Stay on track with an Easy Chorizo Skillt Chili recipe that only takes minutes to put together. Because it’s made with homemade chorizo, I know it’s made with wholesome ingredients. This quick weeknight meal is suitable for those following a low carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, Keto or THM lifestyle.
Are you a chili lover? I am.
I love chili with beans and I love chili with out beans. I love spicy chili and mild. Turkey chili is awesome and so is chili made with cubed or ground beef. I’ll share my mom’s recipe for chili one day, but it is so spicy that I will have to play around with the recipe just a tiny bit. The hubs and I don’t mind spicy, but I never serve spicy food to the kids.
I’d never had an all chorizo chili, until I created this, and I’m glad I did because it is great!
It’s a current trend to cook and photograph almost anything and everything in a skillet. So, I’m happy to say that this meal is on-trend! (If you know me, then you will know how silly this is, as I am embarrassingly not au courant.) But honestly, this is actually how I make a quick and dirty chili during the week — in a skillet, except I generally use ground beef or ground turkey.
The beauty of any skillet meal is that it all happens in one pan, so clean-up is easy. And, I think we can all agree that easy during the week is a WIN!
Because I’m using my homemade chorizo, I know this recipe is gluten-free, sugar-free and free of any weird stuff.
You never know what you’re getting from the grocery store and I know that those of you with food allergies need to be extra careful. Normally, I would use green bell pepper in a chili recipe, but honestly, I didn’t have one. The flavor did not suffer, and to be honest, I prefer red over green anyway.
If you don’t feel like making your own chorizo (it’s super easy – don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list) I am sure that store bought would be fine, but it may be more spicy. And, don’t use the Mexican red chorizo in the casing. It disintegrates into a liquidy mess.
You may notice two ingredients below that are not usually in chili. Adding a little bit of cocoa and instant coffee lends a smokey flavor and a nice depth to any chili.
This easy Chorizo Skillet Chili is 8 net carbs per serving.
Stay on track with an Easy Chorizo Skillt Chili recipe that only takes minutes to put together. Because it's made with homemade chorizo, I know it's made with wholesome ingredients. This quick weeknight meal is suitable for those following a low carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, Keto or THM lifestyle.
- 2 pounds homemade chorizo or store bought
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 ounces bell pepper chopped, about 1 medium
- 4 ounces onion chopped, 1/2 of 1 medium
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups beef/chicken broth or more as needed during simmering
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure ground chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
- 15 oz can black soy beans drained (optional)**
- ***note
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Over a medium-high flame, heat the oil in a large skillet and brown the chorizo. Lower the heat to medium, push the chorizo to the sides of the skillet and add the chopped onion and bell pepper, sauteing until the onions are almost translucent. Mix the chorizo and vegetables together and add the granulated garlic, chile powder and cumin to the pan, cooking just a minute to become aromatic.
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Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, cocoa and instant coffee. If you don't have any instant coffee, trade 1 cup of broth for 1 cup of coffee. Stir and bring up to a simmer.
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Drain the black soy beans and add to the chili, simmering for about 20 minutes. Add more broth as needed to your desired consistency.
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Taste and adjust seasonings per your taste. Mine did not need salt.
***I used Fresh Homemade Chorizo in this recipe. Using another kind of chorizo will result in a different flavor as it will have differing amounts of herbs and spices. You will have to adjust the seasonings to your taste.
**Here is the nutritional facts if not using the black soy beans:
Cal: 296, Fat: 20, Carbs: 10, Fiber: 2, Protein: 20, Net Carbs: 8
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I just made this and it’s amazing. My only issue is it calls for 3 cups of beef broth, and using 2 cups has my chili seriously soupy. I even drained 90 percent of the grease from the chorizo. I’m not quite sure what went wrong. But it’s delicious nonetheless.
Erika. It may be because I used homemade chorizo made with ground pork which has much less fat than what you get from the store. I’m guessing that I had a lot more meat in mine and that a lot of the built in the store bought chorizo rendered out. I’ll make a note to mention that in the recipe. I’m sorry your chili was soupy, but glad that you liked it anyway. Thanks for leaving a comment. Enjoy your day. -Kim
My husband and I tried this last night – was absolutely delicious!!
I’m so glad you liked it. It’s a busy-night go-to for us in the Fall. Thanks for taking the time to comment on the recipe, Stephanie. Happy Thursday. -Kim
Maybe a stupid question, but here in the Netherlands we only know chorizo as the harder kind of dried sausage. I suppose that is not what you mean after looking at your recipe for homemade chorizo? Your chorizo is more like spiced ground pork as a basis for the chili, right?
Planning this recipy for the weekend in a large quantity and freezing it partially for busy week-days to come! 🙂
You are absolutely right, Cona. The Mexican chorizo is like spiced ground pork (sausage grind with a lot of fat) and adds a lot of flavor to the chili. I hope you enjoy the recipe and the rest of your week. -Kim
Hi Kim!
This looks so good I can’t wait to try it. Both my husband and I love Chorizo, but we have a hard time finding it where we live, and when we do it’s always the extra hot which I can no longer eat 🙁 Your recipe for homemade looks so easy I know my hubby will be all over that. His mother was Portuguese so he grew up eating it. There is a very large community of Portuguese in Bermuda so I fell in love with it when I first moved there. We used it in everything! Thanks so much for sharing both these recipes!
Awww. Thanks, Meg. I hope you guys like it. The good thing about the chorizo recipe is that you can customize the spices to your taste… don’t like cinnamon – leave it out, want some spice – add more. Having the chorizo ready-made in the freezer sure made the chili easy that day. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. Have a great week! -Kim
You make your own chorizo – I’m impressed! The chili looks delicious. Pinning!!
Hey, Shea. Thanks! Yeah, making your own chorizo is super easy. The hardest part is dragging the spices out of the cabinet. 🙂