Cheese Enchiladas in Red Sauce: A Meatless Main for Catholic Lent
Cheese enchiladas are one of the great Friday inventions of the Mexican-American kitchen: tortillas, cheese, a red sauce — nothing in the dish that a day of abstinence forbids, and nothing about it that tastes like doing without. The filling here is creamy with sour cream and two cheeses; the sauce is homemade and takes five minutes; two pans of them will feed a family with leftovers nobody complains about.
One honest word about the sauce, because enchiladas rojas deserve honesty. In Mexico, a roja sauce is classically built from dried red chiles — guajillo, ancho — toasted, soaked and blended. This recipe's red sauce is the Mexican-American weeknight version: tomato sauce seasoned with chili powder, garlic, oregano and cumin. It is genuinely good, and it is what generations of home cooks on both sides of the border have actually made on a Friday evening — but it is a tomato-chili sauce, and this post calls it that rather than pretending otherwise. If you want the deeper, dried-chile version, the notes show the swap; the enchiladas accept either sauce gladly. What matters for Lent is simpler: no meat, no meat stock, cheese doing the honours — and a dish the whole table is happy to see.
Ingredients
- 2 cans (425 g / 15 oz each) tomato sauce
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano if you have it)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 16 flour tortillas (20 cm / 8 inches), warmed
- Shredded lettuce, sliced ripe olives, chopped tomatoes and extra sour cream, to serve (optional)
Method
- Make the red sauce: put the tomato sauce, water, chili powder, garlic, oregano and cumin in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring now and then, until slightly thickened, 4–5 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and grease two 23 × 33 cm (13 × 9-inch) baking dishes.
- Make the filling: in a large bowl, stir the sour cream, parsley, salt and pepper together, then mix in the Monterey Jack, 2 cups of the cheddar and the chopped onions.
- Assemble: spread 2 tablespoons of sauce over each warm tortilla, spoon about 1/3 cup of the cheese mixture down the middle, and roll up. Place seam-side down in the dishes.
- Pour the remaining sauce evenly over both dishes. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar over the top and bake until it has melted, 4–5 minutes more. Serve with the toppings you like.
Rule source: Catholic abstinence rule: Code of Canon Law c. 1251 and the USCCB norms — on days of abstinence (every Friday of Lent; Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of fasting) the meat of land animals and birds is excluded, while fish, dairy and eggs are permitted. This sauce is tomato-based; no meat or meat stock enters it.
Notes
- About the name. "Rojas" names the red sauce, and there are two honest roads to it: this post's tomato-and-chili-powder sauce, or the classic dried-chile roja. For the classic: toast 4 dried guajillo and 2 dried ancho chiles, soak in hot water for 20 minutes, blend with a garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and enough soaking water to make a sauce, then simmer 10 minutes. Use it anywhere this post's sauce is used.
- Warm the tortillas before rolling — 20 seconds each, wrapped in a clean towel in the microwave — or they will crack at the fold.
- Keep the edges uncovered in the oven. Baking uncovered lets the tortilla edges crisp slightly against the sauce; covering the pan steams everything soft.
- Freeze before baking for a make-ahead Friday: assemble, wrap tightly, freeze up to 3 months. Thaw partially overnight in the fridge, then bake as directed, adding a few minutes.
- Beans belong here too. A spoonful of vegetarian refried beans (made without lard) spread on the tortilla before the cheese makes a heartier enchilada that is still entirely meatless.
Frequently asked questions
Are cheese enchiladas allowed on a Lenten Friday?
Yes. Cheese, sour cream and eggs are dairy and egg — expressly permitted on days of abstinence — and this sauce is tomato-based, with no meat and no meat stock in it.
Is this a real enchiladas rojas sauce?
It is the honest weeknight version: tomato sauce with chili powder and spices. A classic roja is blended from soaked dried chiles. The notes give that version too — both are traditional in their own kitchens, and this post doesn't pretend one is the other.
Corn or flour tortillas?
This recipe uses flour, as the source does — soft and easy to roll. Corn tortillas are the more traditional choice in Mexico; if you use them, warm them in a little oil or sauce first so they roll without splitting. ---
