Spicy fresh green chorizo tacos with guacamole & fries – plus a brief rundown of our time in Mexico City. Jump to Recipe
My mouth was on fire – the lip-burning, eye-watering, nose-running, hiccup-inducing kind of fire. Warm charred corn tortillas encased grilled green chorizo sausage, crisp salty fries and the hottest guacamole I’d ever experienced. We were standing on the sidewalk in Mexico City beside Ricos Tacos Toluca, a street lunch spot adorned with vivid loops of red and green chorizo, and I had foolishly assumed the innocuous looking bowl of avocado next to the (much spicier appearing) salsas would be just that – a soothing side. Wrong. It didn’t stop them from being the best tacos I ate on the trip, but I was much more wary of potential heat levels from then on.
We spent 3 days in Mexico City over New Years, and I had only two regrets – that it was only three days (I could have spent weeks) and that it was New Years, when many restaurants, cafes and street stalls shut down for the holiday break. However, it did mean the city was much quieter and easier to navigate, and I know I will be back.
There is history in abundance – the pre-Aztec civilisation at Teotihuacan, the Aztec ruins at Templo Mayor, the Spanish churches and missions, Chapultepec Castle and the more recent Anthropology Museum. There’s the art and culture in Diego Riviera’s murals, Frida Kahlo’s home (and now museum), and the Palacio de Belles Artes (to name just the most well-known). There are the many green spaces of Chapultepec Park, Parque Mexico and others. The markets are some of the best in world – Mercado de San Juan, the specialty market where chefs shop, the local Roma mercade de medelin, and the kind that are so big you might need a guide, like mercado de la merced. There are the restaurants, cafes and shopping of areas like Condesa and Roma, where we drank coffee and devoured guava croissants from Rosetta Panaderia and experienced modern Mexican food at Fonda Fina.
For my brothers, it was the al pastor tacos: rotating flaming vertical spits of marinated pork, the meat skillfully sliced with a bit of grilled pineapple onto fresh corn tacos and topped with onion and coriander (El Tizoncito in Condesa were our favourite). And that isn’t to mention the churros. Churreria el Moro has been open since 1935, and is still open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with queues out the door. The churros are worth the wait in line – served straight from the fryer, they’re golden, crunchy and coated with cinnamon sugar, and best eaten dunked in rich chocolate sauce alongside a steaming mug of spicy Mexican hot chocolate.
After spotting Jenny’s green chorizo recipe over at Hello My Dumpling, I knew those original heat-blasting tacos deserved a recreation at home. I did have difficulty finding fresh mexican ingredients in this part of the world, particularly the fresh chiles, so adapted everything a little to what is normally available in New Zealand and Australia. If you are in the US with access to serrano and poblano chiles, go ahead and use those instead!
The green chorizo is not nearly as hard as you might imagine: ground pork is combined with coriander and parsley, toasted and ground spices, charred chiles and garlic, and fresh blanched spinach for extra green. It’s spicy and fragrant, and you could easily make more to freeze. It’s topped with a fresh, chunky guacamole, full of lime and coriander, and finished with oven-baked crispy potato chips (or fries, depending on where you are from!) and quick roasted cherry tomatoes.
Cook’s notes:
- I had difficulty finding fresh mexican ingredients in this part of the world, particularly the fresh chiles, so adapted everything a little to what is normally available in New Zealand and Australia. If you are in the US with access to serrano and poblano chiles, go ahead and use those instead! Here I used 3 green chiles (asian green cayenne, I believe) – the original recipes tended to use 2-3 serrano chiles and 1 medium poblano pepper.
- The guacamole heat is also dialed down, though you can easily adapt this to your chile preference.
- Try to find corn tortillas if you can, but flour tortillas will also work.
- The green chorizo can also be used to make meatballs – just add an egg to the raw chorizo mixture to bind it.
- 500 g / 1 pound ground pork
- 2/3 cup roughly chopped coriander
- 2/3 cup roughly chopped parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 long green chiles (asian green cayenne, I think - just the ones ubiquitously available in NZ and Australian supermarkets). See Cook’s Notes above for more information.
- 8 large cloves of garlic , unpeeled
- 2 cups packed fresh spinach
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup finely diced white onion
- 1 green chile
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup coriander , roughly chopped
- 2 large avocados
- 1 lime
- 1 punnet / 250g cherry tomatoes
- 5-7 large agria potatoes
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- corn tortilla , 2-3 per person
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In a small fry pan over high heat, dry toast the black pepper corns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and bay leaves until fragrant. Remove from the heat, transfer to a spice grinder or high speed blender with the dried oregano and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
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Return the fry pan to the high heat and roast the unpeeled garlic cloves and green chillies, turning a few times until slightly softened and blackened in spots, about 10 minutes. Set aside until cool, then peel the garlic cloves. Use gloves to deseed the chillies.
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In the same fry pan, add a tablespoon of oil and sautee the spinach over a medium heat until wilted. Transfer to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to press out some of the liquid.
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In a blender, puree the roasted garlic cloves, green chiles, wilted spinach, red wine vinegar and salt until smooth. Add the chopped parsley and coriander and blitz a couple of times until evenly chopped through, but not completely smooth.
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In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, powdered spices and chile puree with gloved hands until blended. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
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In a mortar and pestle, pound the finely diced onion, green chile, salt until very well combined and almost paste-like. Add the coriander and pound a bit more.
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Half the avocados, dice into small chunks and scoop into a bowl. Add the onion mixture and stir to combine. Add the lime and stir to combine. Taste to season with extra lime, salt, coriander or chile to taste.
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Preheat the oven to 200°C.
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Wash the potatoes and slice into chips, about 1cm thick. Spread out the fries on a metal oven tray large enough to hold them in a single layer and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat with the oil, spread into a single layer and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and tender, flipping at halfway so each side of the chips cooks evenly.
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About 15 minutes before the fries are done, half the cherry tomatoes and place on another baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
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To cook the chorizo, heat a large fry pan over medium heat with a splash of olive oil. Cook the chorizo 5-8 minutes until cooked through (you may need to do this in batches if you have a lot of mince).
It all sounds so good! I’ve never been to Mexico City but perhaps one day!!
oh definitely add it to the travel list, it’s an amazing city – one of my favourites! and an easy long weekend trip from the US. thanks Christiann!
Love the green chorizo concept! Your post is a lovely reflection of your time in Mexico City as well!
Thanks Bella!
look at you, zipping all around the world! first cuba, now mexico. sweet life, yo! keep sharing your travel photos, i love them!
thanks Michelle! haha I have been very lucky with travel this year, I admit – but I love it! you’ve got to visit Havana and Mexico City sometime if you get the chance – they’re relatively close to you in NY, you could even do a weekend trip. Escape the freezing cold NY winter haha!
Your photos of Mexico are stunning! I love seeing and hearing about peoples travels — it’s like I get to take a little mini-vacation while sipping my coffee.
And these tacos are making my mouth water. I’m a huge fan of chorizo, but had never even heard of green chorizo (whaa?!). I’ve also never ventured into the world of making chorizo from scratch, so now I have to. These sound too amazing to pass up. Thank you for sharing them and your trip with us!
Thanks so much Willow! Green chorizo is amazing – it’s fresh, rather than the very cured Spanish red chorizo we are mainly used to. Definitely give it a chance. x
Travel queen! Your life is amazing. Also, if you start a post with “my mouth was on fire”, you know I’m in :).
hahaha and here I was thinking the same about you, with your stunning photography retreats and wedding shoots. Hope you’re well xx
Never been to Mexico City, but can just imagine how great the food must be! I also love these tacos – I’ve never even heard of green chorizo tacos before, but they sound fantastic and I love anything spicy. Bookmarking this!!
Thanks Laura! if you like spice, you’ll love these! x
OMG those shrimp tacos looks too dope! Mexico City is in my top 3 of places I wanna go to, after Seoul and LA – obviously because of the food!
Those shrimp tacos were AMAZING – so fresh and only a couple of dollars from a street food stall. They’re so much more liberal with lime, avocado and chile than any Mexican food made over in this part of the world – just makes it so much better! I’d love to spend time in Seoul and LA too – ah food travel is the best.
Love love love these! That green chorizo looks amazing!
Thanks Nicole!
Cant wait to go to Mexico City! These tacos look smashing. Never tried green chorizo, definitely on the list.
Thanks Jenny! Definitely give green chorizo a go, I’d never heard of it before this trip either. It’s very different from the traditional cured Spanish chorizo that I was used to, but I think I like it even more!
never been to Mexico city, but thanks to your post, I can’t wait to get there. I could eat tacos for breakfast / lunch /dinner and for mid night snack, if only I have room in my tummy:) Too bad, I don’t eat pork. This looks delish!
Oh I would 100% recommend it! If you’re a taco lover, you’ll be in heaven. There are lots of other meats available besides pork there, and this chorizo recipe could also be made with beef instead, so I don’t think you’d have trouble 🙂 thanks Maria!
YAY!!!! Green chorizo is my fav! I freeze loads of this recipe and pull it out for convenient dinners.
Yesss definitely planning to make extra to freeze next time I make this – can’t wait to try your harissa baked eggs with it too! Thanks for the recipe x
This post is beautiful Claudia. Your words evoke such rich images, it’s as if we were there with you in Mexico. Also your green chorizo looks bomb, I think that’s one of the best things about food: the way flavors and textures can transport you to a different time or place. Thank you for sharing this recipe and your trip with us!
Thanks so much Summer! I’m the same – I love how certain foods can aid memory. When I first made these back home in NZ, it brought back so many little things for the whole family to talk about that we wouldn’t have otherwise, from that particular day in Mexico City.