Easy Tomato Chorizo Pasta

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For an easy dinner that the whole family will love, try this Easy Tomato Chorizo Pasta, it takes just 30 minutes and is packed with favor from very few ingredients. 

This simple pasta dish is comforting and delicious. A great weeknight dinner that is perfect for the cooler weather. 

Everyone loves pasta and this recipe will be a winner! Add some garlic bread, veg or a side salad and you have an easy family meal.

About Easy Tomato Chorizo Pasta

This pasta recipe is a family favorite in our house! Pasta is always going to go down well and when you add chorizo to the mix, well my kids can’t get enough of it! 

The chorizo is cooked first then bell peppers and garlic are added before being simmered with canned tomatoes and some seasonings.

This all cooks whilst your pasta boils. A final garnish of fresh basil and some parmesan and dinner is ready!

Which Chorizo to use?

This dish works with the cured Spanish chorizo or the softer Mexican chorizo. So you can use either. 

We prefer it with the cured Spanish chorizo as it is quick to cook and doesn’t let off too much oil. But if you only have Mexican chorizo just pour off the extra oil, before you add in the tomatoes.

Spanish Chorizo is usually found in the cooked meat section with the sliced hams and chicken. You can see from the picture below that it keeps it’s shape when cut. 

You can read more about the two chorizo’s here in my Shrimp Chorizo Pasta post.

How to make a quick tomato sauce

To make a quick tomato sauce, use a can of crushed or chopped tomatoes in your pasta. Because the chorizo is so packed with flavor it will add plenty of depth to the canned tomatoes. 

Once the chorizo has been fried off, bell peppers are added and everything is fried together until the peppers have softened slightly. Then the canned tomatoes are added. They mix with the chorizo oil and instantly start to taste more like a sauce.

We also add in plenty of garlic, some Italian herbs, salt and a touch of sugar. The sugar helps to balance out the tomatoes and makes the dish taste as if it has cooked for far longer than it has. 

Alternatively, you can use a jar of marinara sauce and not add the herbs, salt or sugar.

Which pasta to use?

Penne is our family’s favorite pasta shape…well at least it is the one we all agree on! If we don’t have linguine then penne pasta is nearly always the next choice.

But you can use any pasta you like here, so pick the shape that sits as your family favorite…or pick the shape that you have most of. All the shapes work well here, so a penne, radiatore, ziti, rigantoi, or a rotini will all work. 

Or go for a long shape like spaghetti or fettuccine.

Can I add green bell peppers?

YES!!! The recipe specifies red and yellow because that is what we always use. We find they are slightly sweeter when cooked. But if you have green bell peppers then go ahead and use those. This is easy cooking, substitutes like that are perfect if it makes life less stressful!

What to serve with Tomato Chorizo Pasta

Side: Midweek when we need dinner on the table in a hurry, I serve this with a side salad (with an easy salad dressing) and some simple garlic bread. You could also add some steamed or roasted veg.

Wine: For red lovers, this pasta is perfect with medium-bodied fruity reds like a Tempranillo. Avoid anything oaked as that will draw out the spice and make the tomato taste sour. 

For those looking for white wine, I like to drink a Verdejo or a rose this with this. 

It works surprisingly well with a sparkling rose!

Enjoy x

More pasta recipe you’ll love:

• Garlic Butter Pasta with Garlic Chicken
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• Creamy Lemon Salmon Pasta
• Shrimp Chorizo Pasta
• Pasta with Chicken Broth and Butter
• Easy Garlic Bacon Pasta
• Creamy Pepper Steak Pasta
• Black Truffle Pasta
• See ALL 60+ Pasta Recipes

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5 from 5 votes

Easy Tomato Chorizo Pasta Recipe

This Easy Tomato Chorizo Pasta takes under 30 minutes to cook! And is sure to be a hit with the whole family. With flavor-packed chorizo sausage and a simple tomato sauce, this pasta recipe has so much flavor for such a simple dinner. We like this as a chorizo penne dish, but you can use any pasta shape you like here. Serve it with some garlic bread and a side salad and your weeknight dinner is done!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4

Calories: 556kcal

Author: Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts

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Ingredients

US Customary – Grams

For the Sauce

• 5.5 oz chorizo – see note 1
• 1 red bell pepper – see note 2
• 1 yellow bell pepper – see note 2
• 1 tbsp olive oil – see note 3
• 5 garlic cloves – peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (14oz/400g)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Pasta

• 14 oz pasta – see note 4
• 1 tbsp salt

To serve

• parmesan
• fresh basil

Instructions

• Chop the bell peppers and set to one side.
• Slice the chorizo into disks.
• Heat the olive oil a large frying pan over high heat, add the chorizo and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the chopped peppers and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the garlic to the pan and stir around until aromatic. (under 1 minute)
• Add the chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning, sugar and salt.
• Bring to a simmer and then cook gently whilst you cook the pasta.
• Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt then pour in the pasta.
• Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking liquid then drain the pasta.
• Add the pasta to the tomato sauce mixture. Stir everything together until well coated, thinning the sauce with pasta water as needed.
• Check the seasoning then serve immediately with parmesan and fresh basil.

Notes

1. I usually make this dish with the firm cured Spanish chorizo, have a lookout for it at the grocery store, you’ll find it with the prepacked hams and lunch meat. But if you can only find the soft Mexican sausage kind then go ahead and use that in this dish, it will work well too! If you find too much oil is released from your chorizo you can drain it off before you add the bell peppers.
2. You can use any color of peppers (capsicums) you like here. We prefer the sweeter red and yellow varieties. But add green if you like.
3. If you are using Mexican chorizo for this recipe you probably won’t need the additional oil. As plenty of oil is released from the sausage.
4. You can use any pasta shape that your family likes here. penne, radiatore, ziti, rigantoi, rotini or pasta shells work well. Or pick a long pasta like spaghetti or linguine.

Nutrition

Calories: 556kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 2511mg | Potassium: 555mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1250IU | Vitamin C: 103mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 4mg

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