The Best Homemade Vegan Chorizo Recipe
Chorizo is one of my comfort foods, nothing beats a breakfast of papas con chorizo, warm corn tortillas, and salsa molcajeteada. This spicy vegan chorizo is packed with flavor and made with the same traditional cooking method as the real thing, so you know it’s good!
A combination of tofu and mushrooms is marinated in a sauce made with dried chiles, Mexican oregano, cumin, clove, paprika, and apple cider vinegar, then cooked until golden brown. It is the perfect addition to your breakfast burritos, burrito bowls, tofu scramble, or to spice up your taco night.
What Makes This A Great Recipe
There are quite a few plant-based chorizo options in grocery stores now, my favorite is Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, but none of them come close to the flavor of authentic Mexican chorizo. That’s why I set out to make my own, and after testing recipes with quinoa, tempeh, TVP, and even lentils I settled on this spicy and crumbly chorizo, with tons of umami flavor, and notes of clove and coriander. It makes an excellent plant-based protein and is vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free,
Difference Between Spanish and Mexican Chorizo
Spanish chorizo as we know it today was born in the Iberian Peninsula around the XVII century when pimentón (paprika) arrived in Spain from the Americas. Pimenton is made from small red peppers that were not available in Spain before then, previously chorizo was white or black. Spanish chorizo is typically made with chopped pork, seasoned with pimentón (which gives it its red color) and garlic, and is cured for 2 to 4 weeks.
Mexican chorizo is similar to Spanish chorizo in flavor, but it is not cured, and the pork is usually ground, making it a crumbly and chunky chorizo that needs to be cooked before eating. It is seasoned with pimentón (paprika), like Spanish chorizo, but it is spiced with various dried chiles, oregano, cumin, and coriander. Toluca, in central Mexico, was one of the first places to register chorizo production in Mexico. To this day, Mexicans consider chorizo from Toluca among the best in the country.
Main Ingredients
Unlike other soyrizo recipes this one is made by reconstituting dried chiles. If you have never worked with dried chiles before, don’t worry it is quite easy to do. You will need:
Dried ancho chiles: Ancho chiles are dried Poblano chiles with medium heat. They are large in size and a dark red almost black color. They are available at your local Mexican market or online.
Dried guajillo chiles: Guajillo chiles are the dried form of the mirasol chile. They are elongated in shape, a dark cranberry red color, with mild heat. Sometimes there mislabeled as chile cascabel or New Mexico chile. They are available at your local Mexican market or online.
Dried arbol Chiles: Chiles de Árbol are small, thin chiles, about 2-3 inches long and less than a ½ inch wide. They are a bright red color and are hot so be careful. If you want this chorizo to be mild I recommend you omit the chiles de arbol. They are available at your local Mexican market or online.
Tofu: Tofu is my favorite meat substitute, for this recipe I use extra-firm tofu. If you want to make a soy-free chorizo you can use coarse chunks of garbanzo beans instead or chopped cauliflower.
How to Make Vegan Chorizo
Press the tofu for 30 minutes, by placing it in between two plates with a heavy object on top.
Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles, pour boiling water over them, and let them soak for 15 minutes.
Drain the chiles and transfer them to the blender. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, paprika, coriander, apple cider vinegar, and some of the soaking liquid to the blender and puree until smooth.
Pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve. Add half of it to the crumbled tofu.
Mince the mushrooms finely. Sauté them until golden brown and a bit crispy.
Add the remaining half of the chile puree and cook for a couple more minutes until the mixture has thickened.
Add the marinated tofu to the pan with the mushrooms.
Stir to combine everything together, and cook until the chorizo begins to brown.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- To increase or decrease the spiciness, adjust the quantities of chile de arbol.
- Mince your mushrooms finely. I recommend you do this with a knife, not a food processor. This helps make a much better texture.
- If browned bits of chorizo get stuck to the bottom of the pan, use a little bit of broth to deglaze the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan and incorporate all the browned-up bits into the chorizo.
- To make this oil-free: omit the avocado oil and use a non-stick skillet
Serving
The chorizo possibilities are now endless. I will be making papas con chorizo, torta de chorizo, and sopes con chorizo.
Storing
Store the chorizo in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.
FAQ
Chorizo originated in the Iberian Peninsula, which is mainly composed by Spain and Portugal.
Mexican chorizo is raw meat seasoned with dry chilies and aromatic spices. In Spain, chorizo is generally composed of chopped pork and pork fat seasoned with garlic, salt, and pimentón, a type of smoked paprika, and it is cured.
More Vegan Mexican Breakfast Recipes
Homemade Vegan Chorizo
Ingredients
- 1 block extra firm tofu (14 oz)
- 6 dried chile guajillo, seeds and stems removed
- 2 dried chile ancho, seeds and stems removed
- 4 dried chile de arbol. seeds and stems removed
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil (optional)
- ½ pound mushrooms, finely chopped
Instructions
- Press the tofu for 30 minutes. If you don't have a tofu press you can do this by placing the tofu in between two plates then placing a heavy object on top.
- Place the chiles in a heat-proof bowl and pour boiling hot water over them. Let them soak for 15 minutes.
- Drain the chiles, but reserve ½ cup of the chile soaking liquid. Transfer the chiles and reserved chile-soaking liquid to the blender.
- Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, paprika, coriander, apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper, and puree until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl.
- Drain the water from the tofu and crumble with your hands into a large bowl. Pour half of the chile puree into the bowl with the tofu and stir to combine. Let marinate while you cook the mushrooms.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are golden brown, about 6 to 7 min.
- Decrease the heat low and pour in the remaining half of the chile puree. Stir and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to absorb the chile mixture.
- Add the tofu mixture and stir to completely incorporate it into the mushrooms. Continue to cook until the liquid begins to evaporate and the tofu starts to brown, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Taste the chorizo, and if necessary add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Store the chorizo in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.
Video
Notes
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- To increase or decrease the spiciness, adjust the quantities of chile de arbol.
-
- Mince your mushrooms finely. I recommend you do this with a knife, not a food processor. This helps make a much better texture.
-
- If browned bits of chorizo get stuck to the bottom of the pan, use a little bit of broth to deglaze the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan and incorporate all the browned-up bits into the chorizo.
- If you want to make a soy-free chorizo you can use coarse chunks of garbanzo beans instead or chopped cauliflower.
- To make this oil-free: omit the avocado oil and use a non-stick skillet
Nutrition
Although dorastable.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates.
I just made this–I am so proud! I love your book so much! Now I need to learn Spanish so I can better communicate with the Mexican grocery store owners other than hola and gracias <3
Thank you for your book it is sooooooo good!
Thank you!!
Muchissimas gracias para esta receta Dora. My Mexican esposo (who is newish-to-plant-based) and I loved this tonight. I used a combo of firm/smoked chickpea tofu and medium-firm regular tofu (as that was all I had on hand) and it was still great. I also followed some great tips I read recently about cooking mushrooms that I think added to this (see https://rainbowplantlife.com/creamy-vegan-mushroom-stroganoff/)… basically, fry mushrooms hot/longer to sear/make them crispy, give them enough space, don’t stir them too much while cooking. It added the crispy chewiness that made this awesome recipe even better.
Thanks again for sharing your talents and culture with us.
Really enjoyed this! All the chiles can be a bit bitter, so I added a tsp of molasses and a tbsp of tahini to help balance the flavors and add a bit more healthy fats.
Suunds delcious!
I made this several times. It’s the very best. This time I just moved and made it. I had no paprika and no cloves. I used cinnamon and Tajin . You really need this ingredients not substitutions. It’s ok. I won’t throw it out. I will make this again and again. Next time I will use the right ingredients.
I’ve been a vegan for decades, but lately I’ve been craving chorizo. I made a double batch of this and I’m freezing 1/2 cup cubes to use later. I followed the recipe exactly with just one exception… I used sunflower oil instead of avocado oil because it’s all I had. I can’t imagine it made much difference. This is really hitting the spot! Thank you for the recipe!
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Bien hecho! You have done yourself proud with this recipe. This tastes exactly like chorizo. I even fed it to my neanderthal husband telling him it was chorizo and he didn’t even notice. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and your heritage.
Hahaha your husband. Thanks for taking the time to comment.