Making your own Mexican chorizo might be a daunting task for some, but once you make it, you'll realize it was worth it and how easy it really is!
After several years of looking for a good authentic Mexican chorizo (Chorizo Mexicano) at Latin food stores and having no luck, I decided to make my own homemade Mexican chorizo.
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I'll admit, it wasn't easy at the beginning. The idea of preparing all the chorizo ingredients and stuffing the meat into the casings seemed unattractive and messy.
But in the end, it wasn't that bad, and I ended up with a juicy batch of Mexican chorizo!
Frequently Asked Questions About Chorizo Mexicano
Before I share my chorizo recipe, here are a few questions I've been asked about homemade chorizo. Believe me, you will love this recipe, is the traditional way to make it in Mexico. This recipe is great if you want to make Chorizo for sale.
What is chorizo?
Chorizo (also known as Spanish sausage or Mexican sausage) is a delicious and unique type of sausage that was brought to Latin America from Europe. It has its origins in what today are the countries of Spain and Portugal.
What is Mexican chorizo made of?
Mexican chorizo is commonly made with fresh ground pork, pork fat, a mix of herbs and/or spices, chile peppers (for both flavor and color), and vinegar. The finished product is usually stuffed into short links or casings. This type of chorizo is usually “aged”, anywhere from one day to a week.
Even though pork and beef are the meats typically used to prepare chorizo, chicken versions exist in México as well. There also used to be some exotic versions made from iguana or even ostrich meat.
It's worth mentioning the importance that the casing has when making chorizo. Some chorizo recipes only mix the meat with the rest of the ingredients, but in order for the flavors to reach their full potential, it's preferable that the chorizo be cured in its casing for 1 or 2 days.
Is Chorizo Easy to Make?
Making a truly authentic chorizo requires time and preparation. I have seen many recipes online that claim to be easy, but that is only because they use powdered spices and store-bought mixes to make it. While those recipes might still taste ok, nothing can compare to making chorizo the proper way, using dried peppers and freshly-ground spices. I promise it will be worth your time and effort!
Is Mexican chorizo spicy?
It really comes down to what you think is spicy. Between the white vinegar and the guajillo and ancho peppers added to the mix, I will say it does have a nice kick to it, but I think it just adds to the flavor of the chorizo. If you really want it to be spicy you will need to add a couple of Arbol peppers to the mix.
What is the difference between Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo?
Although Spanish chorizo and Mexican chorizo share a name, and both are sausages, there are many distinct differences between the two.
I will say that both the Mexican and Spanish versions of chorizo are made in a wide array of regional and cultural varieties–all of them delicious. Since Chorizo is a vast culinary topic, we attempt to provide a basic description here that applies to the most common types of chorizo.
However, when it comes down to the differences, Mexican chorizo includes dried peppers, as well as other spices like Mexican oregano. It is soft in texture, and is usually not smoked like some of the chorizos from Spain.
Chorizo from Spain and Portugal is commonly made with pork meat, though beef is not unusual as well. Its ingredients include:
- Smoked paprika
- Herbs
- Garlic
- White wine
The mix is stuffed into natural or artificial casings (ranging from short to really long links), fermented, and slowly smoked. The smoking helps to preserve the meat, and contributes greatly to the chorizo’s aroma and flavor. The final product is then air cured for several, if not many, weeks.
So, not too different from Mexican chorizo, but just enough to have distinct flavors and textures.
What Can I Use To Stuff The Sausage Casings?
I started using a small funnel, and then found a large one and trimmed the tip (to widen the opening to about ½ inch) to make it easier to work it. I will say that the stuffing process is faster if you have a Kitchen Aid with the sausage stuffer attachment.
Recipe For Chorizo Mexicano
If you are worried about finding the ingredients necessary to make this recipe, don't be. Nowadays, it's actually so much easier to find everything you need at your local Latin grocery stores and markets.
For this recipe, you will probably end up with about 20 3-inch chorizo links.
Here is a list of ingredients you will need:
- Ground pork
- Ground pork belly fat
- Salt
- Guajillo peppers
- Ancho peppers
- White vinegar
- Paprika
- Garlic cloves
- Bay leaves
- Ground black pepper
- Ground cumin, freshly ground is better
- Mexican oregano
- Dry marjoram
- Coriander seeds
- Dried thyme
- Whole cloves
- Ground allspice
- Enough butcher’s twine or corn husks to tie the chorizos
- Sausage casings
Please note: For exact measurements of the ingredients listed above, scroll down to the recipe card located at the bottom of this post!
How To Make Chorizo: Step By Step Tutorial
To make things easier for you, I am going to breakdown the directions of this recipe into sections.
Prepping The Chorizo Mixture
- Before cooking, make sure to clean and wipe down the guajillo and ancho peppers.
- Remove the stems and cut them lengthwise.
- Scoop out the seeds and place the peppers in a bowl.
- Cover with hot water to soak.
- Meanwhile, grind the spices and dry herbs using a spice grinder.
- Drain the peppers and add them to a blender.
- Add the vinegar and garlic cloves and puree until smooth.
- Place the pork meat and fat in a large bowl. Add the ground mixture of herbs and spices and mix well. Add the chili sauce and combine it until everything well mixed.
- Place the chorizo mixture in your refrigerator for about a day in a well-covered glass container to allow everything to come together.
- After a day, stir the mixture and wrap them up in small packages. This is freezer friendly for several months or you can follow the next set of instructions to make your own chorizo links.
How To Make Chorizo: Step By Step Tutorial
To make things easier for you, I am going to breakdown the directions to this recipe into sections.
Prepping The Chorizo Mixture
- Before cooking, make sure to clean and wipe down the guajillo and ancho peppers.
- Remove the stems and cut them lengthwise.
- Scoop out the seeds and place them in a bowl.
- Cover with hot water.
- Meanwhile, grind the spices and dry herbs using a spice grinder.
- Drain the peppers and add them to a blender.
- Add the vinegar and garlic cloves and puree until smooth.
- Place the pork meat and fat in a large bowl. Add the ground mixture of herbs and spices and mix well. Add the chili sauce and combine it until everything well mixed.
- Place the chorizo mixture in your refrigerator for about a day in a well-covered glass container to allow everything to come together.
- After a day, stir the mixture and wrap them up in small packages. This is freezer friendly for several months or you can follow the next set of instructions to make your own chorizo links.
Stuff The Chorizo Mixture Into The Sausage Casings
- Soak the casings in warm water until soft and pliable for at least 1 hour.
- Run lukewarm water through the casings to remove any salt.
- Tie a double knot in one end of the casing, and then cut off a length of casing.
- Gather all but a couple of inches of the casing over the nozzle of the sausage stuffer or funnel.
- Start pressing the sausage mixture through, supporting the casing with your other hand.
- Pack the sausage as tight as you can, but not to the point of bursting. When you have filled almost all the casing, slip the casing off of the nozzle.
Make Coiled Sausage Links
- For a coil, tie the sausage where the stuffing ends.
- Place the sausage on a clean table and start to make links.
- Pinch the rope into links and twist in alternating directions at the indentations.
- Using butcher’s twine or corn husks, tie the rope of sausage at intervals.
- Randomly pick the casings with a thin toothpick or the tines of a fork to release any air that’s trapped.
- Hang the chorizo for a day in a dry room free of dust or insects.
Now, your chorizo is ready!
How To Store Mexican Chorizo
If you don't plan to cook or smoke the chorizo, there are a few different ways you can store the Mexican chorizo.
- You can store the prepped chorizo Mexicano in an airtight sealed storage bag or container. Label the packaging with the date and leave it in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
- Use your food saver if you plan to freeze it. You can store uncured chorizo links for up to 12 months in the freezer.
What To Make With Chorizo Mexicano
There are many recipes using Mexican Chorizo, even on my site!
You can make a batch of:
You can also add some chorizo to this Frijoles Charros Cowboy Beans Soup and Tinga Poblana.
More Meat Recipes To Enjoy
If you enjoyed this recipe for Mexican chorizo, take a look at some of these other authentic Mexican recipes:
I hope you make this recipe for Mexican Chorizo! If this recipe was of any help to you, come back to let me know your experience. Please leave us a comment done below and tell us all about it!
¡Buen provecho!
Mely
📖 Recipe
Mexican Chorizo
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground pork
- 6 ounces ground pork belly fat
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 8 guajillo peppers
- 6 ancho peppers
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 2 bay leaves
- ⅓ tablespoon ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
- ¾ tablespoon Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon dry marjoram
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 6 whole cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- Enough butcher’s twine or corn husks to tie the chorizos
- Sausage casings
Instructions
- Wipe the peppers clean. Remove stems and cut lengthwise. Remove seeds and place in a bowl. Cover with hot water and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, grind the spices and dry herbs using a spice grinder.
- Discard water and place the peppers in a blender. Add the vinegar and garlic cloves and puree until smooth; set aside.
- Place the pork meat and fat in a large bowl. Add the ground mixture of herbs and spices. Mix well. Add the chili sauce and combine until well mixed.
- Place in your refrigerator for a day to season in a well-covered glass container. This step will enhance the flavor.
- After a day, stir the mixture and wrap it in small packages, it will freeze well for months. It can also be stuffed into casings.
HOW TO STUFF THE CHORIZO INTO THE CASINGS:
- Soak the casings in warm water until soft and pliable, at least 1 hour.
- Run lukewarm water through the casings to remove any salt.
- Below are the casings and corn husks strips after 1 hour of soaking in warm water, the funnel, and the chorizo mixture.
- Tie a double knot in one end of the casing, and then cut off a length of casing. Gather all but a couple of inches of the casing over the nozzle of the sausage stuffer or funnel.
- Start pressing the sausage mixture through, supporting the casing with your other hand. Pack the sausage as tight as you can, but not to the point of bursting. When you have filled almost all the casing (or used up all the stuffing), slip the casing of the nozzle.
- For a coil, tie the sausage where the stuffing ends.
- Place the sausage on a clean table and start to make links.
- Pinch the rope into links and twist in alternating directions at the indentations. Using butcher’s twine or corn husks tie the rope of sausage at intervals.
- Randomly pick the casings with a thin toothpick or the tines of a fork to release any air that’s trapped.
- Hang the chorizo Mexicano for a day in a dry room free of dust or insects. If you wish you can cover it with a cheesecloth. This step will help to cure the meat. Some of the vinegar will drip at this stage.
Lucas G.
Would it be acceptable to skip the vinegar and maybe use something like apple juice or a mexican beer for liquid, use curing salt in place of table salt, and smoke the sausage to cure it immediately after stuffing into casing?
Mely Martínez
Hello Lucas,
Apple juice will make it sweet and won't help to cure the meat.
Curing salt sounds good.
Tyler
Hi Mely,
I am trying to make this recipe using home-ground venison. I am making a 7 pound batch (tripling the recipe) and am questioning the number of dried chiles to be utilized, as it calls for 2 dozed guajillo and 18 ancho. It also calls for 3 cups of white vinegar which seems like a lot. Could you offer any insight into this? I am not planning on stuffing into casings but instead vacuum sealing into 1 pound portions once finished.
Mely Martínez
Hello Tyler,
For that amount of meat, I will use about 15 guajillo peppers, and 10 ancho peppers. 1-3/4 cup of vinegar will be enough. Just make sure you add enough fat to preserve the chorizo.
Ardiana Xhafa
Love Mely!!!
Juan A. Bañuelos
Great Chorizo recipe! Love the authentic flavors. It took me a while to get all the meat inside the tripe but it was worth it. It taste amazing, like I remember growing up in Mexico.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
John Grant
I worry about leaving raw pork out. Is there a danger of spoiling. Usually air dried sausage use curing salt. I'm just concerned. Should I be?
Mely Martínez
Hello John,
I usually leave it in the kitchen, but we have the AC on.
The vinegar and salt will help cure the meat.
Cyndy G
Mely, if I can't find pork belly fat, can I use manteca in it's place? Or is there something better than the lard? Thanks!
Mely Martínez
Hello Cindy,
It is better to use a portion of meat with a higher fat content in case you do not find pork belly fat, instead of lard. Lard is already cooked and I'm not sure it will not render a good flavor.
Devin
Delicious. Made as written, except doubled the vinegar. I will be making this again and again
Kyle
I live in Asia and can’t find Mexican Chorizo anywhere, so I had to give this a try. OMG! It’s perfect and exactly what I want my chorizo to taste and look like. I doubled the ingredients and followed the directions exactly. I’m quite happy.
Mely Martínez
Hello Kyle,
Thank you for trying the recipe. I'm so glad you were able to replicate the recipe. Happy cooking!
Nic
Does this recipe use dried or fresh peppers?
Mely Martínez
Hello Nic,
Dried peppers, if you can find them at Latin Stores, check in Amazon. Happy cooking!
Fred Johnson
Dear Mely,
Have you considered using curing salt #1 (pink curing salt), which contains 6.25% sodium nitrite, in place of regular salt? Would this helpful to ensure safe curing?
Mely Martínez
Hello Fred,
Since this is a home-style recipe, the ingredients listed are for the regular home cook. Curing salt is used by people that make the chorizo for commercial purposes in my country. But, you are welcome to use it for your own chorizo making process. I know, it also gives a nice color to the meat.
Happy cooking!
Tom
I made this chorizo and it is very good. After letting the chorizo mixture marinate in the refrigerator overnight I cook the whole batch in my cast iron skillet and make sure it gets crumbled up. When done I put it on a cookie sheet for about 1/2 hour or so in the freezer to firm it up a little. I then put it into a large freezer bag. This makes for an easy way to make any chorizo recipe easier since the meat is already cooked and especially for my chorizo and scrambled eggs with tortillas for breakfast.
Mely Martínez
Hello Tom,
Thank you for sharing this great tip, I know many people will find it useful, including myself. Happy cooking!
Jason
Hi Mely,
Thanks so much for putting this recipe up. I live in San Jose, and grew up eating lots of chorizo. After being diagnosed Celiac, I have been forced to make most of my own food, especially with cross contamination concerns. Unfortunately, this means I can't really pick up premade chorizo from the carniceria's near me anymore.
I am planning to make a small batch to be used on the day that it is made. Would I still need to add a little vinegar if I don't plan on curing the meat at all? If so, how much would you recommend for 1 lb of ground pork?
Do you think it would still taste better than store bought if I skip the curing process?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Mely Martínez
Hello Jason,
Add at least 4 tbsp of vinegar, and yes, it will taste really good. You can play around with the spices if you want.
Jason
Thanks for the quick reply Mely...I will be sure to give an update on how it turned out. Take care.
Terri
I love you blog. I look at blogs and recipes constantly. Many I’m scrolling through for the recipe. Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be back to your blog.
Linda
Why do you need to add vinegar to the chorizo. I made it once but it called for apple cider vinegar and it tasted awful. I used the correct amount of vinegar but it was overpowering .
Mely Martínez
Hello Linda,
The vinegar is added to cure the pork meat. Otherwise, your chorizo will get spoil, which is the purpose of vinegar to cure the meat. You also need to hang the chorizo to finish the curing process, in that process, as I explain in this post, it will also drip any excess liquid (including the vinegar and its flavor. If you did not hang it, and to just place it in the fridge, it is just pork meat with spices and vinegar.
Anon
If you hang the chorizo, how will it drip the excess liquid as it is sealed in the casing?
Mely Martínez
Hello Anon,
I usually place a try underneath.