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How to Cook Chorizo?
Telling them apart
| Mexican chorizo | Spanish chorizo | |
|---|---|---|
| State | Raw — must be cooked | Cured — ready to eat |
| Texture | Soft, loose ground meat | Firm, sliceable salami-like |
| Seasoning | Vinegar and chilli | Smoked paprika (pimentón) |
| Casing | Often removed before cooking | Usually eaten with it |
| Found in | Refrigerated section | Deli or shelf-stable |
| Colour source | Chilli peppers | Smoked paprika |
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)
- Remove the casing — slit it lengthways and squeeze the meat out, or buy it in a tub.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add no oil — chorizo releases a great deal of its own fat.
- Add the chorizo and break it up with a wooden spoon.
- Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it's deep red-brown and crisping at the edges.
- It's done when there's no raw pink and the texture has firmed up.
- 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:
- Cook Mexican chorizo for 8–10 minutes until crisp.
- Drain most but not all of the fat.
- Lower the heat and pour in beaten eggs — about 2 eggs per 4 oz of chorizo.
- Stir gently until just set, roughly 2–3 minutes.
- Serve with tortillas, or in a breakfast burrito.
The eggs will take on an orange-red colour, which is exactly right.
Timing summary
| Type and method | Time |
|---|---|
| Mexican, loose in a skillet | 8–10 min |
| Mexican, in links | 12–15 min, turning |
| Spanish, sliced and fried | 4–6 min total |
| Spanish, diced into a stew | Added early, no separate cooking |
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.
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