true Sonoran comfort food.
Table of Contents
Prep Your Ingredients: Red Chile Flat Enchiladas
The Red Chile Sauce
| Dried Guajillo Chiles | Morita Chiles | Boiling Water | Chicken Broth | Chicken Bouillon | Mexican Oregano | Sugar | Onion | Roma Tomatoes | Garlic | Tomato Paste | Mexican Crema | Salt |
Cut the stems off your dried chiles and remove the seeds. Add the chiles to a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Let soak for about 15 minutes, until soft. Blend some of the soaking water with broth, bouillon, oregano, sugar, onion, tomatoes and garlic until completely smooth.
To a pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and the tomato paste and cook for about 3 minutes. Strain the red chile sauce into the pan and simmer until deep red, rich and slightly thickened. Turn off the heat and add the Mexican crema. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
The Tortillas
| Gold Potato | Corn Masa | Salt | Queso Fresco | Warm Water | Neutral Frying Oil |
Peel and boil your potato until fork-tender. Add to a ricer and press into a large bowl. Mix masa, a pinch of salt, queso fresco and warm water until well incorporated. Divide the dough into 1½ inch balls and let them rest. Let them rest under a damp towel for at least 30 minutes. When you are ready press them or roll them out, leaving them thicker than you would a regular tortilla – they hold more sauce this way and stay sturdy.
Preheat about an inch of oil in a pan and fry the tortillas on both sides until golden. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the Sonoran enchiladas.
The Layer
| Tortillas | Red Chile Enchilada Sauce | Oaxaca Cheese | Queso Fresco | Mexican Crema | Cilantro | Scallions |
Now we layer! Dip your tortilla in the red chile enchilada sauce, coating both sides. Place that on a plate and sprinkle with Oaxaca cheese, queso fresco, Mexican crema, cilantro and scallions. Repeat until you have 3 layers.
The Toppings
| Iceberg lettuce | Radish | More Crema | Lime |
These are non-negotiable in Sonora. They bring crunch, acid and freshness to balance the richness of the sauce and cheese. Top your Sonoran flat enchiladas with iceberg lettuce, radishes, more crema and a squeeze of lime!
Substitutions and Variations
Ingredient Swaps: Sonoran Enchilada
- Chiles → If you can’t find morita chiles, you can substitute them with dried chipotle chiles. For the guajillo chiles, use New Mexico chiles.
- Mexican Crema → You can substitute this by adding lime or water to your me crème frîache or sour cream a little bit at a time until you find the right consistency.
- Oaxaca Cheese → You can use mozzarella cheese instead if you can’t find this in your area.
Flavor Twist: Similar Sonoran Style Enchilada Recipes
- Fusion Tacos: This a fusion recipe, brought to you by my dad. He is Syrian but lived in Mexico and he would say they were a mix of a Sonoran taco & shawarma… obviously not authentic in either direction but they are original and SO good.
- Pastel Azteca: This is a Mexican tortilla cake, it was one of my favorite dishes growing up and was made at home at least weekly.
- Flautas Divorciadas: If you do nothing else, just go look at how GORGEOUS these are. ‘Divorciadas’ is a common culinary term in Mexico that means served with both salsas, green and red. These a flautas, but better!
The Perfect Pairings
Spicy Margarita 🌶️ This is my go-to Spicy Margarita because it’s quick to make, a batch drink, and only has 4 ingredients!
Seafood Cocktail 🍤 Basically summer in a bite, fresh, zesty and packed with flavors! They’d pair perfectly as an appetizer for this Sonoran style enchilada recipe.
Salsa Macha 💃 This is my #1 topping for everything I make! Around my house, I make it by the boatload and it NEVER disappoints.
Pan De Muerto 🍞 This bread is sweet, soft and rich. It has a very distinct taste between the orange and anise flavors – It’s not too sweet, but just right!
Holidays
The BEST Spicy Margarita
Mains
Seafood Cocktail
Butters
The Best Salsa Macha
Desserts
Pan De Muerto Recipe
Sonoran Enchiladas: Questions Answered
Absolutely, just use vegetable broth and vegetable bouillon instead of the chicken. And then everything else – from the masa to the Mexican crema – is meat-free.
Traditional enchiladas are rolled and baked, while Sonoran enchiladas are flat and stacked. The tortillas are fried till golden and dipped in the most amazing red chile sauce and then layered with cheese, crema and fresh toppings.
Yes you can. You can make it up to 3 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat gently on the stovetop before using.
They are a mild to medium heat. When you are deseeding the chiles, you can also remove the inner membrane that hold a lot of the heat. You can also always adjust how many chiles you use or add extra tomatoes.
Chef Nadia’s Tip
I like to keep my tortillas pretty thick because it traps more of the sauce and Masienda has a great tortilla press that you can adjust the thickness – or you can always just roll them out with a rolling pin by hand.
Sonoran Enchiladas
Equipment
- 3 bowls
- blender
- 2 pans
- strainer
- #30 ice cream scoop, optional
- damp towel
- tortilla press, Masienda Tortilla Press is great, or rolling pin
- tongs
Ingredients
Red Chile Sauce
- 10 dried guajillo chiles
- 4 dried morita chiles
- boiling water, enough to cover chiles
- 2 cups chicken broth, for vegetarian, use vegetable broth
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon, for vegetarian, use vegetable bouillon
- 2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 roma tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 small garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 drizzle olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Mexican crema
Tortillas
- 1 gold potato, small to medium sized, about 8 oz
- 2 cups corn masa
- 1 pinch salt
- ⅓ cup queso fresco
- ¾ cup chicken broth, warmed
Layer Toppings
- Oaxaca cheese, to taste
- queso fresco, to taste
- Mexican crema, to taste
- cilantro, chopped, to taste
- scallions, chopped, to taste
- iceberg lettuce, shredded, to taste
- radish, sliced, to taste
- lime, to taste
Instructions
Red Chile Sauce
- Cut the stems off the dried guajillo and morita chiles. Make a slit lengthwise down the side and use a spoon to scoop out seeds in the chiles. Add to a bowl.
- Cover the chiles with boiling water and let soak for 15 minutes.
- To a blender, add ½ cup of the soaking water, the chiles, chicken broth, chicken bouillon, Mexican oregano, sugar, onion, tomato and garlic. Blend until smooth.
- Preheat a pan on medium heat for a few minutes. Add a drizzle of olive oil, then, after a few seconds, add tomato paste. Cook for 3 minutes. Strain the blended red chile sauce into the pan and simmer for 20 minutes on low. Add water/broth as needed and adjust for salt. When done, turn off heat and add in Mexican crema.
Tortillas
- Peel your potato and boil until fork tender.
- In a large bowl use a potato ricer to add the cooked potato. Then add in the corn masa, salt, queso fresco and warm broth and mix until well incorporated.
- Divide into little 1½ inch balls. I use a #30 ice cream scoop so they are uniform. Let them rest in a bowl with a damp towel over them for at least 30 minutes.
- Press them in a tortilla press, leaving them pretty thick.
- Preheat about an inch of oil in a pan and cook the tortillas on both sides until golden.
Assemble
- Now we layer: Dip your tortilla in the red chile enchilada sauce, coating both sides. Place that on a plate and sprinkle with Oaxaca cheese, queso fresco, Mexican crema, cilantro and scallions. Repeat until you have 3 layers. Top with iceberg lettuce, radishes, more crema and a squeeze of lime!
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
