DIY Yummy Chorizo (Mexican Sausage)
Submitted by scarlett
DIY Mexican chorizo sausage made from ground pork, dried red chile, garlic, cinnamon, Mexican oregano, and a splash of tequila. Stuffed into casings or kept bulk, the homemade version beats the supermarket tube every time.
YIELD
20 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
40 minREADY
50 minHomemade Mexican chorizo is a different animal from the Spanish version: fresh, soft, and bright red from dried chile rather than smoked paprika. Ground pork and pork fat get mixed with quartered onions, plenty of garlic, apple cider vinegar, tequila, and a deep red dust of ground dried chile. Cinnamon and Mexican oregano are the surprising aromatic notes that round out the flavor and set it apart from any other fresh sausage.
The tequila is optional but it pulls everything together. Its grassy agave character cuts through the richness of the fat and gives the sausage a faintly herbal back note. The mixture needs at least 8 hours in the fridge to ripen, letting the chile soak into the meat and the spices marry into a single flavor rather than separate notes. Stuff into casings for traditional links, or shape into bulk for tacos, breakfast scrambles, and burritos.
Pro Tips
- Clean the casings thoroughly with vinegar before stuffing. Any residue throws off the flavor of the finished sausage.
- Grind the pork and fat together on the coarse setting. Too fine and the texture turns pasty rather than meaty.
- Adjust the chile heat to your tolerance. Start with mild on the first batch, then build up once you know how it eats.
- Let the mixture ripen at least 8 hours before using. The chile flavor deepens noticeably as it sits.
- Mold bulk chorizo into half-pound pucks separated by foil before freezing. Easier to thaw exactly what you need.
Variations
- Skip the tequila for a more traditional Mexican-only version with no spirits.
- Add ground coriander seed and a touch of clove for more aggressive spicing.
- Use a mix of ancho, guajillo, and chipotle powders in place of a single ground chile for layered chile complexity.
Ingredients
Directions
Clean the casings, rinse well with water, then pour vinegar Set aside.
Use a food processor or the coarse blade of a meat grinder, Add the onions, garlic, vinegar, tequila and seasonings, using the hotness of chile powder your family and guests will prefer.
Stuff the casings. First cut the casings into 3-ft lengths and tie one end together.
Use either a funnel or filling tube to fill the lengths.
Tie at about 4-inch intervals with heavy thread.
Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Set on the counter for about 2 hours, then refrigerate.
After a day, freeze what you will not use within a week or two.
Mixture should ripen for at least 8 hours before using.
Notes: If you have no food processor or grinder, buy triple ground pork. Prepare the recipe once and taste for the mildness or hotness of the ground red chile.
Adjust to suit your taste for the next time you make sausage.
Freezing hints: Mold the sausage into ½-pound lumps and freeze between pieces of foil inside a heavy plastic bag.
Maximum recommended freezer storage: 3 months.
Makes 20 sausages or 2 ⅔ pounds bulk sausage.
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