The scent of cooked Potatoes with Mexican Chorizo (Papas con Chorizo) always takes me back to my childhood. The wafting smell of spicy sausage and crispy potatoes transports me back to my childhood home and my mom batch prepping a week of breakfast burritos for my dad during the days he drove line for a trucking company. Each burrito packed full of this delicious potato and chorizo filling alongside scrambled eggs and his favorite salsa. It was my mother's way of sending love and care to my father as he traveled long distances working so hard for his family.
As a kid, chorizo wasn't my favorite. Maybe it was because it was too spicy with its bold flavors overpowering my palette. But, as I've grown older I absolutely love this spicy pork sausage in a delicious batch of fresh Mexican chorizo. And now, with the Ground Turkey Chorizo from Diestel Family Farm this has become my new favorite, flavorful chorizo for breakfast tacos and more. Scroll down to see how we make this popular dish using this delicious chorizo type.
What is Chorizo?
Chorizo is a coarsely textured spiced pork sausage. This sausage variety is widely used in Spanish and Mexican cuisine. Many varieties of chorizo are made from chopped pork and seasoned with spices like chili powder and paprika. This is what gives homemade chorizos that smoky and spicy flavor. Often known for its vibrant red color resulting from the use of dried spices and chiles, it can be a bit spicy. But it's so good!
Spanish versus Mexican Chorizo
Spanish chorizo is often made from smoked pork that has been cured. The curing process leads to a dry-cured chorizo with a firm texture. Usually formed in the shape of rope sausage, this Spanish-style chorizo can be used as part of tapas served alongside different flavors of cheese. It is a quintessentially traditional element in Spanish cuisine for a charcuterie board.
Mexican chorizo is often made with fresh pork. This specific type of chorizo needs to be cooked. It’s traditionally made with finely ground pork. This chorizo type is widely popular in the United States. It can be used in a variety of dishes. Many other various forms of meats are also used to craft chorizo. There are even plant-based alternatives! This signals different ways to enjoy a spicy kick for a ground chorizo dish. The Mexican version of chorizo features a bit of paprika, but most of the color and flavor come from an assortment of local chiles, such as pasilla. Mexican chorizo also includes dried oregano, vinegar and other robust spices. Cook Mexican chorizo by removing the casing and cooking the raw meat in crumbles.
Ingredients for Potatoes with Mexican Chorizo
This dish is ready in a few minutes making it the perfect dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Seriously. This is delicious any time of day. Here's what we'll need to craft this deliciously comforting meal:
- Chorizo: We are using raw Mexican chorizo here to crumble up the ground meat to cook until crispy. There are different types of chorizo you can use when it comes to Mexican-style chorizo. You can use chorizo links and remove the meat from the casing. You can use the classic chorizo sausage version with ground pork but I encourage you to give this ground turkey version of raw chorizo a try. The ingredients in this type of chorizo are beyond simple: Turkey, water, spices, vinegar, sea salt, granulated garlic and onion powder. It's a flavor party for your taste buds and it's the star of this dish.
- Diced Potatoes: I personally love dicing the potatoes into smaller pieces to ensure they cook quickly and are the perfect filling for breakfast tacos. Two great potato options here are russet or yukon gold potatoes. Peel and dice the potatoes into ¼ inch diced chunks.
- Spices & Seasonings: Now, this type of sausage already has a lot of flavor but the seasonings and spices we'll use here focus on adding flavor to our potatoes. I personally love the mix of Mexican oregano with a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, and some paprika to flavor our potatoes. The seasonings add a nice smoky flavor to the potatoes before we add in our fresh sausage to cook.
- Avocado Oil: Since we start the recipe by frying up diced potatoes, we'll need a little oil for our cooking fat. I love the high smoke point of avocado oil but you can also use olive oil to start.
How to Make Potatoes with Mexican Chorizo
This main dish using fresh chorizo is ready in less than 30 minutes and is the perfect dish for any time of day. Here's how we make it:
- First, preheat a cast iron skillet with 3 tablespoons avocado oil over medium heat. Peel and dice 2 russet potatoes into ¼ inch diced chunks. We keep the diced chunks small to decrease their cooking time and get nice crispy edges to the potatoes.
- Next, add the potatoes to a medium sized mixing bowl filled with water to remove some of the excess starch. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels or a clean linen towel. Place the potatoes back into the bowl. Add the seasonings and spices to the potatoes and mix them together to coat potato chunks with the seasonings and spices.
- Add the seasoned potatoes to the skillet. Cook until the edges are a crispy golden brown and centers are fork tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Move the potatoes to the side of the skillet and add the turkey chorizo.
- Finally, flatten out chorizo into a large patty to cook about 3 to 5 minutes on one side. Flip and cook the other side another 3 to 5 minutes. Total cook time is about 8 to 10 minutes. Using a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon, break up the cooking chorizo into chunks and re-incorporate the cooked potatoes.
- Serve with warmed corn tortillas, smashed avocado, pickled onions, and your favorite salsa.
How to Enjoy Your Potatoes with Mexican Chorizo
The beauty of this recipe is that you can craft all kinds of dishes as a result. Here are a few suggestions for enjoying your dish:
- Serve along side a plate of refried beans and rice for a main course meal for a delicious weeknight dinner.
- Layer mashed avocado on freshly warmed tortillas and add the cooked pork chorizo on top as a taco filling.
- Build a flavor packed breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs a little avocado or queso fresco and your favorite salsa.
Potatoes with Mexican Chorizo (Papas con Chorizo)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 russet potatoes peeled and diced into ¼ inch diced chunks
- 1 pound turkey chorizo
- 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat a cast iron skillet with 3 tablespoons avocado oil over medium heat. Peel and dice 2 russet potatoes into ¼ inch diced chunks. We keep the diced chunks small to decrease their cooking time and get nice crispy edges to the potatoes.
- Add the potatoes a medium sized mixing bowl filled with water to remove some of the excess starch. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels or a clean linen towel. Place the potatoes back into the bowl. Add the seasonings and spices to the potatoes and mix them together to coat potato chunks with the seasonings and spices.
- Add the seasoned potatoes to the skillet. Cook until the edges are a crispy golden brown and centers are fork tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Move the potatoes to the side of the skillet and add to the turkey chorizo.
- Flatten out chorizo into a large patty to cook about 3 to 5 minutes on one side. Flip and cook the other side another 3 to 5 minutes. Using a spatula, break up the chorizo into chunks and reincorporate the cooked potatoes.
- Serve with warmed corn tortillas, smashed avocado, pickled onions, and your favorite salsa.
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