These tacos with homemade turkey chorizo are a lighter take on a taco classic! The chorizo is also perfect for burritos, breakfast bowls or quesadillas.
Have you ever met someone who doesn’t like tacos?
If you answered YES, you need to drop that person like a hot potato. Tacos are too delicious for anyone to dislike. It’s just fact.
Back when I lived in in DC, I had Taco Friday nearly every week. And I know you’re probably thinking, isn’t is Taco Tuesday? Well, the work week ends on Friday, so after 40 hours in a cubicle I was ready for takeout TACOS on Friday.
We used to go to an amazing place called Taco Bamba (definitely check it out if you’re ever in the DC Metro region!). One of my favorite classic tacos is chorizo y papa (sausage and potato).
These homemade turkey chorizo tacos are a healthy swap twist on a taco classic. Because I swapped pork for ground turkey, you end up with leaner (though still juicy) sausage as a result.
I always thought making chorizo sausage from scratch was intimidating but this homemade turkey chorizo is far less time consuming than traditional sausage.
There’s no need for sausage casing or fancy twisting techniques to form the sausage links. For this turkey chorizo, you just throw all of the seasonings together in a glass bowl and let that delicious flavor soak in.
How to make homemade chorizo
Traditonally chorizo is a red, pork based sausage popular in Mexico and Spain. In this lightened up turkey version, the sausage is still packed with tasty RED taste bud pleasers including:
- New Mexico Chilies
- Sofrito
- Smoked Paprika
New Mexico Chilies:
This was actually my first time cooking with New Mexico chilies, but they were SO GOOD! You can use any smoky, dry chilies that you like though for this chorizo. Guajillo or chile de arbol would be equally delicious, I’m sure.
Tip: You can usually find dried chilies near fresh herbs or in the international aisle. I like New Mexico chilies because they are more smoky than spicy. You can use a spicier dried chili if you like. No matter which chilies you choose though, you’ll have to soak them in hot water for 30 minutes to re-hydrate them.
Sofrito:
If you’ve never used it, it’s basically a flavor base for sauces, soups or rice. Roasted tomato and onion are the most prominent flavors here.
You can make sofrito from scratch, but for the sake of time I like using the red one from Goya (see pic below). You can find this in the international aisle as well.
Smoked Paprika:
I literally use smoked paprika in everything. I like that you get the rich smokiness of grilled food, without having to actually heat up a grill. It also adds great color to anything you put it on. It makes plain things like rice or baked chicken breast much better! And of course it makes this turkey chorizo extra yummy!
↓↓Doesn’t the finished turkey chorizo look so good?!↓↓
Since this recipe isn’t just about homemade turkey chorizo, let’s get to the good stuff…Tacos. Finally, right? So the thing that ties these tacos all together is a fresh corn salsa.
The corn salsa in these tacos is pretty simple and makes a great side dish for everyday dinner or a summer BBQ. Most of all, it’s a sweet and tangy mixture of corn, bell peppers, lime juice and cilantro.
P.S.: If you don’t like cilantro, you can always substitute parsley instead.
These chorizo in these tacos are also a great vessel for hiding veggies from picky eater’s.
P.S. Check out How to eat more vegetables: A picky eater’s guide to learn how to sneak more veggies in your meals!
Finally, as an optional extra source of creaminess for these tacos, you can finish them off with some mashed avocado or sour cream.
Pin this recipe on Pinterest, share it on Instagram and let me know what you think in the comments!
Best Tacos with Homemade Turkey Chorizo Sausage
Rate this Recipe:Ingredients
- 6 small corn tortillas
Turkey Chorizo Sausage
- 16 oz ground turkey
- 5 dried New Mexico or Guajillo chilies
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1/3 cup sofrito I use the red, Goya brand sofrito
- 3 tbsp dried oregano I suggest Mexican oregano, if you can find it
- 3 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Corn Salsa
- 4 corn on the cob, kernals removed
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1/2 lime, juice only
- 1/2 jalepeno chopped
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil water. Place New Mexico chilies in a glass bowl and cover with boiling water. Let the chilies soak for 30 mins- 1 hour. Drain the chilies and use kitchen shears to cut off the stems and shake out the seeds inside. Add the re-hydrated chilies to a blender along with garlic cloves, 1/3 cup water, 2 tbs olive oil, salt and pepper. Strain the puree and add it to the ground turkey along with sofrito, oregano, smoked paprika and more salt and pepper to taste. Stir the meat together so that everything is combined. Let marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Place a large skillet on the stove with the heat off. Hold 1 corn cob upright in the pan with the wider end on the bottom of the skillet. Run a large knife from the top of the corn, to the bottom removing the kernals and allowing them to fall into the skillet. Repeat this with all the corn. Discard the cobs and turn the heat on to medium high. Add water and olive oil and let the corn steam for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the cooled corn to a bowl with red bell pepper, lime juice, jalepeno, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.
- In another large skillet, turn the heat on high. Add 1 tbs of olive oil to the hot pan. Add the chorizo to the pan in 5-6 large clumps (i.e. unformed burger patties). Let the chorizo cook without stirring for 5 minutes. Tip: Spacing out the meat and leaving it untouched will allow the sausage to form a crispy crust. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the meat into crumbles. Reduce the heat to medium and cook 2-3 minutes until meat it thoroughly cooked.
- To Assemble: Warm tortillas in the oven or toaster. Fill them with a little meat and top with corn salsa. Add some smashed avocado and a squeeze of lime for extra creaminess (optional). Enjoy!
Notes
- Consider making the homemade turkey chorizo the night before so the flavor has time to soak into the sausage.
- You can make the homemade turkey chorizo, form it into patties and freeze it for other recipes.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see how it turned out! Snap a picture and tag @brightrootskitchen or use #brightrootskitchen on Insta.
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