Bold & Flavorful Chorizo Tacos – A Quick & Easy Favorite
These chorizo tacos are full of smoky, spicy flavor and simple to make, with minimal ingredients. In Mexico they’re referred to as Tacos de Chorizo and often include classic street taco toppings like cilantro and onion.
This simple recipe could easily be found among any street taco in Mexico, but I’m also sharing some creative variations! Here’s why you’ll love these tacos!
- Easy to make, hard to screw up.
- Big bold, smoky flavor.
- Ready in 20 minutes!
- Perfect for any toppings you love.
- Done in under 20 minutes (perfect for taco tuesday!).
- Just like a classic street taco.
I love to finish my tacos with a great sauce like creamy jalapeno ranch and quick Mexican pickled onions!
Need another taco recipe? Try pork tenderloin tacos, quesabirria tacos, carne asada tacos, or ground pork tacos.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Mexican chorizo: this will likely come loose in a package (like ground beef) or in casings (like brats). If they come in casings, make sure to remove the casings prior to cooking so you can create a ground chorizo texture.
- Onion: softened onion helps develop the flavo.
- Corn tortillas: this is the traditional way to serve chorizo tacos. Char or warm them to make them pliable. You could also use flour tortillas, grain free tortillas or gluten free taco shells.
Mexican Chorizo vs. Spanish Chorizo
There are two types of chorizo sausage: Spanish and Mexican. We’re going to be using Mexican chorizo for this recipe for a classic Mexican street taco. Here’s the difference between Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo:
- Mexican chorizo: this is uncooked, ground, spicy, and you can find it with the other ground meat like beef and pork. You can also make your own homemade chorizo.
- Spanish chorizo: this type of chorizo is dried and cured in casings and is typically found in the ready-to-eat cured sausages. It’s typically made with paprika (for the red color), garlic and pork and can be sweet or spicy.
Need another Mexican recipe? try fiesta shrimp bowls, healthy chicken enchiladas, steak nachos, or salmon with mango salsa next!
How to Make Chorizo Tacos
- Cook the onions: Cook the onion with olive oil in a medium-high skillet to sweat and soften.
- Cook the chorizo: Cook chorizo for about 10 minutes. My trick for extra flavorful chorizo tacos is to let it cook without touching it to crisp and caramelize.
- Heat the tortillas: Place the tortillas over an open flame for 15-20 seconds. Alternately, heat in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 30 seconds on each side. Wrap them with a kitchen towel to keep them warm.
- Serve and enjoy! Divide the chorizo mixture into the warm tortillas then top with authentic toppings including chopped onion, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Taco Toppings and Variations
- Authentic street taco toppings: cilantro, white onion, and lime juice.
- Sauces: try creamy jalapeno ranch, cilantro chimichurri,
- Avocado: an avocado crema or classic guacamole.
- Cheese: queso fresco, shredded Mexican cheese, cottage cheese queso, or dairy free cashew queso.
- Onion: red onion or Mexican pickled onion (my favorite!).
- Salsas: classic salsa verde, pineapple mango salsa, Chipotle corn salsa or the avocado corn salsa from this pork tenderloin taco recipe.
- Beans: Refried beans or black beans
- Chorizo breakfast tacos: scramble some eggs and them to your tacos!
- Chorizo smash tacos: add a 2 ounce patty of chorizo to a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Press a tortilla to flatten it as much as possible and cook for about 4 minutes. Flip and cook for 30 seconds.
Recipe Tips
Let the chorizo cook, without stirring: once the chorizo is no longer pink in the middle, allow it to sit over medium-high heat for a few minutes at a time without stirring. This make it crisp and char around the edges. Color equals flavor in cooking!
Warm the tortillas: authentic chorizo tacos are made with corn tortillas. Double up your tortillas and warm them in the microwave or throw them on the grill for a few minutes to make them more pliable.
Recipe FAQs
Everyone’s spice tolerance is different, however, Mexican chorizo is in the mild to medium category, for me. I don’t typically like very spicy food and this recipe is easy and delicious to eat.
Chorizo is most often made out of ground pork, but if you grab a beef chorizo you can follow the same recipe directions to make beef chorizo tacos.
Chorizo is a mouthful of fat, flavor and spice! The ground pork is mixed with fat, to create a fatty, filling flavor, while the bold spices give it a kick and smoky flavor.
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Chorizo Taco Recipe
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Ingredients
Chorizo Tacos
- 1-2 Tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium white onion diced and separated for topping
- 1 lb Mexican chorizo bulk raw chorizo or chorizo sausages with casings removed
- 12 corn tortillas
Street Taco Toppings
- Cilantro chopped
- Fresh lime juice
- Diced white onion same as bove
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add half of the diced onion and cook to sweat for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.1-2 Tablespoons avocado oil, 1 medium white onion
- Crumble the chorizo on top and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, until no pink remains. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, only stirring 2-3 more times to let the outsides of the chorizo crisp and char.1 lb Mexican chorizo
- Heat a griddle or separate dry skillet over medium heat to warm the tortillas. Cook them for 30-60 seconds on each side, or until warmed through, with grill marks if desired. Alternately, cook them over an open gas flame for 15-20 seconds on each side, until charred. Wrap them with a kitchen towel to keep them warm.12 corn tortillas
- Spoon the chorizo mixture into the warmed corn tortillas then top with the remaining chopped onion, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. For less traditional toppings, add avocado, jalepeno ranch or chopped pineapple.
Notes
Video
Equipment
- Large skillet
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My husband even commented that this recipe tastes SO much better than Chipotle! I made my own chorizo blend following your recipe directions. It’s so simple & easy to make and it packs a BIG flavor punch. I paired it with homemade sourdough tortillas = perfection! Molly you knocked it out of the park yet again.
Wow! What a high compliment. Thanks so much for sharing, Bri!
So simple and so delicious. Great recipe!
I’d like to know how to make hard tacos with chorizo
Just use hard tacos instead of soft!
Perfect. I needed details on how to cook chorizo correctly – so it gets crispy but doesn’t burn. This took guesswork out of it and made it an easy meal. Thank you
I love reading a post that can make people think. Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!
So simple and delicious
Thank you!