The best chorizo taste tested
Looking for a standout chorizo? From the pricey to the picante, we taste tested Spanish sausages to bring you our best buys for tapas, stews, sandwiches and more.
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Adding a slice of chorizo spices up most suppers, but with so many to choose from, it's hard to know what to buy. We select the best Spanish-style sausages on the market.
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Our favourite chorizo
Fuet extra, 180g
Best chorizo-like salami
Not strictly a chorizo but a Spanish salami never the less. 'Fuet extra' (also known as 'Espatec') is a specialty of Vic in Catalunya. A long, thin, sweet-tasting salami, it's firm-textured, with a sweet peppery flavour – great as an appetiser with a glass of Fino sherry, or as part of an assorted plate of charcuterie.
Available from Mediterranean Direct (£4.39)
Unearthed Spanish mini cooking chorizo sausages, 250g
Best chorizo for families
Proving that you can get good stuff in the supermarket. Once cooked, these small sausages ooze lots of sweet paprika rich oil. They don't have huge chunks of fat (as you find in some more authentic chorizo) which gives the meat an appealing gristle-free texture. They're sweet rather than spicy. Of all the products tested, these are the one kids really loved. Our 2-year-old tester wolfed them down!
Available from:
Waitrose (£2.50)
Ocado (£3.49)
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Sobrasada de Mallorca, 145g
Best spreadable chorizo (sobrasada)
The national sausage of Mallorca and the Balearic Islands: a soft, spreadable chorizo. It's made like this as the climate of these islands is too damp for air-drying. Made with streaky bacon, loin of pork and spices, mainly paprika. It can be eaten uncooked, and is best spread on toast and sprinkled with honey.
Currently unavailable
Brindisa chorizo mini dulce
Best chorizo for cooking
If you're after sausages to cook, these little beauties take some beating. When grilled, plenty of oil leaches out, however the end result is surprisingly greaseless and full of fabulous flavour. Brilliant thrown in salads and pasta dishes, or with pesto mash. Also available in picante (spicy) flavour.
Available from Brindisa (£4.40)
The Bath Pig original chorizo, 130g
Best British chorizo
British chorizo – who'd have thought it eh? It contains British pork, salt, smoked Spanish paprika, black pepper, ginger, paprika extract and garlic. It has a smooth texture with a slight nuttiness to it, snacking sausage at its best.
Available from British Premium Sausages (£5.95)
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference chorizo Iberico Bellota, 40g
Best supermarket chorizo
Another good supermarket line. Chorizo Iberico Bellota is made from black-footed (pata negra) Iberian pigs that roam freely and feed on acorns. The nuttiness of the acorns comes through in the meat and fat – even better, the fat is rich in oleic acid, just like olive oil. The creamy, nutty taste is so good no cooking is necessary.
Currently unavailable
Chorizo recipes
Sticky chorizo & chicken skewers
Chicken & chorizo jambalaya
Chorizo jam
Chorizo & apple sausage rolls
Chicken & chorizo paella
Butter bean & chorizo stew
Kale & chorizo broth
Our top chorizo recipes
This review was last updated in January 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.
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