BEST Mexican Chorizo Recipe
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Behold the secret ingredient to giving your Mexican dishes an authentic and incredibly amazing flavor! This homemade Mexican chorizo recipe is easy to make and the flavor is out of this world! This freezes well so you can conveniently have it on hand to grab and thaw as needed.
Why Make Your Own?
SALIVARY GLANDS AND LYMPH NODES. That’s what you’ll find in the list of ingredients of a lot of store-bought chorizo. I bought some a while back, cooked with it, and it wasn’t until after we had eaten it that I saw the foreboding list of ingredients. Yes, I felt a little ill. The “daring” in Daring Gourmet isn’t referring to entertaining members of the lymphatic and exocrine families.
Since seeing that I haven’t been able to stomach the thought of ever eating store-bought chorizo again. I don’t trust it. That’s right, I have trust issues with chorizo. So, I make my own. I don’t bother using the sausage casings – no point since when cooking chorizo you remove it from the casing anyway. So I either grind my own pork or have the butcher do it for me. That way I know EXACTLY what’s in it! And, more importantly, what ISN’T! Beyond have full control over the ingredients in your chorizo, the other advantage to making your own is that you can customize the ingredients to your taste – more or less salt, spicy or mild, etc. And I promise you, this homemade chorizo is so much fresher and more flavorful than anything you’ll buy at the store.
What is Mexican Chorizo?
Chorizo is a heavily spiced sausage commonly used in Mexican dishes. Unlike Spanish chorizo which is a cured sausage, Mexican chorizo is raw and needs to be cooked before consuming. It’s crumbled and fried up with whatever other ingredients the dish calls for. It’s made with a variety of ingredients, including various ground chiles, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, vinegar, etc.
And as for my chronic trust issues with store-bought chorizo…I’m afraid it’s a hopeless case, a lost relationship. I don’t think I can ever learn to trust it again . I suppose we could seek counseling together, store-bought chorizo and I, but what’s the use? We never loved each other in the first place, have since lost the ability to communicate, and
“Now it’s too late, baby, now it’s too late…something inside has died and I can’t hide it and I just can’t fake it.”
Store-bought chorizo: We’re through. (Thank you, Carole King, for those fitting lyrics.)
This homemade chorizo is super simple to make. I did the work in experimenting with the different spices and ratios – now all you have to do is combine the spices with the meat and you’re done! It’s really that simple. And it tastes good! Just grab some ready-made chorizo from the freezer whenever you need it.
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Recipe
Let’s get started!
Simply place the meat in a large bowl and all all remaining ingredients.
Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture.
Place it in a colander or sieve over a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days, daily squeezing out and discarding any liquid (this isn’t absolutely necessary but it will more closely resemble the texture of store-bought).
Storage and Freezing
After 3 days, divide the meat up into 6 little 4 oz loaves, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place the loaves in a freezer bag. This sausage will freeze well for up to 4 months.
Many recipes call for about 1/4 lb at a time, so I like to divide it up into 1/4 lb “sausages” and freeze them so they’re ready for use when I need them. That way you can grab one whenever you need it, let it thaw and use it!
How to Use Mexican Chorizo
Mexican chorizo is a flavorful and versatile ingredient that can add a rich, spicy, and slightly tangy taste to a variety of dishes. Here are a few ideas:
- Tacos and Burritos: Use it as a filling for tacos and burritos, along with your favorite toppings like chopped onions, cilantro, salsa, and cheese.
- Queso Fundido: Use it to liven up your favorite queso fundido.
- Breakfast Burritos: Add some to scrambled eggs and wrap them in tortillas for a hearty breakfast burrito.
- Chorizo and Eggs: Sauté it and scrambled eggs together and serve it with salsa and tortillas if you like.
- Chorizo Hash: Cook it with diced potatoes, onions, and bell peppers.
- Chorizo Rice: Cook it and mix it with cooked rice, along with diced tomatoes, onions, and spices.
- Tamales: Incorporate it into the masa dough when making tamales.
- Chorizo and Bean Soup: Add it to a pot of beans or bean soup for added depth of flavor.
- Chorizo-Stuffed Peppers: Hollow out bell peppers and stuff them with a mixture of cooked chorizo, rice, beans, and cheese and bake until the peppers are tender.
- Pizza: Use it as a topping for pizza, loaded nachos, or baked potatoes.
Enjoy!
For more homemade charcuterie recipes try my:
- Homemade Bacon
- Porchetta
- Gravlax
- Italian Sausage Recipe
- Capicola
- German Bratwurst
- British Bangers
- Breakfast Sausage Recipe
- Pork Rillettes
- Smoked Ham Hocks
- Smoked Ham
- Smoked Cheddar Sausages
- Canadian Bacon
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BEST Mexican Chorizo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb coarsely ground lean pork
- 6 oz coarsely ground pork fat (ask your butcher)
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place the meat in a large bowl and all all remaining ingredients. Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture. Place the it in a colander or sieve over a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days, daily squeezing out and discarding any liquid (this isn't absolutely necessary but it will more closely resemble the texture of store-bought chorizo). After 3 days, divide the meat up into 6 little 4 oz loaves, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place the loaves in a freezer bag or wrap again in aluminum foil. You can also use wax or freezer paper.
- The chorizo will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. Storing it longer doesn't really pose a safety concern, but the taste will suffer.Makes 1 1/2 pounds.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 28, 2018
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
The flavors sound wonderful and authentic, but I am wondering about the texture? Growing up in LA, the Mexican chirizo we were accustomed to was very very soft and melted into the food, leaving hearty flavor but very little texture behind. Is this more of a ground\mince texture then? If so, do you think blitzing the final product in a food processor would make the texture more fine\fluid…..”meltable”? :) Thanks in advance!
Hi Barb, because of the nature of the glandular/lymphatic ingredients in most commercial chorizo it does have a smoother texture than muscle meat does. It’s certainly worth a try though. Before you blitz the entire batch in a food processor I would try it with a little bit of it of it first, fry it up, and see if you like the results. You might need to add a tiny bit of liquid to it before blitzing it in order to help emulsify the meat. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
Thank you so much for this recipe, I have just made some and it’s delicious! I will freeze some but I would like to know how long I can keep it uncooked in the fridge?
Wonderful, Lola, thank you! It will keep for as long as the expiration date on the meat you used.
This is a delicious recipe! So easy and flavorful. I’m so glad I found it.
Thank you, Bertha, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made your chorizo recipe a few weeks back but forgot to mention I made it. It was fantastic! Here in Toronto all I can find is Spanish chorizo, which doesn’t work for what I use chorizo for often (stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, chorizo and eggs) so I went looking to see how easy or hard it was and was overjoyed to find your recipe and how easy it is. I couldn’t find Mexican oregano here, so I had to use regular oregano.
Wonderful, Joshua, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Penzy’’s carries Mexican oregano and can be mail ordered
Hello Kimberly!
Been a few years since I last made Mex chorizo, and didn’t find notes in my recipe box, or remember which recipes I used as guides, and your’s looked really lovely. Just finished making two pounds tonight from your recipe! I think this one is what I’ll continue to use and play with. I have a few notes to share with you and your followers.
I took some inspiration from Lisa Fain’s recipe @homesicktexan.com, putting all the spices, garlic and vinegar into the blender and pureeing. I also had whole dried guajillo and ancho chiles on hand, so I used those (but adjusted with a bit more powdered ancho at the final stage). She also had some fresh onion in her recipe, so I threw a few slices into the blender (onion felt like it would work for my tastes).
Something you might add to the recipe technique — appropriate to hobbyist sausage makers — is microwaving a spoonful of the blended mixture and tasting it to determine if the spicing and salt level is to their preference. I did two rounds of this, with some adjustment in between.
Great recipe, thank you for the gift of it!
On an aside… I’ve been perfecting over the last couple weeks making King Arthur Flour’s English Muffin recipe. (would post a picture of how great they look, if I could…). I keep a few, give away the rest to neighbors, and do make-ahead egg mcmuffins for taking to work (Wayne McMuffins!). Using Kenji Lopez’s (SeriousEats.com) Egg McMuff recipe, but I got to thinking how great it would be to have a chorizo patty on them. And that’s how I ended up at dg.com.
Hi Wayne, thanks so much for the feedback and for sharing all of those tips. And I’m with you, a chorizo egg mcmuffin sounds fab!
We haven’t made your chorizo from scratch yet but will do very soon in the future. We were also horrified after eating store-bought chorizo. We were wondering why the texture and taste was different than when we used to have it in the past. Then we read the ingredients on the package and it was all glands, nodes and other non-flesh parts! Thank you for the recipe because we’re never going to buy it already prepared and packaged from a store.
Hi Kathleen, I know, it was definitely a turn-off for me too. I think you’ll really enjoy the flavor of this chorizo. Happy cooking!
This is a solid recipe. Made it, ate it, and enjoyed every bite. The subtle sweetness really balances out the other flavors. We also loved how the ancho chili shined in this recipe. We served this with warm corn tortillas, diced white onion, cilantro, and homemade salsa verde. I am looking forward to using some of the additional spices and measurements here to experiment with our own chorizo blend (which is very close to this one) to how it turns out. What I can say now is that this recipe is spot on with the 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt per pound of ground meat. This became our preferred salt-to-meat sausage making ratio after countless attempts. Thank you!
Fantastic, Stephen, thank you!
I am a volunteer teacher in rural Guatemala. The meat we have available here comes right off the animal carcass. There is nothing else added, so allowing the chorizo to sit in the frig for 3 days is not necessary. Is there any other reason to let it sit for 3 days? Some things are actually better in “poor developing” countries especially if one cannot live on Germany.
Gracias
Hi Anne, the purpose for letting it “age” in the fridge is to allow the flavors of the seasonings to fully develop and penetrate the meat.
I made this with 1+ lb. of ground chicken and cooked in some oil to sub for the lack of fat in the chicken. It was delicious! You have nailed the seasoning mix. I will be making this again, and I may never buy store-bought chorizo ever again!
Fantastic, Mary, thanks so much!