How to Cook Chorizo?

First work out which chorizo you have, because the two types are completely different. Mexican chorizo is raw ground meat that must be cooked through. Spanish chorizo is cured and ready to eat straight from the packet. Cooking one as if it were the other is the main thing that goes wrong here.

Telling them apart:

If it's soft enough to squeeze out of its casing, it's Mexican and it's raw. If it slices like salami, it's Spanish and it's cured.

Cooking Mexican chorizo (the raw kind):

1. Remove the casing — slit it lengthways and squeeze the meat out, or buy it in a tub.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add no oil — chorizo releases a great deal of its own fat.
3. Add the chorizo and break it up with a wooden spoon.
4. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it's deep red-brown and crisping at the edges.
5. It's done when there's no raw pink and the texture has firmed up.
6. Drain off excess grease if you like, though many recipes use it.

Medium heat matters — chorizo has a lot of paprika and chilli, which scorch and turn bitter over high heat.

Cooking Spanish chorizo (the cured kind): it needs no cooking at all, but heating it improves it.

• Sliced and pan-fried: cut into coins and fry 2–3 minutes a side until the edges curl and the fat renders orange. Excellent with eggs or potatoes.
• Diced into a dish: add early so its paprika oil flavours everything — this is the basis of paella, stews and lentil dishes.
• Straight from the packet: slice thinly and serve as a tapa with bread, cheese and olives.

That rendered orange fat is the point of Spanish chorizo. Don't drain it away; cook onions or potatoes in it.

Chorizo and eggs — the most common way people cook it:

1. Cook Mexican chorizo for 8–10 minutes until crisp.
2. Drain most but not all of the fat.
3. Lower the heat and pour in beaten eggs — about 2 eggs per 4 oz of chorizo.
4. Stir gently until just set, roughly 2–3 minutes.
5. Serve with tortillas, or in a breakfast burrito.

The eggs will take on an orange-red colour, which is exactly right.

Timing summary:

Other methods for Mexican chorizo:

• Oven: 400°F for 15–20 minutes on a lined tray, stirring once.
• Air fryer: 375°F for 8–10 minutes, shaking halfway.
• Grill (links): medium heat, 12–15 minutes, turning often.

Is it done? Mexican chorizo should reach 160°F (71°C) for pork, or 165°F for chicken or turkey chorizo. Visually: deep brick red-brown, crisp at the edges, no soft pink meat, and the fat has run clear and orange.

Common mistakes:

• Adding oil. Chorizo makes plenty of its own.
• Cooking Mexican chorizo too hot, which burns the spices.
• Not breaking it up enough, leaving raw centres in the clumps.
• Trying to slice Mexican chorizo like salami — it won't hold together.
• Draining away all the Spanish chorizo fat, which is where the flavour lives.

Storage: raw Mexican chorizo keeps about 1 week in the fridge unopened, or 2–3 days once opened, and freezes for 2–3 months. Cured Spanish chorizo keeps for weeks unopened and often doesn't need refrigeration until cut; once cut, wrap it and refrigerate.

Other varieties you may meet: soy or plant-based chorizo cooks like the Mexican kind but needs a little oil, since it renders no fat. Portuguese chouriço is closer to the Spanish style. Argentinian chorizo is a fresh sausage grilled whole, most familiar as the filling of a choripán.