Easy Chorizo and Eggs

How to make a delicious chorizo and eggs breakfast skillet perfect for breakfast, brunch, and even dinner! Thanks to chorizo sausage, this skillet is loaded with flavor and it can be made in under 20 minutes.

Chorizo is one of our favorite ingredients to cook with. It’s ultra-flavorful, spicy, and perfect with eggs. We pile the chorizo and eggs into warm tortillas for amazing breakfast tacos.

What is Chorizo?

Chorizo is a flavorful, spice-packed pork sausage. It comes in two forms: fresh (or raw) sausage and cured (or dried) sausage. It is used in many cuisines including Spanish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, and Portuguese. Both versions are highly seasoned and can be spicy (the spiciness can vary depending on who’s making it).

Fresh chorizo is often called Mexican chorizo and resembles the texture of Italian sausage. It’s sold in casings and as bulk sausage.

Dried chorizo is called Spanish chorizo and resembles hard salami. You can slice and eat it with no cooking required.

While both forms of chorizo are delicious, they aren’t interchangeable. For this breakfast skillet, we’re using fresh chorizo. Here are a few more ways to use Mexican (raw) chorizo sausage:

• Swap regular bratwurst sausages for chorizo links and cook on the grill and serve in buns topped with pickled onions, cotija cheese (or queso fresco), and a squeeze of fresh lime.
• Fill mushroom caps with raw chorizo and bake for spicy and flavorful stuffed mushrooms.
• Remove the sausage from the casings and cook in a skillet until crisp. Use this and the rendered fat as a base for soups, chili, stews, and stewed greens.

Spanish chorizo can be used in many dishes, too. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use it:

• Slice and serve with cheese (I love Manchego) and olives.
• Crisp in a skillet — just as you would when crisping up prosciutto. Add the crispy sausage to salads, rice dishes or vegetables.
• Render chorizo in a pot before steaming mussels. We have this white wine mussels recipe on the blog. Adding a bit of chorizo adds color, spice, and meatiness.

Making the Best Chorizo and Eggs

This chorizo and scrambled eggs recipe couldn’t be simpler. It’s also one of our favorite meals. We make it for breakfast and even dinner.

Start by removing fresh sausage from the casings. Add the raw sausage to a hot pan and cook until the fat renders and the sausage is browned. As it cooks, use a spoon to break it into pieces.

When the sausage is cooked, check the pan. If there’s lots of rendered fat, consider removing some. Some fat is a good thing. It has lots of flavors! Too much, though, and the eggs will be greasy.

Now for the eggs — we’ve talked about scrambled eggs before. For the best scrambled eggs, you want to use medium-low heat. If the pan is very hot from cooking the sausage, wait a minute or two before adding the eggs.

When the eggs are cooked, serve the whole dish family style with fresh lime, cilantro, a sprinkle of salty cheese (we love cotija cheese), and warm tortillas.