Pambazo (Mexican Chorizo and Potato Sandwich)

The first time I tried a pambazo years ago was not love at first sight. I had ordered the beloved Mexican sandwich from Mi Rinconcito Oaxaqueño, my go-to food truck in San Jose, CA. I’d heard claims from fellow patrons that it was superior to their torta ahogada—a carnitas sandwich I loved and ordered frequently—so I decided to give it a try. As it was handed down to me on a paper plate, my first thought was that the sandwich didn’t look that appetizing. The bread was charred, bordering on burnt actually, with a messy jumble of potatoes and chorizo weighing it down and crema oozing out the sides. I was starting to regret not ordering my preferred torta instead. 

But after one bite, I understood what all the fuss was about. The charred, salsa-griddled bread had a pleasant smoky bitterness, similar to fire-roasted tomatoes, that was balanced by the subtle sweetness of the crema. It was so satisfying to sink my teeth through the jumble of crisp chorizo and fluffy potatoes. 

Since my first pambazo, I’ve enjoyed many versions at local food trucks and restaurants, and have stepped into my own kitchen to create my preferred version of this sandwich. In my initial attempts to develop my own pambazo recipe at home, I ate a lot of burnt bread and stained quite a few kitchen towels red with salsa. But over time and with practice, I’ve landed on a go-to pambazo recipe that’s inspired by that first pambazo experience, but with a few personal preferences and streamlined processes incorporated.

What Is a Pambazo?

It can be hard to define a pambazo because there are so many types. Throughout Mexico, pambazos can be served with a range of meat, vegetable, and cheese fillings. There’s even a festival to celebrate the many types of pambazos in Mexico. At the Festival del Pambazo in Xalapa, Veracruz, The bread is dyed vibrant colors with natural food dye and filled with everything from pomegranate seeds to agave worms.

Aside from the range in fillings, what defines a pambazo is the dipping and charring of the bread. A pambazo without being dipped into a salsa and griddled would simply be a torta. And while there are many variations of the sandwich, the most prominent iteration comes from Mexico City, where they’re served on pambazo bread—the general term for the individual rolls used for the sandwich—dunked in salsa and griddled, then loaded with crispy chorizo and chunks of potato. That's likely to sound the most familiar, since it’s the style of pambazo typical throughout the U.S., and is what this recipe is based on.

 There are several components to this style of pambazo—the chorizo and potato filling, the lettuce, the salsa-dipped and griddled bread—that lend themselves to large-batch advanced prep and then quick assembly for a high volume of people while working in the limiting conditions of a food truck or food cart. The challenge is how to get this assembly-line of elements organized for an at-home preparation. But with a solid game plan, each component of the recipe can be prepped up and assembled efficiently so that once you’re ready to eat, all you have to do is fry the chorizo-potato mixture, griddle the bread, assemble, and enjoy while hot and crispy.

The Chorizo and Potato Filling

This filling for a pambazo is a prime example of ugly-delicous food, featuring a messy but undeniably flavorful mash of well-spiced chorizo and hearty potatoes. The chorizo is rendered slowly to release its fat and become crisp, then removed from the skillet and set aside. Parboiled potatoes then go into the skillet with the rendered fat and are cooked until fluffy within and crisp and golden outside. Parboiling the potatoes before crisping is an essential step to ensure that ideal dual texture in the potatoes.

It might be tempting to blast the heat while cooking the chorizo and the potatoes, but it's worth taking your time to slowly render the fat from the chorizo without risk of scorching, and then cooking the potatoes over a medium heat to give them time to absorb the flavor of the rendered fat. 

It’s also important to choose the right type of chorizo: Pambazos are made with raw, loose Mexican chorizo, which is different from the Spanish cured variety. Furthermore, I recommend steering clear of the Mexican chorizo sold in plastic tubes at the supermarket. This version is a sticky paste that can be difficult to crisp. You’ll get the best version of this sandwich if you take the time to buy chorizo from a carniceria or buy fresh ground pork and season your own.

A Semi-Homemade Sauce: How to Make the Salsa

Typically, pambazos are dunked in a raw tomato–based guajillo salsa. A classic guajillo salsa involves letting guajillos sit in boiling water for 20 minutes to soften; briefly cooking down diced tomatoes; and blending it all together with garlic and onions. But I found that starting with a canned Mexican hot tomato sauce delivered a robust flavor and shaved about 30 minutes off the cooking time. 

I boosted the canned sauce's flavor with a chile-, onion-, and garlic-infused oil that is quick and easy to make. The canned Mexican tomato sauce is viscous enough to cling to the rolls when dipped and has built-in spices and seasonings, which save on work. The addition of the infused oil provides fat to the salsa that helps promote browning with the dipped bread when charred. The salsa can be held in the fridge for a couple days and gently reheated on the stove before serving.

The Coleslaw

While pambazos are typically topped with lettuce, for my home recipe I opt for a tangy coleslaw with a more substantial crunch than plain lettuce. I found the common topping of shredded iceberg turned soggy and drab, but a simple cabbage based slaw retained its crunch and was a nice counter to the rich and fatty chorizo and potato mixture.

The coleslaw is a simple mixture of shredded green cabbage, fresh chiles, onions, and cilantro that’s tossed and bound together with jocoque—a fermented Mexican dairy product that has the texture of crema, but with a tang closer to yogurt. If you can't find jocoque, any Mexican crema will work in its place. 

Serrano chiles bring a welcome fresh heat that is lacking in the salsa, while the combination of scallions, cilantro, and cabbage is slightly pungent and sweet. The result is a refreshing slaw that is tangy and tart. The slaw balances the rich and hearty chorizo and potato filling, so be sure to add a generous amount.

The Preferred Bread for a Pambazo

In Mexico, all pambazos are made on what’s known as pambazo bread. The bread can vary in size and shape throughout Mexico, but it always has a soft exterior crust that’s perfect for toasting, dipped in a chile and tomato salsa, and griddling. 

The name pambazo comes from the bread itself. The phrase "pan bajo" means low class bread and dates back to colonial times, when Mexico was still under Spanish occupation. As early as the 1500’s flour was divided for production purposes by quality. More refined, white flour went to bakeries that served the higher classes, while less refined and older wheat flour went to bakeries known as pampacerias to produce “pan bajo”, or “low class bread”. This style of bread was shaped and baked into individual rolls with a soft crust.

When making a pambazo in the U.S., out of all the breads available in a panaderia, telera is the ideal choice for a pambazo. It's an oval flatbread, so it makes great contact with the griddle while searing. Its spongy dense exterior soaks up the salsa, too while still holding up once griddled and filled. But even still, the texture of telera can vary from bakery to bakery; too soft and the bread will fall apart under the weight of the fillings and the moisture from the sauce. I avoid this variable of bread quality by lightly toasting the bread in a low oven. Plus drying out the bread slightly allows the bread to absorb more of the salsa when dipped before charring it will retain more structure when filled and enjoyed.

A good indicator for when the bread is properly dried out before dipping is to give the bread a gentle poke: If your finger leaves an indent, it's still too soft and should be toasted a little more.

Bringing It All Together: How To Assemble a Pambazo

Once ready to assemble, make sure your skillet is preheated over high heat. Then, dunk and griddle only the exterior of the bread. This prevents the sandwich from getting excessively soggy. Keep sliding the bread over the heated surface while applying gentle pressure to ensure it sears evenly all over. You’re looking to get a healthy char on the bread, so a few seemingly “burnt” spots are okay. The bread’s exterior should turn toasty and crisp, with a delicate layer that shatters with each bite. 

To assemble, lay a few thin slabs of queso fresco on the base of the sandwich. Then, layer the chorizo-potato mixture and slaw in the sandwich—it's messy so it's okay if some spills out. Add the top slice of bread and gently push down to keep it in place. Sure, you could rely on a knife and fork to avoid staining your fingers with salsa while enjoying this pambazo, but I suggest reveling in its messy glory. Just be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand.