Are you craving lettuce wraps but with a Mexican twist? This homemade chorizo and roasted chickpeas version is crunchy, spicy, and guilt-free. In this recipe, crispy roasted chickpeas meet spicy homemade chorizo and are served in fresh lettuce cups. It’s an easy, quick, low-carb dinner.
This is an easy, naturally gluten-free recipe with step-by-step photos. It’s perfect for meal prep.
Why Use This Recipe?
- This is a roasted chickpeas recipe and a homemade chorizo recipe rolled into one post!
- High protein with 8g of protein per lettuce cup.
- The homemade chorizo recipe uses freshly ground pork. The benefit of this is, there is less fat and the spice level (heat) of the chorizo is better controlled.
- It uses homemade chorizo seasoning.
- It offers flexibility with ingredients – scroll down to see how.
Chorizo and chickpeas lettuce cups are great for a snack, appetizer or even lunch box addition. Just the roasted chickpeas recipe alone will produce spicy roasted chickpeas as a snack idea.
What is Chorizo?
Chorizo is a pork product that originates from two countries – Spain and Mexico. Each country offers a different style. The Spanish style is fermented, cured and smoked and formed into a wide sausage form. The salami like appearance makes it easy to slice.
This recipe is for the Mexican style of chorizo. As a fresh product, it is often sold in the fresh meat department of supermarkets. It is made from raw, fresh ground pork, seasoned with spices such as paprika, fresh chilis, cayenne pepper, garlic, cumin and oregano to name a few. It must be cooked before serving. Treat it like ground pork when cooking, it must reach a temperature of at least 145°F / 63°C in order to be safe.
So Why Make Your Own Chorizo?
To begin with – it is easy! Buy fresh ground pork at the supermarket and add store bought chorizo seasoning – that’s it!
Or grind up some pork loin or butt and make your own homemade, (tailored for heat) chorizo seasoning.
Commercially produced brands like this one have a fat content of 21%, and are made primarily with the salivary glands and lymph nodes of pigs. In comparison, homemade chorizo made from a leaner cut of pork (in this case pork loin) has a fat content of 3.5%.
Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Chorizo Lettuce Wraps
- Fresh ground pork: buy it from the butcher’s department in your local supermarket or better yet – grind your own pork loin and use that!
- Chorizo seasoning: I made my own using this chorizo seasoning recipe, or feel free to buy it.
- Oil: olive oil needed to roast the chickpeas and for frying the ground pork.
- Chickpeas: either canned or reconstituted dried chickpeas.
- Lettuce: use romaine, baby gem, Bibb or butter lettuce.
How to Roast Chickpeas
Pour 1 tbsp of oil in a bowl and add the chickpeas and chorizo seasoning. Mix well.
Spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat mat. Roast in a 400°F / 200°C preheated oven for 25 minutes.
These spicy roasted chickpeas on their own are a great snack idea for kids and adults alike.
How to Cook the Chorizo
In a preheated pan add the remainder of the oil and then add the pork. Cook it until the color of the meat turns from pink to a whitish color and then add chorizo seasoning.
Continue to cook the seasoned pork for another 5 minutes. When a temperature of at least 145°F / 63°C is reached, the chorizo is now ready.
In a bowl, combine the cooked chorizo and the roasted chickpeas. Break apart lettuce leaves. Wash and allow to dry, then fill them with the cooled chorizo and chickpea filling.
Swapping flour tortillas for lettuce leaves creates these gluten free chorizo lettuce tacos.
Variations of These Low Carb Chorizo Chickpea Wraps
5 Ways to Customize this recipe:
- This recipe is naturally dairy free and gluten free. You can also use a vegan soy chorizo to make it meat free too!
- Ingredients in the recipe can be bought already prepared, such as chorizo, seasoning and canned chickpeas.
- Finish these lettuce cups with a drizzle of white seasoned sauce. Simply combine a teaspoon of chorizo seasoning with 2 tablespoons of sour cream diluted with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Finish the dish with some torn cilantro leaves.
- Add bacon or sausage bits to ‘up’ the protein content. Add raw meats to the ground pork and cook together.
- Try using this chorizo and chickpea mixture as the filling for a tortilla.
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
Absolutely, chorizo can be cooked, cooled and then refrigerated for later use. Just make sure to cook the pork to at least 145°F / 63°C and then cool the pork quickly, by spreading the pork out thinly on a baking sheet. Refrigerate within 2 hours.
According to Harvard School of Public Health, people observing a ketogenic diet, consuming 2000-calories daily, would consume about 165 grams fat, 40 grams carbohydrate, and 75 grams of protein. Each of these lettuce cups contains 8g of protein and 9g fat. So having 4 of these chorizo chickpeas lettuce cups would provide keto dieters with more than half their protein intake for the day!
Easy Homemade Chorizo Roasted Chickpeas in Lettuce Cups
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh ground pork
- 4 tbsp chorizo seasoning
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lettuce choose romaine, Bibb, or butter lettuce.
- 15 oz chickpeas 1 standard can / tin
Instructions
- Pour the oil in a bowl and add the chickpeas and chorizo seasoning. Mix well.
- Spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat mat. Roast in a 400°F /200°C preheated oven for 25 minutes.
- In a preheated pan add the remainder of the oil and then add the pork. Cook it until the color of the meat turns from pink to a whitish color and then add chorizo seasoning.
- Continue to cook the seasoned pork for another 5 minutes. When a temperature of at least 145°F / 63°C is reached, the chorizo is now ready.
- In a bowl, combine the cooked chorizo and the roasted chickpeas. Break apart lettuce leaves. Wash and allow to dry, then fill them with the cooled chorizo and chickpea filling.
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