The day I found out that commercial chorizo was primarily composed of salivary glands and lymph nodes was the day I stopped eating it. Later I started to make my own from pork I ground myself. These days I tend to limit my pork consumption because it’s so much harder to trace what really went into it; grass fed beef is a whole lot easier to deal with in that regard. As a result I tend to keep it for the odd treat meal rather than as an everyday food. So lately I’ve been making grass fed beef chorizo. It’s Whole30 compliant, has no fillers at all and is absolutely delicious! Did I mention easy? Because it is ridiculously so: just season your beef, add some apple cider vinegar and mix! It’s not particularly photogenic so I’ve given you a picture of one of my morning chorizo hashes here – yum!
You can cook and eat this straightaway, or you can allow the flavors to mellow out overnight before cooking. What I tend to do is make a batch of grass fed beef chorizo and then split it up into single servings and freeze them. That way, it’s super easy to take out of the freezer the night before so that it’s ready to cook in the morning. It also prevents wayward “taste testers” from oversampling…
The way I’ve seasoned this is the way we personally like it, but it may be too hot for littles or non-spicy-food people, so feel free to adjust the amount of ancho chile powder to suit your tastes. All you need to do is measure out all your seasonings into a bowl like this:
Mix them together, add your beef and pour over the apple cider vinegar. I find the easiest way is to pull on a pair of disposable gloves and work the spices into the meat by hand. You don’t have to worry too much about overworking the meat like you might if making burger patties because you’re going to add the vinegar to the meat mix which will help tenderize it. Once it’s evenly mixed, you can cook it straightaway or save it for later – totally up to you!
PrintSpicy Beef Chorizo
No fillers or mystery meat here! Just grass fed beef chorizo that is Whole30 compliant! It is easy to make, delicious and freezes beautifully.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs ground grass fed beef
- 1 tbsp ground cumin seed
- 1 tsp ground coriander seed
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp oregano leaves
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 5 tbsp ancho chile powder
- 6 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Measure out all seasonings into a large bowl.
- Add ground beef to the bowl; pour over the apple cider vinegar.
- Use (gloved) hands to work the seasonings into the meat evenly.
- Can be cooked immediately or left in the refrigerator overnight for the flavors to develop.
- If freezing, do so immediately.
Notes
This recipe is Whole 30 compliant but NOT suitable for Autoimmune Paleo.
Yum! I’ve made my own turkey sausage meatballs (turkey, Italian seasoning, paprika, cayenne pepper and nutmeg) but didn’t think to add apple cider vinegar. Will have to try it and see the difference.
I’m borderline phobic about vinegar (I usually can’t be in the same room as the stuff, can’t stand the smell) but it really does make a difference. Somehow it amps up the flavors and makes the beef much more tender than normal ground beef would be. The downside of that is that it doesn’t make good patties / meatballs as a result. One day I mean to try making a chorizo burger, just haven’t quite gotten around to figuring it out yet 🙂
What did you put in the hash that’s pictured? I’d love the recipe for that 🙂
It’s chorizo, roasted broccoli, spinach and eggs, but I don’t have an exact recipe as I was just using up all the leftovers I had in the fridge! 🙂
This is tremendous! I added a chunk of ground turkey to make up the 2.5 pounds, mixed it all up good and fried a fistful in bacon fat with some shredded cabbage… dinner was served in five minutes. So very spicy and delicious – I’ll be making this a LOT. ¡Muchas gracias!
This makes me so happy! Yay!
We have made this twice now with ground pork (we ground our own)! it is delicious! Needed just a touch of salt in our opinion.
I hear you on the salt front. I used to make this salt free because it was something I added to other breakfast hash ingredients and I liked to season that as I went along, but you could add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of salt per pound of meat if you like, depending on your tastes 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Have you ever made this with ground turkey? I have to watch the fat content of my sausage,
I haven’t. I’m sure it would work, but it would likely come out more crumbly and drier without the fat from a less-lean meat.
Just making sure, is that correct 1lb ground cumin
No, it’s 1 tablespoon!