I grabbed the wrong chorizo once and turned a taco night into a plate of oily red coins.
It was a firm, dry link sitting in the deli case, and I sliced it straight into the skillet like it was pepperoni.
Nothing crumbled. Nothing rendered into a sauce.
What I had was cured Spanish chorizo, which is a wonderful ingredient and completely the wrong one for this.
Mexican chorizo is raw.
You squeeze it out of its casing, it breaks apart in the pan like loose sausage, and it gives up a deep orange fat that ends up being the best thing in the whole recipe.
That fat is what I roast the sweet potatoes in, and it's why this version tastes like something and not like a health food compromise.
Chorizo is salt, fat, chile and vinegar all shouting at once.
Sweet potato is the only thing on the plate that can take that and calm it down.
Then a cool lime crema goes over the top and pulls the whole thing together.
I make these most weeks in the fall.
My wife rates them above every other taco I've put in front of her, and she does not hand that out easily.
Twenty minutes of prep, one sheet pan, one skillet.
Get the right chorizo and the rest is almost automatic!
Get the Right Chorizo
This is the whole article, so let's settle it first. Two completely different sausages share one name and they are not interchangeable.
- Mexican chorizo. RAW. It comes in a soft casing or a plastic tube, it's bright red-orange from ancho and guajillo chile, and it's seasoned with vinegar. It crumbles into a pan like ground meat and renders a pool of orange fat. It must be cooked through. This is what you want.
- Spanish chorizo. Cured and firm, sliced thin like salami, flavored with smoked pimenton. Ready to eat straight from the package. It will never crumble and it will never render into a sauce. Wonderful on a board, wrong in this taco.
- Soyrizo. Behaves almost exactly like the Mexican kind, minus the fat. If you use it, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the sweet potatoes since there'll be no rendered fat to borrow.
Where to look: the refrigerated case near the ground meat and the fresh sausage. If you're standing in the shelf-stable cured meat aisle, you're in the wrong place.
Why Sweet Potato and Chorizo Work
Fat and salt need something to land on. A taco of pure chorizo is delicious for two bites and exhausting by the fourth.
Sweet potato gives it a soft, sweet, slightly earthy base that absorbs the fat instead of fighting it.
The chile heat sits better against something sweet, which is why chorizo shows up with plantain, with pumpkin, and with sweet potato all over Mexico.
And the rendered fat is free flavor.
Most recipes pour it down the drain. I spoon a tablespoon of it over the potatoes halfway through roasting and it soaks straight into the cut edges.
One honest warning: sweet potato has real sugar in it, so it browns faster than a russet and it will go from caramelized to burnt in about three minutes. Watch the last stretch.
How to Roast the Sweet Potatoes
The dice size decides everything here. Cut them into an even ½ inch dice and take the extra minute to make them match.
Big pieces stay raw in the center. Small pieces collapse into paste. Mixed pieces give you both problems on one pan.
The Method
Toss the dice with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika and salt.
Spread them on a sheet pan in a single layer with visible space between the pieces.
Roast at 425°F for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping once at the halfway point and spooning over a little chorizo fat when you do.
You're looking for dark caramelized edges and a center that gives easily to a fork.
Do not crowd that pan. Crowded sweet potato steams in its own moisture and comes out pale and soft. Two pans is always better than one full one.
Cook the Chorizo
Start it in a cold pan and add no oil at all. The chorizo brings more fat than you'll need.
Squeeze the meat out of the casings straight into a cold skillet, then set it over medium heat.
Break it up with a wooden spoon as it warms so it crumbles instead of matting into a slab.
8 to 10 minutes total, until it's fully cooked through and the smaller crumbles have crisped in their own fat.
Tip the pan and spoon most of the rendered fat into a small bowl.
Keep 1 tablespoon for the roasting potatoes and leave about a teaspoon in the skillet with the meat.
Worth the extra step? Every time. That's a free tablespoon of chile-infused fat.
The Lime Crema
Make this first so it has ten minutes to sit. The raw garlic mellows and the lime works into the sour cream.
- Sour cream (½ cup). Full fat. Low fat sour cream breaks into a watery mess when you thin it.
- Lime (1, zested and juiced). Both. The zest carries the perfume and the juice carries the sharpness, and you need both.
- Garlic (1 small clove, grated). On a microplane, so there are no chunks.
- Cilantro (2 tablespoons, chopped). Stems included, they have more flavor than the leaves.
- Salt (¼ teaspoon). Sour cream is bland without it.
Thin it with water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it pours off a spoon in a steady ribbon rather than plopping.
Skip the honey. A lot of recipes sweeten their crema. With this much sweet potato on the plate, sugar in the sauce makes the whole taco taste like dessert, and this is not that.
Warm the Tortillas Properly
This is the cheapest upgrade in Mexican home cooking and almost nobody bothers. A cold tortilla straight from the bag is stiff, dusty, and it cracks when you fold it.
- Over a gas flame. Straight on the grate, 20 seconds per side, until it blisters and puffs in spots. Tongs, not fingers.
- In the chorizo pan. Dry, over medium high, 30 seconds a side. It picks up the fond left behind and this is my usual move.
- In the oven. Wrap the whole stack in foil and warm at 350°F for 10 minutes if you're feeding a crowd.
Then stack them in a clean kitchen towel and fold it over so they steam each other soft while you finish everything else.
Corn or flour? Corn, for the flavor and because it holds up under wet fillings. If your corn tortillas are thin, double them up, and nobody in Mexico would blink at that.
Toppings
- Thin sliced red onion. On the recipe card. Raw and sharp, it cuts the fat better than anything else here.
- Cilantro leaves. On the card. A small handful per taco.
- Lime wedges. On the card. Squeeze at the table, not in the pan.
- Crumbled queso fresco. Optional. Salty and mild, and it doesn't melt into a mess.
- Sliced avocado. Optional, and honestly unnecessary with the crema already on there.
- Pickled jalapeno. Optional. If you want more acid and more heat in one move, this is it.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Roasted sweet potatoes. 4 days refrigerated in a sealed container.
- Cooked chorizo. 4 days refrigerated. Reheat it together with the potatoes in a dry skillet over medium and the edges re-crisp.
- Lime crema. 5 days refrigerated. It thickens back up in the cold, so loosen it with a splash of water.
- Assembled tacos. Never. A built taco goes soggy in about four minutes flat.
Lay everything out and let people build their own. That's how these are best, and it's how they disappear fastest at my table. Give them a try!
Recipe
Sweet Potato and Chorizo Tacos with Lime Crema
Ingredients
For the Tacos
- 1 ¼ pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into an even ½ inch dice
- 12 ounces raw Mexican chorizo casings removed, NOT cured Spanish chorizo
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 small corn tortillas taco size
For the Lime Crema
- ½ cup sour cream full fat
- 1 lime zested and juiced, about 2 tablespoons juice
- 1 small clove garlic grated
- 2 tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 2 teaspoons water to thin
To Serve
- ½ small red onion very thinly sliced
- cilantro leaves
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
Make the Lime Crema
- Stir the sour cream with the lime zest, lime juice, grated garlic, chopped cilantro and salt.
- Thin with water a teaspoon at a time until it pours off a spoon in a steady ribbon. Refrigerate while you cook so the garlic mellows.
Cook the Chorizo and Roast the Potatoes
- Heat the oven to 425F. Toss the diced sweet potato with the olive oil, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika and salt, then spread it on a sheet pan in a single layer with space between the pieces.
- Squeeze the chorizo out of its casings into a cold skillet, set it over medium heat, and break it up with a wooden spoon as it warms. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until fully cooked through and the crumbles have crisped in their own fat.
- Tip the pan and spoon off most of the rendered fat, keeping about 1 tablespoon of it and leaving a teaspoon in the skillet with the meat.
- Roast the sweet potatoes 20 to 25 minutes, flipping once at the halfway point and spooning the reserved chorizo fat over them when you do. They are ready when the edges are dark and caramelized and a fork goes through easily.
Warm the Tortillas and Build
- Warm the tortillas directly over a gas flame for 20 seconds a side until they blister, or dry in the hot chorizo skillet for 30 seconds a side. Stack them in a clean kitchen towel so they steam soft.
- Fill each tortilla with roasted sweet potato and crumbled chorizo, then spoon the lime crema over the top.
- Finish with thinly sliced red onion and cilantro leaves, and serve with lime wedges.
Notes
- Buy the right chorizo: Mexican chorizo is RAW, sold refrigerated near the ground meat, and it crumbles and renders. Spanish chorizo is cured and firm and will not work here.
- Even dice: a ½ inch dice cooked in a single layer is what gives caramelized edges instead of steamed mush.
- Use the rendered fat: spoon a tablespoon of it over the potatoes halfway through roasting instead of pouring it away.
- No honey in the crema: the sweet potato brings all the sweetness this taco needs.
- Char the tortillas: 20 seconds a side over a flame, then stacked in a towel to steam soft.
- Storage: potatoes and chorizo keep 4 days refrigerated, crema keeps 5 days. Never assemble ahead.
