Turkey Chorizo Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is turkey chorizo made of? ›

Place turkey, vinegar, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, cumin, coriander, oregano, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Mix well using your hands. Refrigerate for best flavor, 8 hours to overnight.

Skip the Boiling

Some recipes might direct you to boil fresh chorizo before grilling it. However, when you boil chorizo, the fat melts, resulting in dry sausage. If you're grilling chorizo, you can rotate your links often to ensure they cook thoroughly. Doing this can help you enjoy more flavorful chorizo!

Plant-based variety of chorizo is beneficial for vegetarians and vegans, and are available in different types like mushroom, tofu, etc. These are the best alternatives for chorizos made of pork and other meat, also, they can even provide more health benefits.

It's Spicy

Mexican chorizo is typically seasoned with vinegar and chile peppers, while Spanish chorizo is made with garlic and pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika, either sweet or hot), which gives it its deep brick-red color and smoky flavor.

In the US, Mexican chorizo is typically the most widely available. Less expensive brands of Mexican chorizo are often made from finely ground and seasoned organ meat (spleen is a popular choice) and put into plastic casings from which you squeeze out the filling before cooking.

Mexican chorizo is generally a fresh sausage and is usually cooked like ground meat or other sausage links. Spanish chorizo, on the other hand, is a dried cured sausage with a completely different texture.

Traditional Spanish chorizo is a dry-cured sausage and doesn't require cooking before eating. However, if you're after a crispy, crunchy outside and soft but firm inside, pan frying is the way to go.

Cook over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes, turning links often. Reduce heat to medium-low. Carefully add ½ cup water to skillet. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until internal link temperature reaches 160°F.

Chorizo can be bought as a whole sausage of either soft cooking chorizo – which must be cooked before eating – or a firmer, drier cured sausage that can be sliced and eaten without cooking. It is also sold thinly sliced, like salami, to be enjoyed raw as tapas.

All You Need to Know About Chorizo: FAQs

Also, you should avoid these high-fat, high-sodium sausages if you have hypertension or a heart condition. Folks with with digestive problems should not eat overly spicy foods, either.

Why is Mexican chorizo so good? ›

The annatto seed is what often gives the sausage its red color, but in most Mexican varieties, it is local chiles that color the chorizo. It also gives it its distinguished spice. Vinegar is often added to many Mexican chorizos in order to achieve a tinge of tang and bright flavor.

Some of the cheapest commercial chorizos use offal stuffed in inedible plastic casing to resemble sausage links, rather than muscle meat. Before consumption, the casing is usually cut open and the sausage is fried in a pan and mashed with a fork until it resembles finely minced ground beef.

Use as a dip or spread on tortillas, tostadas, or bread. Topping: Top sopes, tostadas, nachos, or Mexican pizza. Refried beans: Stir into refried beans to eat as a side dish or as a spread for molletes or tortas. Stuffing: Combine with other ground meats and use to stuff a roasted turkey or other fowl.

Chorizo is a dry-cured pork sausage with a salty, smoky, slightly sweet flavour. Perfect in pasta, or paired with chicken in paella, and you can't beat a tomato and chorizo risotto or frittata.

Mould acts as a buffer against the outside air and makes sure salamis and chorizo dry at just the right speed. Without the mould there is a risk of the outside of the product drying too fast.

Chorizo is made with intestines, because it's a sausage and sausage is packed into pork casings, which are made from intestine. But chorizo is mostly comprised of highly seasoned ground pork. Whether it's fresh or dried and the particular recipe vary by chorizo-making tradition.

Generally, Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with garlic, pimentón – a smoked paprika – and salt. It can be classed as either picante (spicy) or dulce (sweet), depending upon the type of pimentón used.

“Our chorizo is 100 percent natural,” he says. “We use only the highest quality cuts of pork, which is the pork shoulder or Boston butt. We never include cereal or lesser cuts of meat like salivary glands or lymph nodes.”

The Cut. The bife de chorizo cut is entrecôte (which in French means between the ribs) and comes from the dorsal part of the cow, specifically the back part of the loin. After cutting it from the cow, bife de chorizo has a rib which the butcher or chef separates from the meat before cooking.