Here’s a healthy, flavorful, lightened-up recipe for Chorizo, a spicy Mexican sausage using ground turkey or ground chicken. A delicious addition to breakfast bowls, tacos, scrambles & burritos! Can be made in 20 minutes. Low-carb, Keto and GF!
Oh….for the love of Chorizo. Don’t get me started. I seriously love it, but it’s never loved me. Made with pork, it doesn’t always sit well in my stomach and it’s pretty high in fat and cholesterol. But while I was craving its incredible flavor the other day, I decided to make a lightened-up version with some ground turkey instead. Guess what? It was so delicious and easy and so versatile! It only took 20 minutes!
This recipe for Mexican-style Chorizo can be made with either ground chicken or ground turkey and can be used used in so many things! For example, add it to scrambled egg tacos, or to burritos or wraps, or add to bean chili or nachos. I love it in this Enchilada Pie Recipe I posted a while back.
This morning I added it to our Breakfast Bowls with Black beans and Sweet potatoes, which was delicious! So many options here friends!
Simply take ground turkey or ground chicken and add Mexican spices to it. A little vinegar gives it acidity which pumps up the flavor even more.
Cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt, garlic and smoked paprika are the main seasonings. If you like heat, add chipotle!
Once it’s mixed, store it in the fridge, freeze it or brown it up and use it throughout the week.
So quick and easy!
An area in Mexico, called Toluca, is known as the chorizo capital, and specializes in “green” chorizo, which is made with tomatillo, cilantro, chili peppers, garlic, or a combination of these. The green chorizo recipe is native to Toluca, which is on my list next.
But most Mexican chorizo is a deep reddish color, seasoned with chili powder and vinegar. Chorizo is usually made from cuts of pork, and ground and stuffed in intestinal casings. Before using, the casing is usually cut open and the sausage is fried in a pan and mashed with a fork until it resembles finely minced ground beef.
In Mexico, restaurants and food stands make tacos, queso fundido, burritos, and tortas with cooked chorizo. Chorizo con Huevos (Chorizo with Eggs) is a popular and yummy breakfast dish made by mixing fried chorizo with scrambled eggs – then this is often used in breakfast burritos, tacos, and taquitos. So many options here, folks.
This morning I made these Mexican Breakfast Bowls with the Turkey Chorizo…..so good!
I know you’ll find so many uses for this Healthy, Easy Chorizo Recipe, so make sure to share what you create in the comments below!
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Easy Healthy Chorizo Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: main, poultry, chicken, turkey
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Here’s a healthy, lightened-up recipe for Mexican Chorizo, a smoky spicy and flavorful Mexican style sausage using ground turkey or ground chicken. A delicious addition to breakfast bowls, tacos, scrambles & burritos! Can be made in 20 minutes. Low-carb and GF!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey ( or ground chicken)
- ¾ – 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic ( or 2 cloves finely minced garlic)
- ¼–½ teaspoon chipotle powder (or cayenne) or sub chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (white, red, or apple cider)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Mix well using your hands.
- Store in the fridge, or freeze until ready to use.
- To cook, simply brown it in a skillet with a little oil, breaking it up into smaller pieces, like you would ground beef. (Alternately, you could shape into breakfast patties,or burgers, and sear, finishing in the oven if necessary.)
- Use in breakfast bowls or tacos, burritos, enchiladas, pizza, quesadillas, nachos, etc.
Notes
I generally use 1 teaspoon kosher salt per pound of meat for the best flavor. Feel free to use less. Because chorizo is generally added to other things to enhance flavor, I like mine a little on the salty side. Adjust to your own tastes.
Keywords: Healthy chorizo, turkey chorizo, chicken chorizo, turkey chorizo recipe, how to make chorizo, chorizo recipe, mexican chorizo, what is chorizo?
This is a absolutely amazing recipe!!! I don’t eat sausage anymore and this was a treasure to find! Thank you!
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Yay! Glad you liked it! 🙌
Thanks again for another delicious recipe. I made the chorizo with ground chicken and we ate it for breakfast huevos rancheros style. It was so yummy and easy to make! Now I can make my own healthier version of chorizo thanks to you!!!
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Yay Diane- glad you tried this one out! There is also a Walnut Chorizo which is vegan, just put it in the search bar.
Always enjoy all your recipes that I make.
This one is especially a family favourite.
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Great to hear, thanks nancy!
Thanks for a healthy, homemade alternative to standard chorizo!
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Glad you enjoyed!
Fabulous recipe! I can’t believe I just made this and it was so good! I am an amateur at cooking. I buy a lot more pre-packaged stuff but this one is going in my little recipe box!! I love it.
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Thanks so much glad it worked well for you!
This was awesome! Delicious, easy, and without the guilt of feeling I’ve just clogged my arteries with grease😉…. Thank you for the recipe;)!
I added Portobella mushrooms and onions for a little variety and stuffed some street tacos and sprinkled with Cremoso… deliciousness!
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Thank you for this. I have Alpha Gal (mammalian meat allergy) and miss chorizo terribly! Trader Joe’s Soyrizo is okay but this is much better!
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I think perhaps those people who found it too salty probably used table salt, which would be saltier than kosher salt. The photo looks like kosher salt.
It’s a keeper. Both my husband and my preteen son loved it.
I did not have all of the spices (chili, chipotle powder) and I used 1/2 tsp each of cumin and coriander. And I will use little less salt next time. Very tasty.
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Thanks, glad you like it!
Love this recipe and I use it SO often!
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Made this for dinner tonight and it was SO easy and SO yummy! It was a tad too salty for us, so next time we will definitely reduce the salt. But it was such a great recipe! It will definitely be a part of our dinner rotation now. Thank you so much for sharing!
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Thanks Daphne, appreciate the comment and rating!
Delicious! My fiancé loved it. He is Mexican and knows good chorizo!
Hi Sylvie,
I also adore chorizo! I detect the taste of cinnamon in three chorizo we buy at a Mexican market. Does this flavor come from another seasoning, like cumin? 🙂
Thanks for your Information a very much Healthier version without all of the grease.Thanks again
Thanks!!
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Can’t wait to try this. I have a chili recipe that calls for chorizo and I usually use Diestal Turkey Chorizo but can’t find it so i’m excited to use this instead! Homemade is always better anyway!
Let me know what you think Julie!
Hi Sylvie, the recipe sounds great but you have forgotten to include the chorizo in the list of ingredients for the Easy Turkey Chorizo 🙂
Hi Keri, When you combine the ingredients, it turns into chorizo. 🙂
That makes more sense now – I am from the UK, where we use Spanish chorizo a lot as an ingredient. Do you have that too? It’s a cured and seasoned sausage that is chopped up and added to paella etc. or sliced and fried and served on its own as an appetizer. I have never heard of a meal called chorizo before! Thanks for explaining – every day is a school day!
Oh ok Keri I understand now! Yes, this is a recipe for Mexican Style chorizo (which you can buy here raw, and its usually made with pork). Spanish style, the kind you are talking about is totally different…. I understand the confusion!!! LOL!
Kerri this isnt a meal this is how to make non-fermented fresh chorizo with turkey not pork. Look at your ingeredients of your store-bought maybe you will like to make your own with healthier ingredients like poultry, not pork and not fermeneted but with out additives.
Then just freeze raw then cook or cook then store in fridge or freezer to use in your recipes.
* Healthier IMHO, I believe properly raised poultry is healthier than pork using the bible as my authority