Looking for convenient meal solutions at the end of a busy day? Hellers are here to make your life a whole lot easier and your dinner a lot yummier! Their new range of Hellers Crafty Cooks Diced Chorizo and Bacon Strips are here to do just that.
Ready to eat, you can add these in to your favourite dishes for quick and easy meals for your tribe. They’re in convenient twin packs so you can keep them fresher for longer. They’re also made in NZ and gluten-free with no artificial colours or flavours.
Unleash your inner chef and use these in frittatas, risottos, pastas, fried rice and salads – the list goes on! What do you think you’d use them in?
The Hellers Crafty Cooks range is available from Countdown stores nationwide and select Foodstuffs stores.
Quick and easy recipes from Hellers Crafty Cooks
We’ve given 100 families the chance to trial and review Hellers Crafty Cooks Diced Chorizo. See their photos and feedback below and read more of their reviews in the comments.
That was an easy Saturday night dinner and so healthy too
Was so easy, hardly any prep, and best of all everyone loved it
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… A very tasty and versatile product, thank you again for allowing us to trial it.
Overall, this was an awesome solution to weeknight meals. Super convenient, really tasty and a family favourite, making it a sure-fire winner …
The diced Hellers Chorizo is so tasty and super convenient. We used the chorizo in pasta carbonara and fried rice … Great product! Thank you for this delicious trial.
… There is so much potential in using these ready to eat diced little morsels. One of my boys have asked for pieces in his school lunchbox tomorrow – so chorizo he shall get! … the Gluten Free factor is a huge positive … I think Hellers Crafty Cooks range might just have to be on our weekly shopping list as the whole fam gave them the big thumbs up!
Reviewer notes
- If you have received the product for review, please scroll to the bottom of the page and add your feedback as a new comment.
- Upload your review photos/videos to this Dropbox folder.
- Each selected reviewer will receive: 1 x voucher to redeem in-store for Hellers Crafty Cooks Diced Chorizo.
- By registering for this product trial, you agree to the terms and conditions. Please note that comments, images, or videos provided by reviewers may be used by Hellers on their website and social media channels to promote the product.
Please note that the voucher will be sent to you via email from Hellers and will require printing before presentation in-store. The Hellers Crafty Cooks range is available from Countdown stores nationwide and select Foodstuffs stores.
Please note
- If you are selected to trial, the voucher will be sent to the email address on your profile.
- Not registered yet? Then sign up now.
- Kidspot Terms and Conditions apply, including: Open to Kidspot members 18+ only. Only available for NZ residents. Product availability may vary between supermarkets and regions. If you are selected, you will be required to redeem the voucher for the product as soon as possible and supply a review, as set out in our review instructions. Your name and email address will be given to the supplier for the purpose of delivery of the voucher. The voucher will come directly from Hellers.
We trialed the diced chorizo and here is what we liked it about it:
– Open the pack and it’s ready (Mum loved that part best)
– It was tasty and not spicy for the wee ones (Miss 3 and Master 1)
– It was so easy
– They come as a twin pack which means at minimum we have 2 meals
Mum made loaded wedges one night, wedges with cheese, chorizo and sour cream – YUM and how easy?!
We also had it in a creamy pasta with mushrooms and fettuccini and on pizza with bbq sauce.
Did we mention it was easy?
Definitely a fan of this item and we have bought it again for those nights when Mum needs a quick but tasty meal solution. Thanks Hellers!
We were lucky to sample the new diced chorizo by Hellers. The packets were easy to open and they had a long best-before date which is great… not that they lasted that long! We used one pack for pizza topping which was popular with the whole family. The other pack I used to make a quiche, which again, got eaten up very quickly. It was very tasty and a big hit. Having them in a 2-pack is great for sample sizes and there is no waste. We will definitely be buying these again… thank you Hellers!
Thank you for the opportunity to trial this product. I’m always looking for new ingredients to expand the kids menu options.
We tried both a cold and hot dish with the diced chorizo. The kids loved the pasta salad with diced chorizo scattered through it. I also added celery and red capsicum. An egg mayonnaise completed the dish. Both my 14 and 11 year old asked for this every day!
Secondly I tried a frittata. Made up of potatoes, red onion and egg, sprinkled the diced chorizo throughout. It was a hit with the adults in our house, not so much for the kids. My husband loved it cold the next day for lunch.
Loved the double pack. There’s a decievingly big amount in those 100gm pouches. So it was good to use one half of the pack and keep the rest fresh for next time. I think the diced chorizo is very versatile and can be use in both hot and cold meals, as an extra topping it really adds that extra oomph the meal needs. Simple but effective. And delicious!
My only issue was trying to find it in our local store! I had to go to 3 different grocery shops before I found it! Third time lucky I purchased the last 2 left on the shelf with my voucher! I definitely will be snapping it up when I see it next!
We were lucky enough to try out the new diced chorizo by Hellers. We found them easily in our local PaknSave store. I made a risotto for dinner using my traditional white whine, chicken stock, friend chicken breast, leeks and onion. We added the entire packs of chorizo we had – as it doesn’t have a long ‘shelf life’ so felt it was best to use it. But one pack of the dual packs would have been ample. The chorizo was lightly fried before adding to our risotto. We really love it!! The kids (4,8,10) even enjoyed it a lot even though I thought it was a little spicy. I’d definitely consider buying Hellers diced chorizo for whenever a meal called for needing chorizo. A great choice!
We have loved trailing the diced chorizo. It comes in a convenient package and is handy for salads and pizza. My sons who are 5 and 7, have loved trying it. They gobble it down. The chorizo is quite spicy but they didn’t seem to mind. I’d happily recoomend this product to other whānau, thank yoi for letting us try it. It will definitely be something we add to our shopping list.
We got to try Hellers crafty cook diced chorizo. Firstly it was really hard to find, 3 weeks looking and finally found them in stock at the local. They however did have short life spans before best before which was quite disappointing.
They come in an easy 2 serve split pack. First night I cooked some up in a pan and sprinkled it over some wedges with cream and sour cream and was quite tasty.
We’re too spicy for my children’s likings sadly and they usually love salami and chorizo sticks which I found interesting.
From there my husband had them on tastiest at work, we chucked them on homemade pizza
There are so many ways to use them it’s quite handy to just pull out of the fridge but also found them to be priced quite highly which I think would put alot off due to the size of the containers and cost of groceries at the moment as it is.
We were lucky enough to be selected to review the hellers chorizo bits. We actually really struggled to find the product in supermarkets in Christchurch, so I’m guessing it must be popular. We ended up finding some whilst on holiday in Greymouth and used it while there for make your own pizzas with poor family. It was great for that as was prepared and ready to go straight on. Cutting down on prep time. We used one half of the pack for that ( 4 adults and 1 5 year old). Then the next night we had traveled home and I threw together a quick prawn and chorizo Risotto for our gaming of 3..I browned onion, garlic and chorizo then added rice and slowly added stock. Close to the end I added the prawns..Again the convince was great it made the meal so quick to throw together. My.5 year old loved it but didn’t like the bits with the brown on it. My husband and I both enjoyed the taste. I also enjoyed it being in 2 packs meaning we could get 2 meals from one pack for our family of 3 which makes it very cost effective. We will likely get again for those times when we need quick meals. I could also see it being a great product to take camping just due to the concurrence factor. Thank you again.
We were lucky enough to get to trial the Hellers Crafty Cooks Diced Chorizo. Well packaging was great and loved the packet came in two portions where you can use one at a time. The thing I did not like as it did seem to have a short life on the product, only a week which was a bit annoying but then a again it was a struggle to find it in my local supermarkets. The individual packs were so easy to open and each pack had a great amount in it and I was surprised how far they each went, you could use them in a couple of meals. I first of all decided to spice up my potato salad by adding them into it and well did it bring out the flavour and add more to it, made a huge difference in flavour profile and also meant I could almost cut out the meat as there was some now added as part of the meal. I just added some to the kids cooked spaghetti noodles which they loved and even so much so they took the packet and just finished it off eating it straight out of the packet, they loved the taste of it. Also added it as a topping to pizza and to other salads which never have meat added but I added it to them and it just made the salads come alive and give them even more flavour. They are a great product and pleased to say that the amount in them is great as it goes a long way, useful at times like now.
This was absolutely amazing and the whole family loved it. My son had seconds. Fresh, tasty, and versatile. Convenient packaging which we popped into the recycling after. We made pizzas and corn and chorizo chowders for dinner and lunch, and it went down a treat. I will definitely be purchasing this again.
We got to try the Hellers crafty cooks diced chorizo and we used it in some really budget friendly meals.
First we went with homemade pizzas, making pizza dough out of Greek yoghurt and flour. The pizza sauce was homemade with heaps of blended veges so the only toppings we needed was the diced chorizo and some cheese. One section of the chorizo was enough for one large pizza and we made two large pizzas for 2 adults and 2 kids. This ended up being one of the yummiest homemade pizzas and so so simple. I loved being able to sprinkle the already diced chorizo on top!
The next meal we tried the chorizo in was a quick throw together spaghetti pasta. Stir fried some veges then made a sauce out of some tinned tomato’s, cream, sour cream and the pasta water then we mixed the spaghetti through that, lastly one section of the diced chorizo.
I can’t wait to keep buying these in our weekly shop. Such a fast and yummy option!
This is a very smart product. Not only is it versatile and prep work is done, it’s packed full of flavour in every bite. Easy to say we started ‘taste testing’ as soon as the packet was open.
Being the tail end of a long weekend we opted to pan fry them a little then throw them over Wedges for a chorizo based meal. What a great idea! Mr 3 loved them both by themselves and on the meal.
You get a generous amount in the packet which easily covers a family meal. Will be looking forward to integrating them into other meals and snacks down the track.
Positives
-so versatile
-packed full of flavour
-meal prep favourite, already diced
-generous size
Negatives
-struggled to find a store that actually had stock.
-over $5 at Pak n Save when not on special.
We tried the Hellers Crafty Cooks diced Chorizo, our meat loving family of 5 were very excited to try this, 3 out of 5 of us may or may not have had to try it straight from the packet! We used this on homemade pizzas, loaded wedges and in toasted sandwiches, it didn’t last long enough to be made in anything else, nor did it last long enough to photograph!! The price point was a little up there at $7 for a twin pack, but still a big yes from us!
Thanks Kidspot and Hellers for the opportunity to try crafty cooks diced chorizo.
We opted to use these a couple of ways. First we used them on a homemade meatlovers pizza. My kids (aged 2,5 and 7) loved it as they were not spicy at all and paired really well with the other meats, cheese and BBQ swirl.
We also made a three cheese Mac and cheese, and used this instead of bacon, the kids actually loved it more than the bacon one we usually make.
We would definitely purchase again. They are a handy and convenient protein to add into any meal. And I love that they are in two handy portions and that we can easily freeze them.
Thanks for introducing us to a new product. We tried the chorizo in some mini quiches which my husband and I enjoyed. The kids preferred the chorizo on it’s own. There was a lot of chorizo in the packet and I had some left over so plan on adding to our homemade pizzas tonight. I will most likely buy again in the future.
Firstly I’d like to say that it was a generous sample. A little goes a long way. I was not a chorizo fan but this has changed me. Fried some and it was just like eating crackling! We used it on pizzas, two potato dishes (potato cakes & potato and honey). An absolute favourite ingredient! Has converted me! Thanks Hellers
I spent too long mowing the lawns and was running late to organise dinner. Luckily I had picked up the hellers diced chorizo this week. I quickly fried it up (did get quite oily so i drained off the excess) and made a baked risotto.
It was a hit with the family, i usually slice up the traditional chorizo sausage but my daughter enjoyed this more – i think because of the smaller pieces.
I will definitely be buying more to keep for those nights you need a quick meal.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to try the chorizo
It is delicious we made fried rice and the chorizo was so
Soft with a lovely smoky flavour and wasn’t spicy for the kids they loved it. We are going to have it on pizza with bbq sauce we will be buying a lot of this I’m sure. Fantastic for easy meals once again thanks.
This was a fun product to review – thanks Hellers and Kidspot!
I have a family of 7 and I used one half of the pouch (100g) in with scrambled eggs for a super quick, flavoursome and nutritious weekend lunch.
We had the eggs in buns with lettuce and it was so delicious. I would look out for these again in the supermarket as the quantity was enough to add a real hearty flavour to our lunch.
The next day I used the other 100g to make savoury chorizo and cheese pinwheels which my kids have guzzled up in their school lunch boxes this week. I often make a big batch of pinwheels on the Monday and these get popped in the freezer and then devoured through the week! The hellers diced chorizo added such brilliant flavour that keeps the children keen on simple hearty food!
I picked these up at countdown and noticed they were priced at $7.50 but next week at pak n save I saw they were $5.99 so keep an eye out for good value !
Thank you to kidspot and Hellers for the opportunity to trial the Hellers Crafty Cooks diced chorizo…. i loved that there was enough in each pouch to add to the family meal… we made a chorizo and mushroom spiral pasta dish… which had a lovely smokey flavour from the chorizo as well as a hearty taste… we so enjoyed it and will definitely be purchasing again to add to our arsenal of quick and easy meals when we dont have the time to start from scratch… thanks to Hellers for a great product…😊❤
Thanks Kidspot for the opportunity to review Hellers Crafty Cooks diced chorizo – it was definitely a hit with everyone in our family!
We’ve tried this out successfully in three meals so far, and I have several more in mind which it would work great in also.
I firstly added a packet to some fried rice, along with a handful of frozen shrimps and mixed veggies which made for a quick and tasty dinner. Next I used a packet on homemade pizzas, in place of our usual salami topping. Verdict once again was delicious! The next addition was to a zucchini, carrot and corn slice – my family is well and truly over the zucchini glut from the garden, but this changed up the flavour a little so the last few didn’t go to waste. Any recipe which uses diced bacon could pretty much be substituted here to up the flavor level – for my last packet I’ll try it in macaroni cheese I think.
Flavour wise I think the spice level was perfect for our family – Miss 7 and 11 had no issues with it being too ‘hot’, and the partner and I quite liked the how tasty some extra spice made the meals. I did initially think the price was a little steep ($7.50 at Countdown when I purchased), but in saying that a little bit does go a long way, and it packs a good flavour punch. I also did see some on special at Pak n Save the following week for $5, which was a good saving.
The convenience factor is of course also great – peeling it open and tipping it straight in couldn’t be easier. Having it split into a two pack is handy too. I like that chorizo has a fairly long best before date too – so handy to have in the fridge for those ‘whoops I forgot to get meat out for dinner’ or ‘what the heck am I going to cook’ nights that seem to occasionally happen here!!
Overall we were impressed with this lastest addition to the Hellers range, and will likely purchase again.
The diced chorizo was very convenient to use. I made a black bean noodle dish with onion,mushrooms, tomato and added the diced chorizo, it was very enjoyable, although the younger members of the family found it a bit too spicy. I also used it in my mock whitebait patties .I didn’t put as much of the chorizo in them and they were loved by everyone.
We used the chorizo with pasta and a sauce. This made a quick and easy meal that was very tasty.
Hellers diced Chorizo was a major hit. I used it to make risotto, the flavour that went through it was amazing but even better was my son loved it. He likes it just as a snack. We also used it as a quick and easy addition to scrambled eggs. I like that it is in two smaller portions so it is always fresh.
I made a creamy sun-dried pesto pasta with bacon bits and red pepper.
The bacon bits made the preparation that bit easier with them being pre cut and were the perfect accompaniment to the pasta dish. Will definitely buy again. Thanks
Thank you for the trial. This is a yes in our family. I receive a voucher for 2 x Chorizo packets. We are a family of 4 (including a teenager) I made a yummy broccoli salad (Chorizo, Parmesan, Broccoli and Spring onion) that went of an absolute treat. And last night I did a side dish of cabbage, onion with Chorizo in which was also I positive in our household. I fried the Chorizo with the cabbage and have to admit it taste nicer with a bit of a cooking than just out of the packet – but that’s a personal choice, seems very fatty if you don’t cook it. Tonight, we’ll do some pizzas and maybe an effort over the weekend for a Paella. Thank you 🙂
Thanks so much for the opportunity to review the Hellers Diced Chorizo. We used this in a few things… pizza scrolls for school lunch boxes, pasta bake and fried rice. The kids also loved just grabbing a small handful to eat straight out of the packet. It’s got a great flavour – a little bit of spice but both my 2 yr old and 5 yr old loved it, so it’s definitely not too spicey.
Having it pre-diced made making all these things super fast and easy – loved having one less thing to do in the crazy time between school & dinner time! It’s also great that it comes in a split pack as a little goes a long way. Will definitely look to purchase this again.
Kidspot and Hellers gave our family the opportunity to try the new ‘Hellers Crafty Cooks Diced Chorizo’. It was easy to find in the cold meats (all the packaged ham, salami etc.) section at the supermarket.
The packaging was bright and eye-catching, and it comes divided into a 2 pack, with a easy-tear line between them which can be really handy when you aren’t using it all at once. The first time I used it, I had planned to make a warm chicken and roast veggie salad for dinner. This was seasoned chicken, with roast potatoes & capsicum, then tossed with baby spinach, pinenuts and flaked almonds. I then had family come by and stay for dinner so I was thinking of how I could make the meal stretch, I then remembered the chorizo in the fridge so quickly popped it into the frying pan to brown, for a few minutes and then added it in. It was super quick and easy, because it is already pre-chopped, so I literally just had to tip it from the packet to the pan. It made the salad super delicious and even the kids (who aren’t huge salad fans) ate it all up.
The next time I used it was to make brunch for my daughter and I. She can be very fussy and just wanted cheese on toast. I decided to make it a bit tastier and cooked up half a packet of the Diced Chorizo. Because of the easy tear packet, I could just leave the other half in the fridge without worrying about it going yuk. We had cheese on toast with chorizo and egg. My daughter said it was the best cheese toast ever (high praise – trust me). One thing I did notice though is even when I put it in the frying pan, without any cooking oil, quite a lot of oil/fat came out of it, which I understand is typical for chorizo, but in future I would probably take advantage of this, by cooking the chorizo first and then using the excess oil to cook other meat/veg.
The flavour is very mild so my kids enjoyed it, I prefer spicy chorizo but this was still yummy with heaps of flavour.
The price point was okay, but at around $2.50 more than most other whole chorizo (including Hellers own product) I am not sure if we would pay the ‘convenience fee’ of having it pre-chopped each time. It is definitely one of those handy to have just in-case products though, I can see it being good for bulking up a meal and adding that little something extra to a dish.
Thank you for the free product trial. The overall rating is Very Good, but with improvement on the taste and packaging might be rated as Excellent.
– Taste: A little spicy; I suggest lessen the spice for people who prefer a milder taste.
– Packaging: The plastic is soft that the product gets easily deformed.
Thank you for the opportunity to trial Hellers Crafty Cooks diced Chorizo. There was much excitement from my children to try something new and the recipes they came up with were endless. The suggestions included omelets, add to their toasted sandwiches, put on top of nachos and cheese, in their lunchbox in a container just for them to eat and the list went on and on.
We opted to add them to a yummy green salad with cucumber, purple carrots, tomatoes and feta cheese – sprinkle the diced chorizo on top and it added that extra 10% magic! I had also just finished preparing an epic lasagna to take away to the in-laws to enjoy over Easter which was popped in the freezer. The children asked can we add the diced chorizo on the top when it is cooking so this weekend we will do that and see if it adds that extra flavour and crunch to the top.
I loved that the packet was split in two portions so I wasn’t concerned about having to use it all at once as there is an ample portion in each side. The price was reasonable and the ease of using the diced chorizo was great. I also liked that as it was open in the kitchen the children could snack on it and it was delicious – no preparation needed.
A very tasty and versatile product, thank you again for allowing us to trial it.
That was an easy Saturday night dinner and so healthy too 💕 it was my 13year olds turn to help cook and we made One Pan Easy Spanish Chorizo Rice. We used the 2 packets of chorizo (we are a family of 5) cooked it in the pan crisping it up a little. Then removed it, cooked onion and garlic, 2 cups of rice, chicken stock, can tomatoes, peas, corn, capsicum and tomato paste. Was so easy, hardly any prep, and best of all everyone loved it 😋 the packaging is all recyclable, soft plastic and number 1 container ♻️🌎 will easily use this product again