A homemade chorizo recipe that’s easy to make and more flavorful than store bought! This highly-seasoned Mexican sausage is made from ground pork, spices and seasonings, and other kitchen staples like garlic and vinegar.

Mexican chorizo is one of the most flavorful sausages you can buy. Typically made from ground pork or a mixture of pork and beef, it’s used in many Mexican recipes to add a punch of flavor since it’s so highly seasoned!
Unlike Spanish chorizo, Mexican chorizo is uncured and must be cooked first. It can be found in many grocery stores either in the meat section or in the refrigerated aisles with the link sausages.
Depending on where you live, Mexican chorizo may not be easy to find.
Luckily, this chorizo recipe is easy to make, way more flavorful than store-bought, and also healthier!

Ingredients you’ll need
To make chorizo at home, here’s what you’ll need:
- Ground Pork: You can use regular, lean or extra-lean ground pork. I used extra-lean and the end results were delicious! If you want your chorizo very fatty (which is typically what store-bought chorizo is like), you can use regular.
- Chili Powders: Traditionally, chorizo is made from rehydrating dried chiles like ancho and guajillo and then pureeing them into a paste. However, I wanted to keep things extra simple so I used a mix of ancho chili powder and regular chili powder instead. Both are widely available in most grocery stores nowadays in the spice aisle.
- Paprika: In addition to chili powder, I used a good amount of paprika to give the chorizo that signature red color.
- Mexican Spices: You’ll also need some ground cumin, dried oregano (I recommend using Mexican oregano if you have it) and ground coriander.
- Garlic: 2 cloves of freshly minced garlic is all you need. You can mince it by hand or use a garlic press if you have one.
- Cinnamon and Cloves: Just a pinch of these ground spices goes a long way. They pair beautifully with the chili powders and Mexican spices, and rounds out all the flavors.
- Salt: Store-bought chorizo is often on the salty side, which is why I love it so much! I cut down on the salt a little bit since saltiness if often personal preference. Be sure to taste and add more salt if you need to once it’s cooked.

How to make homemade chorizo
First, mix together all the dried spices in a small bowl.
This will help make sure all the spices are evenly distributed so that you get the same flavor with each bite of chorizo.

Next, combine the ground pork, minced garlic, vinegar and the chorizo spices in a large mixing bowl.
Use your hands to really mix everything together. Every inch of ground pork should be seasoned.
That’s it! You can use it immediately just like you would any store-bought chorizo.
Cooking and storage
To cook chorizo, saute it in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for about 8-10 minutes, until it’s fully cooked through. You can break it up into small pieces with your spatula while it’s cooking like other ground meat recipes, or you can form little chorizo patties instead.
If you don’t want to use it right away, it can be stored in an airtight container like a zip-top bag for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.

Ways to use chorizo
Chorizo can be used in so many Mexican recipes and is a beloved ingredient in my house. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use it:
- Cooked with eggs: A classic Mexican breakfast is chorizo and eggs in which the chorizo is cooked, then whisked eggs are added and scrambled together with the sausage.
- Tacos: Use it as a filling in classic hard shell tacos or in these breakfast tacos alongside potatoes and eggs.
- Breakfast Hash: Combine with breakfast potatoes and fried eggs for an easy breakfast hash.
- Appetizers and party food: Chorizo makes the perfect topping for nachos, pizza, queso fundido or mixed into queso dip!
- Soups and stews: Use in chilis, stews and hearty soups to add a boost of flavor.

Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried coriander
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add paprika, ground cumin, ancho chili powder, regular chili powder, dried oregano, dried coriander, coarse kosher salt, ground cinnamon and ground cloves. Mix together to combine.
- In a large bowl, add ground pork, the combined chorizo seasonings, white vinegar and minced garlic. Mix everything together with your hands until well combined.
- Use immediately in your favorite recipe or store for later.
Made this last weekend and it was awesome. It wasbso good it was all gone yesterday..lol. Time to make more.
Thank you Dan!
Made this last night…mixed all the spices with ground pork and let sit for a couple hours in the fridge.
I added some potato and it was fantastic!
A lot less greasy and tasted very authentic! Highly recommend
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
The ancho Chile powder you are using, is it ground anchos or a spice blend with mostly ground anchos with onion, garlic, cumin etc that i find at my local Latinx shop?
Hi Renee! The ancho Chile powder is mainly the spice blend with mostly anchos. It should be pretty easy to find in a local grocery or specialty Mexican grocery store.
Will the chorizo have a better taste if stored in the refrigerator 12 hours before cooking?
Hi Daryl! We haven’t tried that but I think it would! Try it and let us know how it turns out.
This recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS! I used the chorizo to scramble with eggs for breakfast, and my 17-year-old took a bite and said “Wow! This is SO good!” Thank you for this recipe, and keep up the GREAT work! 🙂
Thank you, Leti!
Very tasty, used with eggs fried in skillet.
Chorizo is great for breakfast. I haven’t had much since I moved to STL from California. Thanks for this recipe. And I increase the salt!
Which Paprika?
Spanish Smoked Paprika or
Sweet Hungarian Paprika
Hi Lynn! Usually its labeled as “paprika”, but you can use Spanish smoked paprika!
I’d love to try this recipe, but use ground turkey breast to make it extra lean. Curious if you’d still use the vinegar or omit it?
Hi Heather! Yes we would recommend still using vinegar!
The chorizo was great I omit the cloves and It tasted just like I wanted. Great recipe Thank You
Thank you, Nick!
What to use if you don’t have ancho pepper
Hi Florita! You can just add more regular chili powder if you don’t have ancho!
Authentic and my go to recipe for Chorizo. Thank you for sharing!
Are you using ground coriander seed? I’ve live in the UK for over 7 years now & they refer to both seeds and green as coriander, while I would consider the green tops to be cilantro. Help! I just left it out when I made the recipe as coriander seed flavor isn’t my favorite usually. Thanks! I love your recipes & make your chile Colorado fairly often. SO GOOD!
Hi Heather! Yes the recipe uses ground coriander seed. If you’re not a fan of that flavor, you can definitely omit it or substitute it for equal parts of cumin. I hope this helps!
I look forward to trying this but wonder if there is a non pork alternative.
Aha! I just read other comments 😉
Someone mentioned they used hamburger meat and it turned out good.
I look forward to trying this but wonder if there is a non pork alternative.
I doubled the recipe and used a pound of hamburger and sausage. It came out excellent!!!
The blend of ingredients makes the flavor so authentic. I actually used ground beef because I did not have ground pork on hand, and it was still very delicious. I can’t wait to try it with ground pork!
Hi Gayle! Thanks you, we’re glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I made this last night with ground pork shoulder. I followed the ingredients except I used half guallio and half ancho chile powder. I could only let it set a few hours, but it was awesome! I used it for my charro beans. I can’t wait to make more and have it with eggs. I will never buy that weird, tube stuff again! Thank you so much!
Hi Sarah! That’s awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I just made this today. We love chorizo, but it very greasy. Used this for taco. Excellent. Will definitely be making this again
I’m currently in the eastern part of the country, winter camping, and I haven’t found a Mexican restaurant within 100 miles. This has lead me to learn how to make my own Mexican food. This chorizo recipe was easy and I already had most of the ingredients at hand. Ancho chili was the only thing I was lacking. I substituted it with chipotle sauce, which did contain ancho chilis. I ended up making empanadas with chorizo, beans, and cheese. It was wonderful, thanks for the recipe!
Hi Christina! That sounds delicious! Thanks for using our recipe.