Spice Up Your Burger By Adding Chorizo Right Into The Blend

Although hamburger toppings are seemingly endless and easily customizable to personal tastes, the burger patties themselves can be a bit on the bland side. A basic burger recipe requires ground beef, salt, pepper, and not much else. But you don't have to meekly follow along and get stuck with a tasteless burger. You can spice things up by including some chorizo in your burger mix. For those who might be unfamiliar, chorizo is a type of spicy pork sausage that's popular in Mexican and Spanish cuisine. It's known for often having a bit of a kick in the taste department. 

There are two main types of chorizo — the Spanish and Mexican varieties. The Spanish version is typically made with smoked sausage seasoned with garlic and pimentón, also called Spanish smoked paprika. The pimentón gives the sausage a bit of a sweet heat, as well as its dark red color. Mexican chorizo, considered to be the spicier of the two varieties, is made with raw pork flavored with chile peppers and vinegar for taste. Within these two categories are myriad variations so there's room for experimentation for you to find your perfect blend. 

Whatever type of chorizo you choose, the sausage should add attention-getting flavor and spice to an otherwise bland burger patty. Likewise, the ground beef can act as a way to cool some of the chorizo's heat for a more balanced flavor profile overall.  

Chorizo can add more than spice and flavor to your hamburger meat. The sausage can also make for a juicier and more tender burger. Ground beef can become dried out when it loses moisture and fat. That's where chorizo comes into play. The pork sausage has a high percentage of fat, which the Mayo Clinic notes may not be the best for your cholesterol levels, but that can work wonders for keeping hamburger patties moist. 

Adding pork to your hamburger mix to add flavor and moisture works especially well if you're cooking with leaner ground beef, which has a lower fat percentage overall. The trick is adding just the right amount of chorizo. If you want a mixture that's equal parts taste and texture, then go for an equal blend of pork and ground beef. However, if it is your first time cooking burgers mixed with chorizo, you might want to take a more cautious approach and mix in a smaller ratio of sausage to beef.

For many, there's nothing better than a burger cooked medium-well. However, you may want to reconsider cooking your burger medium-well if you plan on incorporating chorizo into the mix. As Heathline reports, you should never eat undercooked pork because of the risk of also eating bacteria and parasites. Nobody wants to dive into a burger that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) warns could be loaded with E.coli, salmonella, or worms. The USDA recommends that all ground meat mixtures including ground beef and pork be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. A medium-well burger would only register an internal temperature of 150 degrees Farhenheit.

Chorizo, like ground beef, isn't relegated to only burgers. The spicy sauce pairs well with many foods, from eggs to pasta to shrimp. Since chorizo is just a type of sausage, consider subbing it in your favorite sausage-centric breakfast, lunch, or dinner recipe. You can even use chorizo to celebrate the fall season by making pumpkin and chorizo tacos.