A beef and chorizo burger with melted manchego and garlicky Spanish alioli.
This burger blends ground beef with finely chopped Spanish chorizo, letting the cured sausage's smoked paprika and garlic flavor permeate the whole patty as it cooks — a trick borrowed from how chorizo is often used to season other dishes in Spanish cooking rather than eaten entirely on its own. Melted manchego on top and a garlicky alioli underneath round it out with two more distinctly Spanish flavors.\n\nThe technique that matters here is using cured, not fresh, chorizo, finely diced and mixed directly into the raw beef — its cured fat renders as the patty cooks, basting the beef from the inside and coloring it a deep red-orange. Because chorizo is already well-seasoned and salted, go lighter on additional salt than you would for a plain beef patty.\n\nAlioli — a garlic and olive oil emulsion, traditionally made without egg though most modern versions use one for stability — replaces regular mayo entirely here, giving the burger a punchy, garlicky backbone that complements the smoky chorizo.
Serves 4
Stir mayonnaise, grated garlic, olive oil and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until serving.
Combine ground beef, diced chorizo, smoked paprika and black pepper in a bowl. Mix gently just until combined — chorizo is already salted, so taste a small cooked piece before adding extra salt.
Shape into 4 patties, pressing a shallow dimple in the center. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
Dice the chorizo finely and evenly so its fat distributes throughout the patty as it renders, rather than leaving pockets of pure chorizo in some bites and none in others.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 4-5 minutes per side until well browned and cooked through, adding a slice of manchego on top in the last minute to melt.
Spread alioli on both cut sides of the toasted buns. Layer arugula, tomato, the cheese-topped patty, then close and serve.
Dice the chorizo small and even so its fat renders throughout the patty rather than leaving unmelted chunks.
Taste-test a small cooked nub of the mixture before shaping all the patties — chorizo varies a lot in saltiness by brand.
Cover the pan briefly after adding the cheese to help it melt faster and more evenly.
Add a few strands of roasted piquillo peppers on top for extra sweetness and a distinctly Spanish flavor.
Use ground pork instead of beef for a richer, fattier patty that pairs especially well with the chorizo.
Serve open-faced on toasted country bread with the alioli and toppings for a knife-and-fork presentation.
Refrigerate cooked patties separately from buns and toppings for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a skillet, then reassemble fresh.
Chorizo, a paprika-cured Spanish sausage, is one of the country's most iconic cured meats and is used both as a standalone tapa and as a seasoning ingredient folded into other dishes like stews, rice and even eggs. Mixing it directly into ground beef for a burger is a modern fusion approach that leans on chorizo's ability to season everything around it.
Use Spanish cured (not Mexican fresh) chorizo — it's a firm, sliceable sausage similar to a hard salami, and it's what gives this burger its distinct smoky-paprika flavor and red color.
Traditional alioli is made by slowly emulsifying olive oil into crushed garlic without egg at all, but it's technique-heavy; the mayo-based version here is a much easier, more reliable shortcut for home cooks.
Cured chorizo is quite salty on its own, so always taste a small cooked piece of the mixture before adding any extra salt to the raw patties.
Per serving (330g / 11.6 oz) · 4 servings total
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