Chorizo Sliders

Chorizo Sliders made with simple homemade chorizo, easy garlic mayo, fresh pico de gallo, and queso fresco for an explosion of flavor in every bite. These are great for appetizers or the main dish!

Lately I’ve been having incredible bursts of inspiration and motivation where I just want to DO things. It can be hard to harness that kind of energy into productive and efficient time because my mind immediately starts racing over all the things I want to do for myself and for my blog business. Sometimes I look back at my brainstorming in my notebook and think I kind of look like a crazy person because one page to the next looks completely different in organization and content. Do you ever have this problem? How do you take creative energy and turn it into something real without loosing focus?

Sometimes restaurants can spark recipe creativity in my brain and when I taste an incredible dish, I immediately want to recreate it at home and share it with you guys. Jared and I shared Chorizo Sliders recently at a restaurant in Chandler, Arizona called Barrelhouse American Kitchen & Cocktails. Our entrees were okay but these Chorizo Sliders and the “Them Apples” cocktail I had which tasted like an apple pie were incredible. While scarfing down the sliders I couldn’t help but think how relatively easy they’d be to make at home since they don’t require many special ingredients or professional equipment.

So, here we are! I’m sharing my version of the recipe, which I think is pretty spot-on. The homemade chorizo is made ahead of time to let the flavors marinade and utilizes both sweet smoked paprika and hot smoked paprika which you can find in many grocery stores or places like Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table, World Market, Whole Foods, Penzey’s, and other specialty stores or on Amazon. You can of course save time by using premade chorizo mix and shaping it into patties and even purchasing premade pico de gallo from the produce section of the grocery store, but making everything yourself is usually much more flavorful!

Recipe Rundown
Taste: Smoky, slightly spicy, fresh, garlicky, and all-around mouthwatering.
Texture: The chorizo patties are caramelized at the edges while the pico is juicy and the cheese is soft and sticky. The buns are toasted goodness.
Ease: Every element of the recipe is easy to make and can be done ahead of time, though it does dirty a few dishes.
Appearance: Like gourmet food from a restaurant!
Pros: Tasty Mexican-inspired spin on sliders.
Cons: Makes a bit of a mess, nothing too crazy though.
Would I make this again? Yes!

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How to make

Chorizo Sliders

Yield: 8 sliders

Chorizo Sliders made with simple homemade chorizo, easy garlic mayo, fresh pico de gallo, and queso fresco for an explosion of flavor in every bite. These are great for appetizers or the main dish!

Ingredients

For the chorizo:

• 1 pound ground pork (20% fat)
• 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked hot paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• Vegetable oil, for frying

For the garlic mayonnaise:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pico de gallo:

• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro

For the sliders:

• Slider buns, preferably brioche-style, toasted
• Queso fresco

Directions

For the chorizo:

1. Place all the chorizo ingredients in a large bowl and mix together with your fingers until everything is thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week to develop the flavors.

For the mayonnaise:

1. In a small bowl mix everything together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the pico de gallo:

1. In a small bowl mix everything together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To finish the sliders:

1. Shape the chorizo mixture into patties the same size as your slider buns. Cover the bottom of a large skillet with oil and heat over medium-high. Fry the chorizo patties until cooked through and browned on both sides.
2. Slather the toasted buns with the garlic mayonnaise. Top with a chorizo patty, pico de gallo, and queso fresco. Serve.

Recipe Notes

This recipe can be easily doubled to serve more. The amount of sliders it yields will depend on how big you make the patties.

Recipe inspired by Barrelhouse American Kitchen

Course : Appetizer

Cuisine : Mexican

Recipe by Tessa Arias

Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)