Who says cornbread dressing with sausage needs to be traditional? This chorizo stuffing recipe will add a fiesta of flavor to your holiday meal. Chopped jalapeno peppers add a spike of heat and along with earthy New Mexico Chile powder, this is amazing with flavor.
This recipe for Chorizo Stuffing and my Broccoli Rice Cheez Whiz Casserole are the most popular side dishes on my Thanksgiving table.
This post was first published October, 2013 and updated August, 2021 with step by step instructions and photos.
A few years ago my cousin Pam announced that the theme for Thanksgiving dinner was “Mexican Fiesta.” Thanksgiving morning found our family in an assembly line building cheese, chicken and ground beef enchiladas.
I contributed this Mexican Chorizo Stuffing for the meal. Adding Chorizo sausage, jalapeno peppers, onions and sweet corn turned this cornbread sausage dressing into a fine flavored side dish, and a popular addition to the meal and that giant Thanksgiving turkey.
This is an easy, no fuss, chorizo stuffing recipe loaded with so many amazing flavors, you’ll want to make this every year.
It’s a flavorful twist on southern dressing you one you won’t regret trying out.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Corn Bread Stuffing: You’ll love the ease in making this recipe by using a package of Pepperidge Farm Classic Cornbread Stuffing mix.
- Chicken Broth
- Mexican or Spanish Chorizo Sausage? This recipe uses Mexican pork chorizo. Purchase bulk Mexican chorizo sausage that has the consistency of ground beef, rather than the fine grind type you find in a plastic tube. And if you’re feeling adventurous, make homemade chorizo. I wouldn’t recommend Spanish chorizo for this recipe, as it’s a cured aged hard sausage that wouldn’t work well in this recipe.
- Onion: Sweet onion or yellow onion, finely chopped
- Celery, finely chopped
- Frozen Corn
- Chile Powder: A single blend red chile powder is called for in this recipe, rather than Chili powder (with an “e”) which is a blend of seasonings and more commonly used for a big bow of chili soup.
- Jalapeno Peppers
- Butter: Professionally I use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in any dish. I recommend that you do too.
- Cilantro: optional. Not everyone likes cilantro, so just omit if you’d like.
Recipe Swaps and Subs
- Chile Powder: If you don’t have New Mexico red chile powder, Ancho chile powder is a good substitute. Even Chipotle Chile powder would be good here, and will add a smoky flavor.
- Chile Peppers: A good substitute for jalapeno peppers are poblano peppers. A little bit milder on the heat scale yet still very flavorful.
How To Make Chorizo Stuffing Step by Step
- Step 1: Cook Chorizo. Using a Dutch oven, fry the chorizo sausage over medium heat until just starting to brown. Drain grease if needed.
- Step 2: Remove chorizo to a plate and using the same pan, heat the butter and sautee chopped onion, celery celery and jalapeno peppers until tender.
- Step 3: Stir in the frozen corn and chile powder.
- Step 4: Add the chicken broth, cooked chorizo and corn bread stuffing. Stir to blend.
- Step 5: Bake 20 – 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until chorizo stuffing is starting to brown on top and is heated through. You’ll love those crispy edges on the top pieces of cornbread.
Can this chorizo stuffing be frozen? Yes! As with any type of bread product, it will freeze quite nicely. Store in a sealable container and remove as much air as possible. I like freezer zip lock bags. You can flatten them out, squeeze out the air and they store in the freezer nicely. Freeze up to two months and thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. A microwave works nicely to reheat.
We all need some wiggle room at Thanksgiving. And it’s a luxury if we can make a few things ahead of time. Recipes like this tend to dry out if made ahead ahead. Here’s what I’d do. I would prepare this recipe up to two days in advance and store in the refrigerator. The day of serving, since your oven will be working overtime, place the stuffing in a crockpot and use the high setting to heat it up for about an hour or two. Using a big spoon, stir, then switch the slow cooker to warm. Keep a can of chicken broth handy for drizzling if it seems dried out. If you’ve got oven room, you can also make ahead the day of, and place the Dutch oven into a 170 degree oven to keep warm. 170 degrees is above food safety standards yet not hot enough to cook the food.
My family has always called it dressing because it’s served as a Thanksgiving side dish rather than stuffed inside the turkey. What is stuffing? Stuffing is the term you use when you take this your recipe, like this one for Chorizo Stuffing and stuff if into the cavity of a whole turkey and bake. Before the turkey is done, I like to remove the stuffing and place it in a casserole dish and bake in the oven to finish. This method crisps the top of the stuffing casserole while keeping all that wonderful flavor from the turkey. My friend Cauleen, who hails from Pennsylvania refers to her stuffing as “filling”. I don’t care what it’s called, it’s absolutely delicious.
Storing Leftovers
- Everyone likes leftovers at Thanksgiving. Store leftover Chorizo stuffing in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- I like to reheat leftovers in individual portions in the microwave. Use the 50% power option to gently reheat in 30 second increments.
Recipe for Chorizo Stuffing with Jalapeno
I hope you give this Southwestern easy cornbread Chorizo Stuffing recipe a try. It adds a sassy element to a traditional Thanksgiving spread. Or a Mexican or Southwestern themed Thanksgiving dinner.
But don’t stop in November, this chorizo cornbread stuffing is great year round with a steak, chicken or pork dinner.
More Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
- Roasted Glazed Carrots with Honey Lime and Cumin
- Make Ahead Mashed Potato Casserole
- Stuffed Celery Sticks
This would make a perfect side dish for Oven Roasted Turkey Breast.
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Easy Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing with Jalapeno
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground bulk pork chorizo
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 medium jalapeno peppers tops removed, seeds removed and diced
- 1 teaspoon New Mexico Chile Powder or ancho
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen sweet corn thawed
- 14 ounce package classic cornbread stuffing with seasonings I like Pepperidge Farm
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a 3 quart saucepan, cook chorizo on the stovetop until browned. A Dutch oven works perfect for this recipe. Remove chorizo to a plate and wipe pan clean with a paper town.
- Heat butter in the same pan over medium high heat.
- When bubbles in the butter subside, add onion, celery and jalapeno and cook until tender. About 5 minutes. Stir in corn and chile powder.
- Add broth and heat to a simmer.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in cornbread.
- Add the cooked chorizo to the ingredients in the Dutch oven and stir.
- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes in oven to marry flavors and heat through. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve.
Notes
- Chile Powder: If you don’t have New Mexico red chile powder, Ancho chile powder is a good substitute. Even Chipotle Chile powder would be good here, and will add a smoky flavor. Chile powders can vary in heat levels so be careful on how much you add. You can always stir in more once cooked.
- Mexican or Spanish Chorizo Sausage? This recipe uses Mexican chorizo. Purchase bulk Mexican chorizo sausage that has the consistency of ground beef, rather than the fine grind type you find in a plastic tube. I wouldn’t recommend Spanish chorizo for this recipe, as it’s a cured aged hard sausage that wouldn’t work well in this recipe.
- How To Tame The Heat Of A Jalapeno Pepper If jalapeno peppers are just too hot for your liking, simply remove the seeds and veins from the pepper. They carry the heat.
Nutrition
Easy Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing … It’s What’s for Thanksgiving
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Had totally forgotten about this recipe and here I am craving a cornbread stuffing. Glad you brought it back. I love to make stuffing as a meal sometimes rather than just for the holidays as a side. Love, love, love the chorizo in this version. It’s like a Mexican- Southern fusion. 🙂 And thanks so much for the link love! Greatly appreciated!
My mother made dressing and it was a mix of herb bread and cornbread always baked in a casserole dish. While our family wants to keep Thanksgiving very traditional, I would love your recipe as a side when having a roast chicken dinner. 😀
Hi Karen. Same here – dressing and baked in a casserole. And that’s what you’ll find most years on my Thanksgiving table. Good to hear from you.
I love the idea of having a theme for a holiday meal! That is an idea I’m going to present to the family this year. It’s past time to switch things up a bit. Of course, no Thanksgiving can go without a cornbread dressing, but this awesome dressing is far enough away from “traditional” and still one that everyone at the table will love. Thanks for such great ideas. YAY!
I never – ever had cornbread dressing until the year we did the Mexican theme. My mom always made bread stuffing with the traditional seasonings. I really think that cornbread stuffing rocks. 🙂
It’s fun, isn’t it, that the same dish can be called dressing, stuffing, or filling? I love it no matter what it’s called! This is a wonderful looking recipe — a bit different, and it has tons of flavor. Really nice — thanks.
I love a themed Thanksgiving. Can’t believe it’s almost that time again. I would be happy with just a big ol’ plate of dressing!
This looks totally delicious and we may think about a Mexican themed Thanksgiving meal. I agree with your definitions and my mom made one one each – regular stuffing in the bird and oyster dressing in a dish. Being Yankees, her’s was made with white bread and there were slices all over the kitchen drying out for a couple of days before the meal.