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Chorizo Criollo substitute

Best substitute

Fresh Bratwurst

Use the same amount by weight as the chorizo criollo you are replacing

Best for choripan

Different taste

Fresh bratwurst is the best supermarket swap at 1:1, and fresh white Polish sausage is closer still because it is already garlic and marjoram forward. Sweet Italian sausage works if you can find one without fennel. What matters is matching the description rather than the label: you want a fresh, coarse, garlicky, unsmoked pork sausage with plenty of fat. Cured Spanish chorizo and crumbly, chilli-heavy Mexican chorizo are both completely different products and neither will give you a choripan.

Other chorizo criollo substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Chorizo Criollo with ratios

  1. 2Fresh White Polish Sausage (biala kielbasa)

    Close match

    Use the same amount by weight

    Raw, uncured, garlic and marjoram seasoned coarse pork sausage, pale rather than pink.

    What changes
    Best for
    choripan, asado, grilling, sausage sandwiches

    The closest thing on this list. Fresh Polish sausage is garlic-forward, coarse-ground, fatty and unsmoked, which is nearly the exact specification for criollo, and marjoram is close enough to the oregano some criollo recipes use. Make sure the label says fresh or white, not smoked, since smoked kielbasa is a different sausage entirely.

  2. 3Sweet Italian Sausage (fennel-free)

    Different taste

    Use the same amount by weight

    Fresh coarse pork sausage with a similar fat content and grill behaviour.

    What changes
    Best for
    choripan, grilling, pan cooking, weeknight substitution

    Texture and fat are right and it is everywhere. Fennel is the giveaway, so read the ingredients: with fennel in it the sandwich tastes distinctly Italian. If fennel is unavoidable, squeeze the meat out of the casings, mix in two grated garlic cloves per pound and form thick patties instead, which gives you a much closer flavour.

  3. 4Fresh Longaniza

    Close match

    Use the same amount by weight

    The fresh Latin American long sausage sold in most Latin groceries, which in several countries is essentially the same sausage as criollo.

    What changes
    Best for
    choripan, asado, grilling, rice dishes

    Depending on the maker this can be indistinguishable from criollo, so it is worth asking at the counter. Check two things: that it is fresh rather than dried or cured, and which style it is, because the sweet Filipino longganisa is sugary and the annatto-heavy Puerto Rican style is much more spiced. The plain fresh pork versions are ideal.

  4. 5Homemade Criollo Mix

    Close match

    2 lb coarse-ground pork shoulder with 2 teaspoons salt, 4 grated garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and 2 tablespoons cold red wine

    Mix, rest overnight, then case it or form thick logs and grill.

    What changes

    Aim for pork shoulder with 25 to 30 percent fat.

    Best for
    choripan, asado, accuracy, when no good fresh sausage is sold locally

    This is the closest you will get without importing, and it takes twenty minutes plus a rest. The red wine and nutmeg are what make it read Argentine rather than generic. Keep the mixture cold throughout so the fat does not smear, and cook a small test patty to check the salt before shaping the rest.

  5. 6Smoked Kielbasa or Andouille

    Taste and texture differ

    ¾ the weight called for

    Fully cooked, cured, smoked sausages of roughly the right diameter and grillability.

    What changes
    Best for
    fast cooking, sandwiches, when only cooked sausage is available

    Convenient, since they only need heating, and honestly quite far off. Smoking and curing make them taste hammy rather than porky, and because they are already cooked they release very little fat and juice into the bread, which is half the pleasure of choripan. Andouille is also considerably spicier than criollo, which is not a hot sausage at all.

What is Chorizo Criollo?

Chorizo Criollo is Chorizo criollo is the fresh, raw, unsmoked coarse-ground pork sausage grilled at Argentine and Uruguayan asados, seasoned mainly with garlic, salt and pepper rather than with paprika or chilli.

Cooking tips

  • Do not prick the casing. Those juices are the flavour, and every hole means a drier sausage and a fat flare-up under the grill. This is the single most repeated instruction at an Argentine grill.
  • Cook it slowly over moderate or indirect heat for 20 to 25 minutes, turning occasionally, until it reaches 160F inside. Criollo is thick and raw, and hot fast heat gives you a blackened skin around a pink centre.
  • For choripan, butterfly the cooked sausage lengthwise almost all the way through, open it flat and press it cut side down on the grill for the last two or three minutes. That mariposa cut is what gives you a flat sausage that fits the bread and a browned interior.
  • Toast the bread on the grill and top with chimichurri rather than ketchup. The vinegar and herbs are cutting the fat, which is exactly what the sandwich needs, and it is also the traditional pairing.
  • If your substitute is leaner than criollo, particularly chicken or turkey sausage, brush it with oil before grilling. There simply is not enough fat in it to keep the sausage juicy over twenty minutes.
  • Fresh sausage is perishable in a way cured sausage is not. Cook it within two days of buying or freeze it, and never leave it sitting at ambient temperature next to a hot grill.

Frequently asked questions

Is chorizo criollo the same as Spanish chorizo?

No, and they are barely related in the kitchen. Spanish chorizo is dry-cured and air-dried, firm enough to slice thinly and eat raw, and coloured deep red by a large quantity of pimenton. Chorizo criollo is a raw fresh sausage that must be cooked, coarse and pale pink, seasoned mainly with garlic, salt and pepper. Substituting Spanish chorizo for criollo gives you a smoky cured slice where a juicy grilled sausage should be.

Can I use Mexican chorizo for choripan?

Only if there is nothing else. Mexican chorizo is at least fresh, so it does have to be cooked, but it is dominated by dried chilli, paprika and vinegar and it is ground so finely that it crumbles rather than holding together as a link. You will end up with a spicy red sausage sandwich, which is a good thing to eat and not a choripan. If you must, squeeze it out of the casings and cook it as thick patties.

Is chorizo criollo spicy?

No, and this surprises people who associate the word chorizo with heat. Argentine and Uruguayan criollo is a mild, garlicky, savoury sausage, and the heat at an asado comes from the salsa criolla or a chilli-spiked chimichurri on the side rather than from the sausage. That is why bratwurst and fresh Polish sausage are better substitutes than either Mexican chorizo or a spicy Italian one.

Can I use a smoked sausage instead?

It will feed people and it will not be right. Smoked sausages are already cooked and cured, so they taste of ham and smoke rather than fresh pork and garlic, and they release very little of the fat and juice that soaks into the bread in a proper choripan. If a smoked sausage is all you have, cut back on any other smoked element on the plate and be generous with chimichurri to cut through it.

Do I have to grill chorizo criollo?

No. A heavy pan over medium heat with a splash of water, covered for the first ten minutes and then uncovered to brown, works well and is the standard indoor method. The oven at 400F for about 25 minutes on a rack also works. What you lose is the char and the faint smoke from the fat dripping onto coals, so finish it hard in a dry pan for colour and serve it with plenty of chimichurri.

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