Homemade Mexican chorizo is easy to make for spicy chorizo sausage that's loaded with lots of bold chili flavor, great for pork or beef, delicious.
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Recipe
We're making homemade Mexican Chorizo in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen, my friends, and it is fantastic! If you've never made homemade chorizo, it's time to start because I think you're going to love this recipe.
What is Chorizo?
Mexican chorizo is a spicy sausage used in many well known Mexican dishes. There are many different types of chorizo in the world, each varying from region to region.
Spanish-style chorizo is well known, though different in preparation, as it is a cured sausage, where Mexican style is more commonly served fresh, or uncured.
It's an incredibly versatile ingredient. You'll find it used to make tacos and burritos, breakfast tacos, mixed into scrambled eggs, topping for tostadas, and so much more.
You can find it in many grocery stores in the Mexican aisle. Store bought is great, and there are many brands available for you to try.
However, you'll fall in love with making your own as you can better control the overall flavor and texture of your sausage.
Let's talk about how to make Mexican chorizo, shall we?
Mexican Chorizo Ingredients
- Ground Pork. Ground or chopped pork is more traditionally used in most recipes. You can use other meats, like ground beef, chicken, turkey, even tofu, though pork remains the most popular.
- Paprika. I like smoked paprika or hot paprika, though any paprika will work.
- Cayenne.
- Ancho Powder. You can use rehydrated anchos, pureed, or freshly ground whole pods.
- Guajillo Powder. You can use rehydrated guajillos, pureed, or freshly ground whole pods.
- Garlic Powder. Fresh minced garlic is great, too.
- Cumin. I prefer to toast and grind my own cumin seeds for more pronounced flavor.
- Oregano.
- Coriander.
- Mexican Cinnamon.
- Ground Clove.
- Red Wine Vinegar.
- Salt and Pepper.
How to Make Mexican Chorizo - the Recipe Method
The Pork. Add the ground pork (or other grounds meats) to a large bowl.
The Seasonings. Add all of the seasonings and vinegar.
Hand Mix. Hand mix the ingredients into the meat until uniformly mixed. It gets its red color from all those spices.
Boom! Done! Your spicy Mexican sausage is ready to go! At this point you can package and freeze it, or you can cook it up and get to making all sorts of wonderful spicy recipes. What are you making?
How to Cook Chorizo
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.
Garnish and serve. Perfect for making chorizo tacos, burritos, Mexican tortas, adding to soups, stews, stuffed peppers, just about any of your favorite spicy foods.
Recipe Tips & Notes
Best Pork for Chorizo. Fatty pork is best for this recipe, like ground pork shoulder or pork leg, or a good 70/30 ground pork mixture.
You can use leaner pork for a lower calorie version, though you may sacrifice flavor.
Consider grinding your own pork to make your own special blend.
Other Meats. You can use other meats to make this recipe. Beef is particular popular, and fattier parts are more flavorful, but you can also make it with ground chicken, turkey, beef, and even tofu.
Green Chorizo. This is a version made with tomatillos, cilantro, chili peppers and garlic.
Other Seasonings. Recipes vary from cook to cook. Other popular ingredients I have seen include pork fat or lard, dried chiles, cinnamon, cloves, red peppercorns, onion, mustard powder, Mexican oregano, other chile powders, and others.
Storage Information
Store your uncooked Mexican chorizo rojo in the freezer in sealable freezer bags or containers. It will last months in the freezer.
I like to wrap mine in plastic in sausage shapes like they sell in stores. However, you can also flatten the meat into baggies to optimize your freezer space.
No casings are needed to enjoy it.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy my recipe. Let me know if you make it and how you spiced it up. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you.
Cookbook Recommendations
If you love traditional Mexican cooking, I love these cookbooks with recipes from all over Mexico. Definitely recommended.
- Mexico: The Cookbook (affiliate link, my friends!)
- Made in Mexico: The Cookbook, by Danny Mena (affiliate link, my friends!)
My Favorite Chorizo Recipes
Try Some of My Other Popular Mexican Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds ground pork fatty is best, or use ground beef or other ground meats
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoon ancho powder
- 1 tablespoon guajillo powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste (1 teaspoon each)
Instructions
- Add the ground pork (or other grounds meats) to a large mixing bowl.
- Add all of the seasonings and vinegar. Hand mix the ingredients into the meat until uniformly mixed.
- Store until ready to use or cook immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 9/30/22 to include new information and video. It was originally published on 10/13/21.
Shannon (Shayne) Halsey says
Excellent recipes! I've made this two times now and everyone loves it.
Mike Hultquist says
Boom! I love to hear this, Shannon! It's a favorite here as well. Cheers!!
Scott Swanbery says
Haven't had much luck making GOOD chorizo at home. We usually pick up 10 lbs at a time of good chorizo when we are near the border (we live in Phoenix area of AZ). The local store (carnacerias) bought chorizo here is not any better than I can already make at home. So I am looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks Mike !!!
Mike Hultquist says
I hope you like it, Scott. You may need a bit of experimentation to get the right blend of spices and consistency you prefer, but once you nail it down, it's massively worth it. Thanks.
Ingrid Hanson says
Mike, this chorizo is sooo delicious! I'll have a good supply of this stashed in the freezer all the time now. I didn't have cayenne on hand, so doubled the guajillo (freshly ground and pretty zippy), and used smoked paprika. Everything else was exactly as the recipe called for. I made it especially to go in your 3-bean chili recipe. I hope there's enough of that pound left, as it was so good that I kept taking bites while it was cooling before freezing. BTW, I'm growing about 90 chile plants (from seed), so will hopefully have loads of them to try in a number of your really great recipes. Thanks again for such an outstanding recipe, Mike!
Mike Hultquist says
This is so great to hear, Ingrid!! Thanks for sharing! I love to hear it, and hope you enjoyed the chili, too!
Walt Ell says
I would like to stuff this into a casing. Would you change anything ( ingredients o amount) in order to do so?
Thanks walt
Mike Hultquist says
You shouldn't have an issue with stuffing this into a casing, Walt. I do have a post you can refer to here - Grinding Meat With A Meat Grinder (https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/cooking-with-chili-peppers/grinding-meat-with-a-meat-grinder-the-why-and-the-how/)
jamie parisi says
Hi Mike,
Love the recipes. I have have dried peppers for this how many to use in a 4.5 pound batch. If I just grind up the peppers after toasting them would this be ok?
Im guess about 2 of each should the trick
Mike Hultquist says
Hey, Jamie. I have a post you can refer to here - Chili Pepper Measurement Conversions (https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/frequently-asked-questions/conversions/). Let me know if this helps. And yes, you can grind them after toasting them, but make sure they are not too pliable from the toasting.
Elissa says
This was so delicious and the family was so impressed, thank you!
Mike Hultquist says
Great! Glad you all enjoyed it, Elissa! Thanks!
Mario VanWiechen says
just made this chorizo.
used some of it to make a burger, so so good, lots of heat
thanks for the recipe
Mike H. says
You are very welcome, Mario - enjoy!
Chuck says
Very good 10/10
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Chuck!
Liz says
for the ancho powder and guajillo powder you say rehydrate and puree if you don’t have any. do the amounts stay the same ? i want to make this tonight !
Mike H. says
Liz, the amounts generally stay the same, but it's essential to taste as you go and adjust according to your preference since the intensity of flavor can vary between fresh and rehydrated peppers. Let me know how it goes and enjoy the recipe!
Sue says
Excellent flavour.
Mike H. says
Thank you, Sue - enjoy!
Doug Doty says
i can't wait to make this as good chorizo isn't available in my area anymore.
When I do, I'm going to make your Spicy Chorizo Chili recipe.
I love chili and chorizo but have never had chorizo chili. Now that's going to change.
Thanks for all of your great recipes!
Mike H. says
Thank you, Doug, I am really excited for you. Let me know how it goes!
Angie says
How can select only 1lb of pork instead of 1.5 lbs of pork on this website. Hovering or clicking on the scale here does not work. Thanks!
Mike Hultquist says
Angie, hover over the "servings" number and a slider appears. Drag it to 4 servings for 1 pound pork. Enjoy!
Angie says
Awesome, it works! Thank you! Math aint my thang! LoL!
Angie says
Spoke too soon. Now the measurements are all weird. I’ll do my best… Wish the standard recipe was for just 1lb, that would be way easier to convert.
Mike Hultquist says
Angie, it's easier with 1.5 pounds. Try doubling it, then you can freeze what you don't use for later. Cheers.
sara says
Hi I cannot get the ancho or guajillo powder... can I use regular or chipotle chilli powder or should I just leave it out? Thanks.
Mike Hultquist says
Sarah, yes, you can use chili powder for this. An American blend will give you fairly close flavors. You can also include chipotle chili powder for a nice smoky addition. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Sara says
Great. It was delicious thank-you! I did only half tsp cayenne and half tsp black pepper b4 tasting and that was a good heat for us. I think a tblsp would have blown my head off... I wonder if mine is extra hot or we are just wimps.
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Sara. Yes, cayenne is quite hot compared to ancho and guajillo, but glad you adjusted to your personal taste. Best way!
Bob Hardy says
Try Spices on the web
Andy says
Sara, I found those spices on Amazon - delivered the next day, fyi.
Jay says
Will the vinegar cook the meat?
Mike Hultquist says
No, it's only for flavor, and only a bit is used.
Andrea says
I love this recipe. My hubby and I can never find good flavored chorizo in the stores and never liked the fact that it was 50% fat. You would think living in Texas you could find something decent, but the last time I found good chorizo in the store was in San Diego, CA.
The first time we made it, it was very lean because we were using left over lean ground pork, but the next time we added a little more fat content to it and it was perfect. We gave some to my son and daughter-in-law and they loved it as well.
Thank you for making this available.
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Thanks, Andrea. Yes, I love that we can use as much fat content as we want.
SA, TX says
you're not living on the right side of Texas if you can't find Chorizo.
San Luis is the best. Driving to an H.E B. might give you more options too.
next time you visit San Antonio, just load up and freeze the extra
thanks to the author for the recipe, never tried to make my own but I will give it a try for fun
Candi says
I am on weight watchers so I cut up 1.5 pounds of chicken breast and seasoned it. Let it rest in the refrigerator for a few hours then ground it up. The flavor was amazing but heart healthy. Thanks for this recipe
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! So good with chicken! Thanks, Candi. Try it with lean ground turkey as well.
Jon says
Although I have not tried yours (I will) I have a couple the I use quite a bit. We are currently living in Mazatlan and most of the commercial stuff here is ground too fine and lacks much spice. . There are some markets where good stuff can be found.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Jon. I'm sure you'll be able to get some great quality chorizo there.
Kozmo says
Mike, I'm I just started collecting ground peppers for this. You ever try merguez? I just learned about it. It's a spicy North African sausage. I'd love to see a recipe for lamb merguez.
Mike Hultquist says
I have, Kozmo! I love it. Yes, I should do a series of spicy sausage making.
cfbcfb says
It's pretty darn good. Theres a place near me that does charcuterie and one of the things she makes is lamb merguez. Delicious.
Rusty Zimmerman says
Mike, I have some enchilada sauce left over can I use it to season the chorizo
Mike Hultquist says
Rusty, that would actually work quite nicely. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Rusty Zimmerman says
Mike The chorizo is excellent, I used your recipe for red enchilada sauce, and added 2 tomato,Mexican oregano when I made the sauce. 2 cups of red enchilada sauce to 4# of ground pork
Mike Hultquist says
Great to hear, Rusty! Very nice!!!
Robin says
This is the 3rd time I’ve made this delicious chorizo! I’ve tried so many recipes over the years and this knocks it out of the park, nothing beats it! No changes necessary. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding! Glad you like it, Robin. I swear by this recipe!