If you know me you know I love tacos, but seeing as it is cozy season, I wanted to make a cozier taco. And what’s cozier than potatoes and sausage?
The potatoes are soft and seasoned to perfection to pair alongside the crisped chorizo. And it’s served with a salsa verde to brighten and balance. Salsa verde is surprisingly easy to make, so long as you can find tomatillos. If not, don’t sweat it, jarred salsa verde, or even your favorite hot sauce will do just fine here.
TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes
SERVES: 4
Grocery List + Printable version
Chef’s knife
Cutting board (not my exact one but very similar)
Small sheet pan
Large nonstick pan with lid (12” with lid)
Spatula (be sure to use plastic though if you’re not using a Hexclad nonstick)
Blender
2 large potatoes
2-3 uncooked chorizo sausages
1 red bell pepper
1 cup chicken or veggie broth
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 taco shells
Sour cream for serving
For the salsa verde
1/2 lb tomatillos
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 white onion
1 lime
Make your salsa verde. Peel and wash tomatillos. Place on a baking sheet with a quartered jalapeno (seeds removed). Place under broiler for 5 minutes or until charred. Drop into blender with 1/2 cup cilantro, 1/4 of a white onion, juice of 1 lime and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
Crisp your chorizo. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Remove casing from chorizo and drop into the pan in chunks. Let brown then flip, cooking all the way through until you get some crispy chunks. Remove from pan and set aside.
Make your filling. Chop your potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes and dice your red pepper. To the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil, then add diced potatoes, tossing in the oil. Add 1 cup of broth, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tsp vinegar to the pan and cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until potatoes are almost fork tender. Remove lid and stir gently. Add in seasoning: 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and cook until the liquid has evaporated. The potatoes will get sticky and break up a bit but this is what we want - a bit of texture, so keep them moving gently, this is why we’re using a nonstick pan. Add a splash of oil if they become too sticky. Add diced red peppers to pan and cook for 1 minute, the moisture from the peppers will help loosen any stuck potatoes, then add chorizo back in.
Assemble. Heat taco shells, I like to do directly on a gas flame if you have it, or on a frying pan on high heat to give it a good char. Assemble tacos with the chorizo mix, sour cream, the salsa verde and fresh cilantro.
Riff: make this as a hash and skip the taco shells. Top with an egg for extra protein. Or stuff the filling into a quesadilla with some cheese. Feel free to add more sausage too if you want it a but more meat heavy.
Extras: top with oaxaca or feta cheese, guacamole, pickled jalapenos or any other favorite taco topping that you have on hand.
What to serve it with: this has everything you need for a full dinner. But if you want to add on, an elote salad or slaw would be a really nice addition here.
Storing + reheating: keep the chorizo/potato mixture in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a frying pan on the stove, and top with cold salsa verde on freshly warmed taco shells.
Make it vegan: use veggie sausage or sauteed mushrooms and skip the sour cream. Be sure to use veggie stock too.
Make it dairy-free: just skip the sour cream!
Make it gluten-free: make sure the broth and chorizo are GF, and use corn taco shells.
Potatoes: I used russet but any kind will do. The starchier the potato, the softer and more textured it will get (so a russet will get softer over a red).
Uncooked chorizo sausages: sub in any uncooked sausage or ground pork, just note the spices. If you go with an Italian sausage it will change the vibe a bit but will still be delish.
Red bell pepper: any bell pepper, chopped poblano, or most firm veggies will work well here. I use red simply for the color contrast.
Chicken or veggie broth: the broth is needed to season the potatoes.
White vinegar: white wine, red wine or apple cider vinegar.
Cumin: dried coriander
Smoked paprika: regular paprika or dried chipotle powder will work - just skip the cayenne if using chipotle powder unless you like it really spicy.
Cayenne pepper: can be skipped if you don’t like spice
Taco shells: flour or corn both work well here. You can also skip the shells and turn this into other dishes - see notes above.
Sour cream: plain greek yogurt works great, or just skip altogether.
Anything else? Drop a comment if you have any questions, and don’t forget to let me know if you make it!