Preparing Mexican Chorizo at Home ~ Three Tested Recipes

Spicy Pork Chorizo Prepared with Dry Spices Recipe. This is a third variation to preparing a Mexican style chorizo. After preparing homemade Mexican style chorizo a couple of times before, I was in search of an easier recipe. I love the other recipes I prepared, but because of my bad wrist and arm, I was avoiding the straining of the chorizo part of the recipe. I just wanted to find a way to mix all my ingredients together and be done with it, ha ,ha ,ha!! I still took the time to actually toast my dried chiles to prepare my own chile powder instead of using store bought. And I also took the time to toast my whole spices and grind them. If you have never tried toasting and grinding your own, you really should. There is nothing like it to make your dishes stand out from the rest! This blog has a collection of three chorizo recipes I tested and have to say enjoyed every one of them. Speaking for myself, the best Mexican breakfast always starts with chorizo!

Chorizo con Huevo prepared with homemade pork chorizo

Ingredients for Chorizo

4 chile ancho
4 chile New Mexico or guajillo
6 to 10 chile de arbol
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
11/2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
1/2 tablespoon peppercorns
4 whole cloves
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons annatto powder
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 pounds ground pork
* I added another 1/2 tablespoon of crushed oregano once it was all mixed.

Tips~ If you cannot find the dried chiles in your area, find a good quality chile ancho powder, hot chile powder and mild red chile powder to substitute for the dry. 4 tablespoons chile ancho, 4 tablespoons mild red chile powder and 1 teaspoon of hot chile powder. Follow recipe as directed for toasting the other spices.

Chiles ancho, guajillo and arbol combine with spices like oregano, corinader, peppercorns, cumin seeds and cloves

Toasted chiles and spices cooling before being ground up for chorizo

Freshly ground toasted chiles and spices for preparing chorizo

Directions 

1. In a pan, on low/medium heat, toast the chile ancho, new mexico or guajillo and chile de arbol for a few minutes. Don’t let them burn, just until they become aromatic and dry out a little more. Remove from heat and let them cool.

2. In that same pan on low/medium heat, toast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, peppercorns and cloves until they become aromatic. Remove from heat.

3. Tear the peppers into smaller pieces. In batches, grind all the toasted peppers and toasted spices to a powder form, mix together.

4. In a large bowl, combine the ground spice mix with remaining spices, ground pork and vinegar. Mix well until spices are distributed evenly. Cook a small portion of the chorizo to check for seasoning. Add seasoning to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Mexican style chorizo after marinating overnight with all of the spices and vinegar

I found these inexpensive storage containers at a restuarant suply store. Work great for freezing the chorizo.

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. 

Don’t forget to prepare a few homemade flour tortillas for your homemade chorizo con huevo

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.

Chorizo con Huevo, the ultimate Mexican breakfast taco!

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 ans I enjoyed it much more than the first recipe.

Rustic Homemade Pork Chorizo

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.