16 Chorizo Recipes That Go Beyond Breakfast

Chorizo is the smoky, spicy sausage from the Iberian peninsula that elevates nearly any dish. It can be fresh, cured, sliced, or ground. It takes many forms, all of which are delicious. Chorizo is popular in both Spanish and Mexican cooking. In Spanish dishes, it is often dried and cured, whereas in Mexican cuisine, it is often used fresh and sometimes ground.

Chances are you've seen it included in breakfast dishes at trendy brunch spots or served sliced on a charcuterie board, but chorizo is so much more than that. It is phenomenal in breakfast dishes, but its versatility lends itself to many recipes, from paella to stuffing and beyond. Here are 16 of our best chorizo recipes for you to try.

One of Spain's most famous dishes, paella is a surefire way to impress your dinner guests. This dish can feed a whole family, and it finishes all in one pan. Filled with seafood, veggies, and saffron-flavored rice, this paella will transport you to coastal Spain. To make paella, simmer some fish stock, then fry up the seafood and veggies in a separate pan.

Adding diced chorizo to the mix gives the dish a beautiful smoky flavor and a slight red tint. Tomatoes and white wine add acidity, and rice soaks up all that flavor. Paella always looks beautiful once it's ready to be served, but adding a bit of fresh parsley and some sliced lemon will impress everybody.

Recipe: Classic Seafood Paella

This recipe is simple, with only five ingredients, but it is smoky and filling and can be served for breakfast or dinner. This dish is inspired by similar dishes from the Basque region and is a homestyle classic. The appeal is in the name. The combination of golden potatoes, crispy slivers of red chorizo, and fried eggs is unstoppable. This recipe makes use of residual waste by using the oil from the fried chorizo to cook the eggs in, further infusing that smoky, meaty flavor into the dish. If you are looking for a simple recipe that hits all of the boxes, this is the one.

Recipe: Fried Eggs with Chorizo and Fried Potatoes

Chilaquiles are a classic Mexican dish that is commonly served at breakfast but can be enjoyed at any time. Consisting of fried tortilla chips in a flavorful sauce, it is crunchy, saucy and delicious. Our version opts for tortilla chip strips so you can get a little of everything in each bite. Fresh chorizo gets sautéed until crispy, and eggs are fried in the chorizo fat, infusing that meaty flavor. The tortilla chip strips are tossed in a smoky chipotle sauce and then sprinkled with chorizo, queso fresco, and pickled red onions. For this dish, garnish is king. Adding sour cream, avocado, and fresh cilantro rounds out the meal, adding brightness and acidity to cut through the savory flavors.

Recipe: Chorizo Chilaquiles

Whether it is your favorite Thanksgiving side or something you opt to fill your roast chicken with, stuffing is always a cozy, familiar dish that hits the spot. It may seem simple, but it's super versatile and can be elevated in a myriad of ways. It is common to see stuffing made with white bread, celery, and a bit of salt and pepper, but why limit ourselves? Here, we opted to add chorizo, poblano peppers, and a combination of cornbread and French baguette for the spicy, nutty stuffing of your dreams.

Recipe: Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

When it comes to appetizers, you can never go wrong with queso. This recipe calls for Velveeta, specifically Velveeta Queso Blanco, which is a mild white equivalent to the original. Velveeta works great in this recipe because it has great meltability and gives the final dish a smooth texture. In this dish, Velveeta Queso Blanco is melted and combined with pepper jack cheese. Diced Roma tomatoes get stirred in, and it is all topped with crisped-up ground chorizo. To cut the heaviness, homemade pickled red onions serve as the perfect garnish.

Recipe: Chorizo Velveeta Queso Blanco

A traditional Latin American dish, picadillo is a versatile hash that can be eaten on its own, in tacos, or in this case, stuffed into poblano peppers. In this recipe, it is crucial to char the poblanos before stuffing, or else they could impart a bitter flavor. Don't worry, because the picadillo can be prepared while the peppers are charring.

The key ingredients in this picadillo are potatoes, ground beef, and chorizo. Aromatics, vegetables, and cheese pull this stew together. When serving, adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes or some pumpkin seeds as a garnish will provide a necessary bit of spice and crunch to each bite.

Recipe: Picadillo-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

These spicy pinto beans are the perfect side for any backyard barbecue or hometown tailgate. Made with dried pinto beans that are soaked overnight and cooked for hours in chicken broth infused with fresh and dried spices, these will be the most flavorful beans you've ever had. With the beans cooking, crisp up some chorizo for an additional kick. Stir the chorizo and fresh cilantro into the beans and top off with additional chorizo and cilantro.

Recipe: Spicy Pinto Beans

When it comes to Southern classics, you can never go wrong with biscuits and gravy. Creamy, savory gravy on flaky, buttery biscuits is already an amazing combination, but adding jalapeño to the biscuits and chorizo to the gravy brings the dish to a whole new level. This recipe calls for homemade dough with cilantro, charred garlic, and jalapeño mixed in. The gravy also incorporates garlic and jalapeño, but the secret ingredient is spicy chorizo, which is cooked until golden.

Recipe: Jalapeño Biscuits and Gravy

This healthy one-pot Portuguese kale soup comes together in only 35 minutes. It's simple, nutritious, and will satisfy all of your soup cravings. To prep, peel and chop two garlic cloves and two white potatoes. Chorizo is the star of this show. Slice it into coin-shaped chunks and sauté it in vegetable oil with the chopped garlic, potatoes, and two cups of kale. Add chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Let the soup simmer, giving it a few stirs here and there, and you're done!

Recipe: Portuguese Kale Soup

Each country has a signature sandwich. There's the American classic, the sloppy joe: A messy but flavorful dollop of savory ground beef on a hamburger bun. Then there's the Argentinian classic, choripán: grilled Argentinian chorizo topped with chimichurri and wrapped in a crusty baguette. These two sandwiches are excellent on their own, but when combined, something beautiful emerges: the sloppy 'zo. Coined by Alamos, the sloppy 'zo combines the savory meatiness of the sloppy joe with the brightness of the choripán.

Rustic bread is toasted and topped with melted provolone cheese. The chorizo is cooked with onion in red wine until reduced and jammy. When put together, the sandwich is topped with a tomato, onion, avocado, and vinegar mixture, which cuts the fattiness from the sautéed chorizo, making every bite perfectly balanced.

Recipe: Sloppy 'Zo!

On those cold days when the sun sets early, sometimes all we need is a hearty bowl of soup to end the night. In Eastern Europe, each country has their own variations of cabbage and sauerkraut soup. At our test kitchen, chefs Cortney Burns and Nick Balla developed the perfect sauerkraut soup recipe with roots in Slovakia. Sauerkraut is the key ingredient in this dish, and adding a cup of the brine gives the broth a tangy kick. Apricots add sweetness while sliced dried chorizo, paprika, and serrano peppers give it a spicy and smoky underlying flavor that really rounds the soup out. For anyone craving a warming bowl of soup, this recipe is a must.

Recipe: Sauerkraut Soup

A traditional clambake is a great way to spend a summer afternoon, but let's be honest: It's a lot of work. A traditional New England clambake involves digging a pit in the sand and slow-cooking seafood over stones and fire. If you want to achieve the smoky, steamed, layered flavors of a traditional clambake at home without digging a pit in the sand, all you need is a grill and some aluminum foil.

This technique wraps smoky chorizo, veggies, clams, and aromatics in a foil packet. White wine and butter are poured onto the ingredients, and then it is all sealed together and cooked on the grill, allowing that buttery, tangy liquid to steam everything until the clams open and everything is fork tender.

Recipe: Grilled Clambake Packet

A former Portuguese trading post, Macau has a rich culinary history. Macanese cuisine has both Portuguese and Chinese influences and is considered one of the first areas to experience culinary fusion, per UNESCO. With Macanese meatloaf, traditionally known as capela, that fusion is highlighted beautifully.

Similar to a classic meatloaf, the mixture incorporates ground beef, breadcrumbs, and eggs. However, this recipe veers away from a classic American meatloaf not only in shape, as it is shaped like a bundt cake, but in flavor. The key components of the dish that make it so unique are chorizo, olives, pine nuts, and Edam cheese. It is simple, hearty, and incredibly satisfying.

Recipe: Macanese Meat Loaf

This recipe may seem simple at first glance, but once you dig in, you'll be begging for more. Developed by David Bazirgan for his restaurant Dirty Habit, this asparagus dish is elevated, classy, and French-inspired. Influenced by the traditional sauce gribiche, hard-boiled eggs are emulsified with vinegar, olive oil, and shallots. What makes this recipe unique is the inclusion of diced Spanish-style chorizo, adding a salty, smoky flavor to the overall sauce. Grilled asparagus acts as the base, and the luscious, rich sauce pairs perfectly with the earthy green.

Recipe: Asparagus with Egg and Chorizo

Another Macanese-style dish created due to a combination of Eastern and Western culinary influences, this dish incorporates its Eastern influence via Madras curry powder, ginger, and coconut milk. Combined with Spanish chorizo, Moroccan olives, and Spanish onions, this dish is an amalgamation of cultures, felt in each and every bite. This dish is packed with flavor and best served over rice with a sprinkle of toasted coconut for some extra added crunch and sweetness.

Recipe: Portuguese Chicken Curry

Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil, is an incredibly rich pork stew filled with black beans and every cut of pork you can imagine. From ribs to sausage to tenderloin, it's truly a meat lover's dream. Traditionally, feijoada is served with refreshing orange slices and golden toasted yuca flour to cut the heaviness of the stew itself. When we think of nachos, we think of multiple parts coming together to form the perfect bite. Feijoada nachos combine all of the qualities that make feijoada great. The combination of savory stew, pico de gallo, cheese, and golden, crispy tortillas is what dreams are made of.

Recipe: Feijoada Nachos