Homemade Fresh Chorizo Sausage is so delicious and simple to make, you’ll never buy the pre-made version again! Use in recipes for quick and easy meals. For added convenience, make up a big batch, separate into smaller portions, and store in the freezer for up to 4 months.
What is fresh chorizo sausage?
Fresh chorizo is a raw Mexican style pork sausage that can be used in a variety of quick and easy recipes. Sometimes I’ll stuff the fresh sausage mixture in casings when we want to grill them, but most of the time, I just leave the mixture loose and fry it in a pan to use in recipes.
By the way, these photos are of the chorizo sausage raw, not cooked. It’s easy to see how all the seasonings in Mexican chorizo contribute to it’s beautiful color and intense, delicious flavor.
What’s the difference between Mexican chorizo, Spanish chorizo, and Portuguese chouriço?
Mexican chorizo is fresh and uncooked ground pork (or sometimes beef) flavored with chilies, garlic, and paprika. The ground meat is available either loose or in a casing. Spanish chorizo and Portuguese chouriço are both made with pork, garlic, and spices, but are cured in a casing. Spanish chorizo is made with white wine and heavy on smoked paprika and chourico is made with less parprika, more garlic, and a Portuguese red wine. Both of the sausages can be eaten as-is or lightly fried or grilled to just heat through.
Speaking of Portuguese chouriço, I am lucky enough to live close to an unbelievable Portuguese grocery store, Silva’s Mini Market. It’s owned and operated by the same family for over 30 years and they make their own chouriço sausage and carne de vinha d’alhos. Both are marinated in a wine, garlic, and paprika mixture and it’s seriously the best I’ve ever had.
Chorizo is perfect for quick and easy meals
We are getting ready to go camping again at Little River State Park in Vermont in the pimpin’ camper! This homemade fresh chorizo will definitely be coming with us on the trip. It’s perfect sautéed in a pan, then combined with eggs and potatoes for breakfast. Or put it into corn tortillas for a delicious lunch or dinner chorizo tacos (and for Taco Tuesday).
Quick and easy tasty meals is my thang when I’m camping and frying this chorizo up in a cast iron pan over a campfire is perfect. I think I could live out the rest of my life in my camper, traveling around the US, with a big batch (or two) of fresh chorizo.
Homemade sausage made the all-natural way
It may seem like making homemade fresh chorizo sausage is too time consuming, but it’s really not. It’s super easy to mix the cubed pork and spices together, then place in the refrigerator overnight to bind all the flavors together. The next day, just run it all through your meat grinder and store the ground mixture in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use in recipes.
I’m going through a 3 week long sugar detox and eating a Paleo diet right now, so making my own sausage is important. I can control the quality of meat and leave out all those unnecessary ingredients in pre-made sausage, like sugar or nasty preservatives.
Try this easy Homemade Fresh Chorizo sausage and leave the processed stuff behind in the grocery store. PIN it for later to use it in this Beef and Chorizo Chili recipe too!
Homemade Fresh Chorizo Sausage
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt cut into 1' cubes
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried coriander
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place pork cubes in a large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together all spices (chili powder through cinnamon). Pour mixed spices and apple cider vinegar over the pork cubes, mixing well with your hands until all cubes are coated. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- After the 8 hours, set up a food grinder with a medium grind attachment and grind the chilled seasoned pork cubes. Store the ground pork mixture in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Store the chorizo in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
My family loves chorizo! I never thought of making my own, but I really want to make some now! I especially love the idea that you can have the same great taste without all the unwanted ingredients of packaged chorizo. Returning to real life after a vacation is always a downer, but a summer full of camper living and the great outdoors is definitely something to look forward to! Have fun!!
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Real life, especially after a vacation, is a total bummer Thao. Thanks for visiting and hope you are well xoxo