Smashed Chorizo Breakfast Tacos

These smashed chorizo breakfast tacos come together with beef chorizo smashed flat and seared right on mini flour tortillas until deeply golden and caramelized. Each one gets topped with a crispy sunny side up egg, creamy guacamole, tangy pickled red onions, and sour cream. It’s simple, fast, and packed with flavor in every bite.

What Makes This One Special

I’ve made smash tacos plenty of times before, but doing it with chorizo instead of ground beef takes it to a whole other level for breakfast. As the chorizo cooks, all that seasoned fat renders out and seeps right into the tortilla underneath, which means you get an insanely crispy, flavorful base without adding a single drop of oil.

Topping it all off with a fried egg, homemade guac, and quick pickled onions turns this from a simple smash taco into something that feels like brunch at a taco stand. The tang from the pickled onions cuts through all that richness from the chorizo and yolk, and it’s honestly one of my favorite breakfast combinations I’ve made in a while.

How To Make It

Start the Pickled Onions Early

This is the one component you’ll want to get going first, since it needs time to sit. You’ll need:

• 1 medium red onion (or 1/2 a large one), thinly sliced
• Equal parts boiling water and vinegar, enough to cover the top of the onions
• 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• A generous pinch of salt, to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns

Pack the sliced onion into a jar along with the sugar, salt, and peppercorns. Pour in the boiling water and vinegar right over everything and give it a stir to help the sugar and salt dissolve, making sure the onions are fully submerged. Let it cool to room temperature, then cover and pop it in the fridge.

🤎 TIP: These need at least an hour to really pickle and mellow out, but they only get better the longer they sit, so don’t be afraid to make them the day before.

Make the Chorizo Tacos

Lay out your mini flour tortillas on a clean surface, this is easier to do assembly-line style rather than one at a time. Divide your pound of beef chorizo into about 8 even portions and roll each into a ball, then place one directly in the center of each tortilla.

Now here’s the fun (and slightly messy) part: use your hands to press each ball of chorizo down firmly, pushing it out until it covers the tortilla completely, all the way to the edges. Don’t be shy about it, chorizo has a lot of fat content, so it’ll shrink back in a bit once it hits the heat, and you want full coverage before that happens.

Heat a large skillet, frying pan, or griddle over medium heat. No oil needed here, the chorizo brings plenty of its own fat to the party. Place your tortillas chorizo side down and let them cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes, until the chorizo turns deeply golden and caramelized on the surface. Flip and give the tortilla side another 2 to 3 minutes, just enough to crisp it up and get some color. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the rest.

Fry Your Eggs

Using that same skillet (no need to wipe it out, that residual chorizo flavor is a bonus), crack in your eggs, working in batches if your pan isn’t big enough to fit them all. Cook them sunny side up for the usual 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are fully set but the yolk is still soft and jammy.

Whip Up Your Guacamole

For the guacamole, you’ll need:

• 3 medium or 2 large avocados
• 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and diced very fine, almost minced, almost to a paste
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Mash your avocados in a medium bowl to whatever consistency you like, chunky or smooth. Stir in the finely diced jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

🤎 TIP: Make this one right before cooking everything but no sooner. I do it right before the assembled tortillas hit the pan. Avocado browns fast, and you want it bright green and fresh when it hits the tacos.

Bring It All Together

Top each chorizo and tortilla base with a fried egg, then go in with a spoonful of guacamole, a dollop of sour cream, a scattering of pickled red onions, and a sprinkle of cilantro. Serve immediately while everything’s still warm and the yolk is ready to run.

Tips & Variations

• Press the chorizo out firmly and evenly, any thin or uneven spots will cook faster and can burn before the rest catches up.
• If your skillet isn’t big enough to cook multiple tortillas at once, work in batches and keep the finished ones warm in a low oven.
• Swap the sunny side up egg for over easy if you prefer a slightly firmer white with a still-runny yolk. You can also opt for scrambled eggs.
• Add a drizzle of hot sauce or a spoonful of salsa if you want extra heat beyond the jalapeño in the guac.

Make Ahead & Storing Leftovers

The pickled red onions are the one component you can and should make ahead, they keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks and only get better with time. The guacamole, on the other hand, is best made fresh right before serving so it stays bright and doesn’t brown. The chorizo tortillas and eggs are best enjoyed immediately, but if you do have leftover cooked chorizo tortillas, store them separately from the toppings in the fridge and reheat in a skillet to re-crisp before serving.

Where To Buy Beef Chorizo

A lot of grocery stores carry beef chorizo these days, my personal favorite is from Sprouts. If you can’t find beef chorizo, I also have a recipe to make it from scratch in my cookbook, available to pre-order now!

Craving more like this? Try these recipes out!

• Big Mac Tacos — the same smash taco technique used here, but with seasoned ground beef and all the classic Big Mac fixings.
• Crispy Cheesy Ground Beef Tacos — seasoned ground beef and melty Monterey Jack wrapped in a crispy tortilla shell.
• Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos — crispy smashed chicken tacos topped with a tossed Caesar salad and parmesan.
• Crispy Potato Tacos — a vegetarian favorite loaded with crispy potatoes, cheese, and a quick chipotle crema.
• Beef Chorizo and Chicken Pasta — another way to use that same beef chorizo, tossed into a creamy, spiced pasta with chicken.

If you make this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out — I love hearing from you! And if you snap a photo, don’t forget to tag me over on Instagram or TikTok so I can see your creations too.

You can also find this recipe and so many more on my Pinterest — perfect for saving to your board for later. And if you’re more of a visual learner, check out my YouTube channel, where I walk you through recipes step-by-step just like this one.