Enchilada sauce calories come to 17 for a 1/4 cup (56 g) serving and 30 per 100 g of red, mild, ready-to-serve sauce. The calories barely register. The sodium does: that same 1/4 cup carries 306 mg, or 13% of the daily value, while supplying only 1% of daily calories.
17kcal
1 quarter cup · 56 g, red, mild, ready to serve
8%protein
0.3 gProtein
3 gCarbs
0.5 gFat
How to burn off 17 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
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Nutrition facts
Red, mild, ready to serve · per 56 g
Calories
17 kcal
Protein
0.3 g
Carbohydrate
2.7 g
Fat
0.5 g
Saturated fat
0.1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
306 mg
Potassium
57 mg
Iron
0.4 mg
Source: USDA FoodData Central
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Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Enchilada sauce: calories, protein and sodium by serving
Percent of daily value uses the FDA reference of 2,000 kcal a day.
Serving
kcal
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Sodium
% DV kcal
1/4 cup (56 g)
17
0.3 g
2.7 g
0.5 g
306 mg
1%
1 cup (224 g)
67
1.4 g
10.9 g
2 g
1,225 mg
3%
1 can (283 g)
85
1.8 g
13.8 g
2.6 g
1,548 mg
4%
100 g
30
0.6 g
4.9 g
0.9 g
547 mg
2%
3 × 1/4 cup (56 g)
50
1 g
919 mg
5 × 1/4 cup (56 g)
84
1.7 g
1,532 mg
A whole can is only 85 calories
Enchilada sauce is one of the few pantry items where pouring heavily does little to your calorie count. A 1/4 cup (56 g) is 17 calories. Double it to 112 g and you reach 34. Three quarter-cup pours, 168 g, land at 50 calories, which is still less than many single tablespoons of dressing.
Scale up to a full cup (224 g) and the total is 67 calories. The entire 283 g can, the amount most recipes use to smother a pan of enchiladas, comes to 85 calories, about 4% of a 2,000-calorie daily value. Split across a family dinner, the sauce adds almost nothing per plate.
So portion size is not the reason to measure this sauce. The calories in an enchilada come from the tortillas, cheese and filling. If you log the dish, weigh or estimate those parts carefully and treat the sauce as a small line item. BodyPal can log the plate from a photo if you would rather not measure each part.
Carbs supply about two thirds of the calories
Per 100 g, enchilada sauce has 4.9 g of carbs, 0.9 g of fat and 0.6 g of protein. Those small amounts split the calories 65% carbs, 27% fat and 8% protein. It is a tomato-and-chile base, so the carbs come mostly from the vegetables and thickeners rather than from added fat.
Sugar is modest at 1.8 g per 100 g, which works out to 1 g in a 1/4 cup and 5.2 g in a whole can. Fiber is 0.5 g per 100 g, and saturated fat is just 0.1 g. Cholesterol is 0.
Do not count on the sauce for protein. A full can delivers 1.8 g, about 4% of the daily value. Its job is flavor and moisture, and the protein in an enchilada dinner has to come from the chicken, beef, beans or cheese you roll inside.
Sodium is the row to watch
Here the picture flips. Enchilada sauce has 547 mg of sodium per 100 g, which is 24% of the 2,300 mg daily value in a portion that supplies only 2% of daily calories. That gap between calories and salt is the main thing this label tells you.
In real portions it adds up fast. A 1/4 cup holds 306 mg, 13% of the daily value. A cup reaches 1,225 mg, or 53%. The whole can carries 1,548 mg, 67% of a day's sodium, before you add cheese, seasoned meat or tortillas, which bring their own salt.
If you watch sodium, the fix is portioning rather than skipping. Divide the can across as many servings as the pan makes, go lighter on the sauce poured over the top, and compare labels, since sodium varies between products. Potassium, at 101 mg per 100 g, does not balance much of it.
Use it to add flavor, not to replace a food
Because it is so low in calories, enchilada sauce works well as a way to make lean foods taste like more. Spooned over eggs, shredded chicken, roasted vegetables or a bowl of beans and rice, it adds moisture and chile flavor for well under 50 calories in most portions.
The pairing choice matters more than the sauce itself. Lean fillings and a moderate amount of cheese keep a plate of enchiladas lighter, while extra cheese and fried tortillas raise it quickly. Adding vegetables or beans brings the fiber and protein the sauce lacks.
On a salty day, balance the sauce with lower-sodium sides such as plain rice, fresh vegetables or fruit. On most days, a 1/4 cup is an easy way to make a simple meal more interesting.
How does enchilada sauce compare?
Here is how enchilada sauce stacks up against cocktail sauce, buffalo sauce and soy sauce, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: If calories are your concern, enchilada sauce at 30 per 100 g beats cocktail sauce at 128, and only buffalo sauce at 11 is lighter. If sodium is your concern, enchilada sauce is the clear pick, with 547 mg per 100 g against 2,917 mg for buffalo sauce and 5,493 mg for soy sauce.
Most popular enchilada sauce brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1A La Orden Green Chile Enchilada Sauce1/4 cup · 60 g50 kcal
2A La Orden Traditional Enchilada Sauce1/4 cup · 60 g42 kcal
3La Victoria Red Enchilada Sauce1/4 cup · 60 g25 kcal
4La Victoria Mild Red Enchilada Sauce1/4 cup · 60 g42 kcal
5La Victoria Green Enchilada Sauce, Mild1/4 cup · 60 g25 kcal
6La Victoria Mild Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce1/4 cup · 60 g117 kcal
Jarred sauces vary a lot by recipe and color, from 25 to 117 calories per 100 g, so they sit either side of the 30 of the plain red sauce above. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Enchilada sauce FAQs
How many calories are in enchilada sauce?
A quarter cup of red enchilada sauce (56 g) is 17 calories, and a full cup (224 g) is 67. Per 100 g it is 30 calories.
Is enchilada sauce good for weight loss?
At 30 calories per 100 g it adds only about 17 calories to a quarter-cup serving, but that same serving carries 306 mg of sodium.
Enchilada sauce vs buffalo sauce: which has fewer calories?
Buffalo sauce is lighter at 11 calories per 100 g against 30 for red enchilada sauce, so a quarter cup is 6 calories versus 17.
How many carbs are in enchilada sauce?
A quarter cup has 2.7 g of carbs, of which 1.0 g is sugar. That works out to 4.87 g of carbs and 1.83 g of sugar per 100 g.
How many calories are in a can of enchilada sauce?
A 283 g can of red, mild enchilada sauce has 85 calories. It also holds 1,548 mg of sodium, 67% of the daily value, so the salt matters far more than the calories.
How many calories are in red enchilada sauce?
Red, mild, ready-to-serve enchilada sauce has 30 calories per 100 g and 17 calories per 1/4 cup (56 g). A full cup (224 g) comes to 67 calories.
Which sauce has the least calories: enchilada, cocktail, buffalo or soy sauce?
Buffalo sauce is lowest at 11 calories per 100 g, followed by enchilada sauce at 30, soy sauce at 53 and cocktail sauce at 128. Enchilada sauce has the least sodium of the four.
What does the enchilada sauce nutrition label show per serving?
A 1/4 cup (56 g) serving shows 17 calories, 2.7 g carbs, 0.5 g fat, 0.3 g protein, 1 g sugar and 306 mg sodium. That sodium is 13% of the daily value.
How much sodium is in enchilada sauce?
Enchilada sauce has 547 mg of sodium per 100 g, which is 24% of the daily value. A 1/4 cup has 306 mg and a full cup has 1,225 mg.
