Vegetarian Chorizo (Chourico)

12 Feb '02

Posted by: ryan in: Food

Last month, I mentioned a recipe for Portuguese Chouriço and Kale Soup that sounded very tasty and quite simple. Of course since chourico (chorizo) is sausage, it’s not exactly vegetarian fare. I wondered, out loud, how I could duplicate this recipe’s flavors without using the meat. I got some great responses. Ann mentioned Soyrizo, a soy-based version of chorizo by El Burrito Mexican Foods. I put in a special order with a health food store and am waiting for it to come in. Jen mentioned TVP, which I’ve never tried, but I picked some up over the weekend. CompassRose mentioned that Bryanna Clark Grogan over at VegSource might be able to help.

Well, lo and behold, Bryanna is now offering up a bunch of vegetarian chorizo recipes, including Portuguese Chouriço! I’d like to think she stumbled upon the Veg Blog and was inspired, but I’d be flattering myself. I’m content with chalking it up to a happy coincidence.

The recipes look very doable and the original recipe from the Food Network was simple enough that this little bit of added work is no big deal. I can’t wait to try it out.

RSS feed for comments on this post

5 Responses

jen
12|Feb|2002 1

TVP is kinda tastless on it’s own. Don’t just eat it re-hydrated. We add it to our chili to give it a little meat-like texture.
Michelle
25|Aug|2005 2

I’m 100% portuguese and my FAVORITE soup of all time is Caldo Verde (the kale soup you mention above), however living in Mexico and using Soyrizzo in many mexican dishes I would NOT, I repeat NOT use it in caldo verde. Soyrizzo is very much flavored like Mexican dishes with Cumin and chile spices and would not be the right taste for the soup. On the other hand, Tofurky (Turtle Island, Inc.) sells Italian sausages and bratworst and I’m almost positive one of their many flavors of sausages would be suffice to give it that salty flavor that the original chourico gives it. I never particularly liked the meat in my soup as a kid, and very much favor it as it was originally intended without the meat! It’s absolutely wonderful on a cold day with buttered bread on the side! Enjoy! PS: I just realized this message is three years too late. :o)
Lisa
09|Oct|2005 3

I was wondering if anyone knew where I could buy the El Burrito brand of Soyrizo in the Fort Worth/Dallas area. I can’t seem to find it. I use to live in So. Cal. and I could find it at my local supermarket, but here, it’s different. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Charissa Han
03|Jul|2006 4

Where can I but Kale (vegetable) in Singapore?
Barry
05|Sep|2006 5

I tried a recipe for vegetarian chourizo just yesterday and was a bit disappointed. All these years, I never knew there were different versions. My recipe was Mexican, apparently. I can’t wait to try the Portuguese recipe from Bryanna. Chourizo is the only thing I really miss from my carnivore days.