Chorizo Tacos

#TacoTuesday comes every week, but standard tacos can get a bit… repetitive. Add in chorizo – and you’ve got a whole new plate with unique spices and loads of flavor.

These layered beauties are light and bright with a creamy lime dressing but pack serious flavor and texture with meat, beans, cheese, and corn.

This was my first experiment with cotija and my second with chorizo (my first was this tasty pasta). By using 1/2 chorizo and 1/2 ground beef, you’re able to get the testy chorizo flavor without too much spice and without spending too much $!

Until last week, I knew nothing about chorizo. I just thought it was a spicy pork sausage found in the cuisine of many Spanish-speaking countries. Turns out there’s a whole lot more to it. My sister Mady, who just returned from living in Spain, pointed out that there’s a major difference between Spanish and Mexican chorizo.

Mexican chorizo:

• has lots of seasoning and is often spicy (by my standards)
• is typically sold uncooked
• often is removed from its casing and crumbled for cooking.

Spanish chorizo:

• is dried and cured (like salami) so it can be eaten as is without cooking
• typically has a paprika flavor
• has a dense texture, best eaten cut thin, in small pieces, or in a soup

But guess what. The chorizo I bought didn’t say which type it was and fit the qualities of both categories. It was tasty and had lots of flavor, was pre-cooked, but definitely needed to be heated for eating.

This wasn’t surprising to me. It happens far too frequently that I go to the store and leave without buying what I really need. I tend to live with the grab-and-go method rather than actually read the labels. There was a time in college when I needed to buy shampoo and continuously, completely accidentally, purchased conditioner. Finally on my 4th trip to Target I was successful.

Pro tip: read the labels 

The recipe includes that your chorizo can be diced (like mine) or crumbled (this would have been much easier) so no matter what type of chorizo you come home with, you’ll be good to go!

Chorizo Tacos

• Author: Sarah
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb chorizo, diced or crumbled
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 ears corn, shucked
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 6 oz cotija cheese
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro, divided
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 lime
• 8 corn tortillas

Instructions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp olive oil and add chorizo and ground beef. Cook 10 minutes, or until fully cooked, stirring frequently and chopping any large pieces. Drain excess fat and add spices: chili powder, cumin, oregano, and garlic powder.
2. In a separate skillet, warm corn and beans over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside. Warm tortillas in toaster oven or in a skillet and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, 1/4 cup cilantro, honey, and juice of 1/2 lime. Cut remaining lime into wedges.
4. Assemble tacos by adding meat, corn, beans, cheese and remaining cilantro. Then drizzle with sour cream sauce and serve with lime wedges.