Chorizo is one of my comfort foods. Nothing beats a breakfast of huevos con chorizo, warm corn tortillas and salsa molcajeteada. Of course as a vegan, there aren't many chorizo options. This recipe though, might change your mind about vegan chorizo. This has to be my most tested recipe. I tried many versions of this, one made with quinoa, one with tempeh, another with tofu, and one with just mushrooms. After many failed chorizo attempts, I give you the best homemade vegan chorizo recipe you will be able to find.
The recipe takes a little bit of time, but believe it is worth it. This chorizo is spicy and crumbly, with tons of umami flavor and notes of clove and coriander. To make this chorizo you first have to press the tofu for 30 minutes. Place in between two plates with a heavy object on top. This eliminates the excess water in the tofu, creating a better texture for the chorizo. Then crumble it into a large bowl.
Take your dry chiles, and remove the stems and seeds. Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the chiles inside. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let sit for 10 minutes.
Remove the chiles from the water and place in the blender. Reserve ½ cup of the chile soaking liquid. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, paprika, coriander, apple cider vinegar, and ¼ cup of soaking liquid to the blender and process until smooth. If necessary add the remaining ¼ cup of the soaking liquid to get things moving in the blender. Strain the chile mixture. Add half of it to the crumbled tofu.
Mince your mushrooms finely. I recommend you do this with a knife not a food processor. 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.
Sauté the tofu until golden brown and crispy. In a large bowl combine the cooked mushrooms and tofu and check your seasoning. The chorizo possibilities are now endless. I will be making papas con chorizo, torta de chorizo, sopes con chorizo, and many more dishes. I can't wait for you to try them. Enjoy!
The Recipe: Homemade Vegan Chorizo
The finished chorizo will keep in your fridge for 3-5 days, or you can freeze for up to 3 months. To increase the spiciness add more chile de arbol.
Homemade Vegan Chorizo
Ingredients
- 1 block (12 oz.) Tofu extra firm
- ½ lb. Mushrooms finely chopped
- 6 Chile guajillo dried, seeded
- 2 Chile ancho dried, seeded
- 4 Chile de arbol dried
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp. Oregano dried
- ½ tsp. Cumin ground
- 2 Cloves whole
- 1 tbsp. Paprika ground
- ½ tsp. Coriander ground
- ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Vegetable oil optional
Instructions
- Remove tofu from package and place in between two small plates. Place a can on top of the plates and leave like this for 30 min.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles and discard them. Drop the chiles into the boiling water. Turn heat down to the lowest setting and let the chiles sit in the water for 10 min.
- Remove the chiles from the water and place in blender. Reserve ½ cup of the chile soaking liquid.
- Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, paprika, coriander, apple cider vinegar, and ¼ cup of soaking liquid to the blender and process until smooth. If necessary add the remaining ¼ cup of the soaking liquid to get things moving in the blender.
- Season the chile mixture with salt and pepper and pass through a fine strainer. Set aside.
- Drain the water from the tofu and crumble with your hands into a large bowl. Pour half of the pureed chile mixture into the bowl with the tofu and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan to high heat and add 1 tbsp. of oil. Once the oil is hot add the finely chopped mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms begin to brown, about 6-7 min.
- Lower heat to medium-low and pour in the remaining half of the chile mixture. Stir and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to absorb the chile mixture. Remove from pan and place in a large bowl.
- Heat a non-stick sauté pan set to medium heat, add 1 tbsp. of oil. Add the tofu mixture and continue to cook until the liquid begins to evaporate and tofu becomes crispy, 7-8 minutes. You can make the tofu as crispy as you like. (Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or the tofu will never get crispy.)
- Pour cooked tofu mixture into the bowl with the mushrooms and mix well to combine. Adjust seasoning.
Hi Dora,
Your recipe looks really good! I would love to try it but we can't eat soy, what would you use instead?
Thank you!
Hi, you can substitute the tofu with lentils or with a mixture of cauliflower and walnuts.
could you use tvp instead of tofu?
Yes, just make sure you soak it in water before hand
This recipe is fabulous. My tofu did not crisp up but the flavors were spot on. Thank you.
So glad you liked it!!
Hi Dora, I would love to make this, but I have a question: Do you mean blender or food processor? I believe a blender might make the texture too mushy. Could you clarify? Many thanks!
Hi Lucia, I blended the sauce in the blender. I chopped the mushrooms with a knife and I crumbled the tofu with my hands.
I also just found your blog and very happy I did. I just made this. Delicious. Can't wait to try some of your other recipes.
Welcome Shellie!!
I just found your blog a few weeks ago and I made this recipe on Sunday. It was fabulous. I also made just the sauce today and used it to make chorizo spiced black beans those also turned out amazing. Keep up the good work! Real Mexican flavor vegan recipes are hard to come by so I'm so glad I found your blog ;-)
I'm so glad you liked it!! I'll have to try chorizo flavored beans, that's a great idea.
Such a yum recipe! I wanted to know if you know the nutritious value of the recipe such as calories and carbs and fats and all that? Thank you?
Enter the recipe into the my fitness pal app and you should be able to get that information
I love this recipe. Soyrizo is always a hit and miss. As time consuming as this is, I am hooked and make it regularly. I added about 1/4 cup of walnut meat to give it a more "meat - like" texture. I soak them in water for 20 minutes, then just add them to the food processor before mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients. Overall, the seasoning and flavor of this recipe is amazing.
Thanks Angeline. I think walnut meat is a great addition to this!
Raw or dry walnuts?
Raw
Would it be okay to press the tofu overnight? I've made this recipe before and it tasted great my only thing was the tofu didnt crispy up enough for my liking I think maybe it still had to much water?
Yes, you can press it overnight. Some people have also said that freezing the tofu helps.
Chorizo is one of my Mexican faves. My wife is hasn't eaten pork or beef in fifteen years and I tried this recipe to have her try. We made tacos with fried potatoes ave are both in love. This recipe is now added to my staples list
I'm so glad you liked it!!
Also can you do all the prep the day before and grill the next day?
Hi, would you recommend making larger batches and freezing?
Yes! It freezes really well. I would double the recipe, then freeze it
Hola! Muchas gracias por compartir tu receta! Soy mexicana viviendo en Alemania. He estado tras la receta de chorizo vegetariano desde hace un tiempo, y no había encontrado recetas que me convencieran. Pero ésta de tofu está fabulosa! Huele y sabe igual que el chorizo de México -ja, con carne-. No le agregué los champiñones porque solo a mí me gustan, y el resto de la familia es anti. Pero aún sin champis supo buenísimo, con tortilla recién hecha y frijolitos refritos. mmhm!!
¡Qué bueno que les gustó!
This looks fabulous! Can't wait to try it. What about using frozen tofu and then squeezing the water out of it after it thaws? I have found that this is a great way to get flavor into tofu as it just seems to slurp up the flavors around it very fast.
This would work as well!
It freezes really well. I put it on everything!