This Spicy Chorizo Verde (green chorizo) is made with lots of green peppers and fresh herbs and spices. It makes an excellent taco filling, but can also be mixed into chilaquiles verdes, Mexican breakfast burritos, or stuffed into sausage casings to be smoked or grilled!
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Chorizo Verde is a vibrant, green variation of traditional chorizo sausage, popular in certain parts of Mexico. It's notable for its bright green color, which comes from a mixture of fresh green vegetables and herbs. This distinguishes it from the more common red chorizo or chorizo rojo.
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Chorizo Verde has an incredible flavor profile and can be enjoyed in various ways!
- The mixture can either be stuffed into casings to make sausages or left loose for use in burritos, quesadillas, tacos, and even soup!
- Green chorizo can be frozen either before cooking or after.
- This chorizo verde recipe is much leaner and does not disintegrate when cooked like the red chorizo you may be used to purchasing.
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pork: Ground pork, 25-30%% fat. This is no time to skimp on fat; you want your chorizo verde to be juicy, not dry and crumbly.
- Peppers: One large poblano pepper, 2 fresh Serrano chiles, and 2 jalapeños. Adjust peppers by adding more or less or swapping less spicy peppers, such as bell peppers or Anaheim chiles, if you can't handle the heat.
- Other Veggies: Green onions and fresh garlic.
- Herbs: Cilantro, Italian parsley, dried bay leaves, and dried Mexican oregano.
- Spices: Salt, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and whole cloves.
- Vinegar: ¼ cup red wine vinegar, homemade apple cider vinegar, or your favorite vinegar flavor. You can also use lime juice.
- Optional Ingredients: Tomatillos (or green tomatoes), Anaheim chiles, fresh spinach, or spinach powder.
🫑 How to Make Chorizo Verde
Step 1: Add peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and whole cloves to a hot cast-iron skillet and toast for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add crushed red pepper and bay leaves, and toast for an additional 10 seconds. Add all the toasted spices to a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) and grind until no large chunks remain.
Step 2: Add poblano pepper, serranos, jalapeños, and unpeeled garlic to the same cast iron skillet and toast over medium-high heat until charred. Finish poblano pepper over an open flame until completely black. Once cool, remove charred skin, stem, and poblano seeds. Peel garlic. No need to peel the other peppers.
Pro Tip: Make sure to wear gloves when handling hot peppers so you don't get the oils on your hands. You will regret it later when you rub your eyes, trust me, I'm speaking from experience.
Step 3: Roughly chop peppers, then add to a food processor along with garlic, roughly chopped cilantro, parsley, green onions, and vinegar. Blend until coarsely chopped.
Step 4: Add ground pork to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt, oregano, and ground-up spices. Add chopped herbs and vegetables, then mix with gloved hands until incorporated.
Step 5: Run pork mixture through a meat grinder using the fine grinding blade (with the smallest holes). Make a small patty with a few ounces of the meat mixture, fry, and taste to see if the seasoning needs to be adjusted.
Step 6: If satisfied with the flavor, cover with Saran Wrap and allow to marinate for at least a few hours. If the flavor needs adjusting, do that before marinating the pork mixture.
Step 7: After the chorizo verde mixture has marinated for a few hours, stuff the pork mixture in hog casings to make sausage, form into patties, or cook as is. See the "serving suggestions" section for other serving ideas!
What Readers Are Saying
I really enjoyed your chorizo verde recipe, Hilda. I don't eat red chorizo because it's too greasy. This chorizo was different, not greasy at all, and not dry. Just had the perfect amount of spices, chile, cilantro, and parsley. It was perfect with my tortilla chip and salsa. Everybody should try this unique recipe.
-Teresa
🍽 Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy chorizo verde! Serve it with your morning eggs, scatter it over a Mexican pizza, or add it to your Mexican rice bowl or nachos.
You can also use it as an enchilada filling, or nestle it between these Mexican sourdough discard tortillas with some cheese to make chorizo verda quesadillas! Serve with salsa ranchera or salsa macha on the side. Finally, add it to this comforting chorizo soup!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Unlike red chorizo, which is made up of red ingredients, green chorizo is made with ground pork mixed with green veggies and herbs, such as peppers, cilantro, parsley, and spinach. These green ingredients give the chorizo its distinct green color.
Chorizo Verde can be cooked in a skillet, scrambled into eggs, or enjoyed as a taco filling. It can also be stuffed into sausage casings and then grilled, smoked, or air-fried!
Green chorizo is popular in certain regions of Mexico, particularly Toluca in the State of Mexico. Toluca is known as the "capital of chorizo."
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Sausage needs a high-fat ratio, anywhere from 25-30%. Any leaner and the chorizo will be too dry.
- If you have an electric stove, the poblano pepper can be charred by broiling instead.
- Store chorizo verde in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze green chorizo for up to 3 months.
🌶 More Mexican Recipes
If you enjoy this chorizo verde recipe, check out these other Mexican dishes!
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and whole cloves to a hot cast-iron skillet and toast for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add crushed red pepper and bay leaves and toast for an additional 10 seconds. Add all the toasted spices to a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) and grind until no large chunks remain.
- Add poblano pepper, serranos, jalapeños, and unpeeled garlic to the same cast iron skillet and toast over medium-high heat until charred. Finish poblano pepper over an open flame until completely black. Once cool, remove charred skin, stem, and poblano seeds. Peel garlic. No need to peel the other peppers.
- Roughly chop peppers, then add to a food processor along with garlic, roughly chopped cilantro, parsley, green onions, and vinegar. Blend until coarsely chopped.
- Add ground pork to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt, oregano, and ground-up spices. Add chopped herbs and vegetables, then mix with gloved hands until incorporated.
- Run pork mixture through a meat grinder using the fine grinding blade (with the smallest holes). Make a small patty with a few ounces of the meat mixture, fry, and taste to see if the seasoning needs to be adjusted.
- If satisfied with the flavor, cover with saran wrap and allow to marinate for at least a few hours. If the flavor needs adjusting, do that before marinating the pork mixture.
- After the chorizo verde mixture has marinated for a few hours, stuff the pork mixture in hog casings to make sausage, form into patties, or cook as is. See the "serving suggestions" section for other serving ideas!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Make sure to wear gloves when handling hot peppers so you don't get the oils on your hands. You will regret it later when you rub your eyes, trust me, I'm speaking from experience.
- Sausage needs a high-fat ratio, anywhere from 25-30%. Any leaner and the chorizo will be too dry.
- If you have an electric stove, the poblano pepper can be charred by broiling instead.
- Store chorizo verde in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze green chorizo for up to 3 months.
TERESA EVERS says
I really enjoyed your chorizo verde recipe Hilda. I don’t eat red chorizo because it to greasy . This chorizo was different, not greasy at all and not dry . Just had the perfect amount of spices, chile, cilantro and parsley. It was perfect with my tortilla chip and salsa. Everybody should try this unique recipe.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for the review, Teresa, and happy to hear that you liked it. I agree with you, I prefer it over greasy chorizo!
Sarah says
This produced such a unique & delicious flavor profile. Yummy!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Sarah!Glad you liked it. Thanks for the review!
Kelly Methey says
I had never even heard of green chorizo until this recipe.
Wow! It is fantastic! I love it so much. I really am not a fan of the traditional red chorizo so I wondered how it would be. This is so fresh tasting and not greasy as the red always seems to be. The spicy taste mixed with the vegetables is delicious! I would never have thought to try to make my own until Hilda came up with another unique, tasty recipe. Yay!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Kelly! I know what you mean, I could eat it every day! Thank you for your review & comment!
Kathy Fisher says
Oh yeah, I have been a chorizo lover for over 50 years - thanks to the mom's of my Mexican friends. But, I've never had chorizo verde. At least, not until now. And now, my new favorite is this recipe. I couldn't stop eating it - one slice at a time. Obviously this recipe is a winner. You won't be disappointed.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Kathy, So glad to hear you enjoyed the chorizo verde. It's my new favorite too! I've been enjoying it with homemade sauerkraut and mustard. 😬 Not exactly the "Mexican way" but still so delicious!