Preparing Mexican Chorizo at Home ~ Three Tested Recipes

Tips~ The next day, I froze my chorizo in 1/2 cup portions. Will keep in freezer for 3 months. Make sure you date and label it. 

Chorizo Con Huevo Recipe 

Olive oil
1/3 cup white onion, diced
1 jalapeño or serrano, minced
1/2 cup uncooked mexican chorizo
6 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and jalapeño and saute for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat slightly and cook the chorizo another 5 to 6 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to crumble the chorizo as it cooks.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together with 1/4 cup of milk or cream. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour into skillet with chorizo. Turn heat down and continue to cook, moving gently with spatula until eggs are set. Serve with flour or corn tortillas. Garnish with grated or crumbled Mexican cheese and fresh salsa. Yields 4 servings.

My First Homemade Mexican Chorizo Recipe.  Soon after returning from my month long trip to Monterrey, Mexico to visit with familia, I had to try to prepare my first batch of homemade chorizo. I enjoyed this batch, but now that I look back on it, I think I should have used less vinegar and a more coarse grind on the pork meat. Still very tasty, but like all first time recipes it’s trial and error…..there can always be room for improvement. 

Mexican Chorizo

2 pounds ground pork
2 cups white vinegar
Salt
5 chile ancho
5 chile california
Water
4 tablespoons freshly ground cumin
2 tablespoons freshly ground oregano
2 tablespoon crushed jalapeno or red pepper flakes

1. In a large glass bowl, mix 2 cups of white vinegar w/ 1/3 cup of Kosher salt, stir well to dissolve. Taste for salt and add 1 tablespoon at a time until vinegar is not too tart. Add the pork to the vinegar, mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.

2. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles. In a medium pot filled with water cook the chiles until they get soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir them every now and then. Drain the peppers and transfer to a blender. Start by adding about 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the blender, blend until smooth. If you have trouble w/ it blending, add a little more water. Pepper puree’ must be strained thru/ a wire mesh strainer, set aside.

3. Once the pork has been in for at least 24 hours, remove from bowl and strain as much of the liquid from the pork with a fine wire mesh strainer.

4. Combine the pork, spices and chile puree’, stir well to combine. Now at this time, you could store the chorizo in 4oz. or 8oz. containers or in small freezer bags. Take it out and use as much as you like. When I cooked it, I added a little canola oil, because the pork was pretty lean.

Note: The original recipe from Mexico calls for pork, chopped fine, but not ground. I chose to use the ground, just easier for me.

My Second Chorizo Recipe~ Rustic and Spicy Homemade Chorizo. This recipe was my second attempt at preparing chorizo. It was truly a labor of love, lol! I sliced all the meat by hand until I achieved the coarse chop I was looking for. I also bumped up the heat level on this recipe. Again, it was very tasty and I enjoyed it much more than the first recipe.

Rustic Homemade Pork Chorizo (Chopped Pork)

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds pork country style ribs, boneless
2 1/2 cups white distilled vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons salt
5 chile ancho
5 chile California, New Mexico or guajillos
10 chile de arbol
1/8 cup dried chile pequin
1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/3 cup water

Directions

1. Finely chop the pork or use a meat grinder to obtain a coarse chop. Mix the vinegar and salt and stir well until salt is dissolved. Add the pork to glass bowl and cover it with the vinegar and salt mixture. Stir well to combine, cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 24 to 30 hours.

2. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles. Transfer them to a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. remove from heat and let cool slightly.

3. Drain the chiles and transfer to the blender. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the blender. Blend until smooth. You don’t really have to add more salt because the pork will be salty.

4. After 24 hours, strain the pork through a fine wire strainer and push out as much of the liquid as possible. Transfer to a bowl and add the chile sauce to the pork. Stir well to combine, cover and refrigerate overnight.

5. The next day, you can divide your chorizo into 1/2 portions and freeze for later use. The chorizo will develop more flavor as time goes by. It will not have as much fat as store bought chorizo, so you may need to add just a touch of oil when you cook it. It will release some liquid when you first cook it. I just let the liquid evaporate, then add a touch of oil to brown up nicely. Yields up to 4 cups, more or less.