This menudo recipe comes from the good State of Durango. iArriba Durango!
This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
🍲 What is Menudo?
Menudo is a Mexican stew made of beef tripe, or cow’s stomachs. It is cooked in a red chile broth with hominy and served in large bowls. Topped with lime juice, onion, cilantro, and oregano.
It is one of Mexico’s most traditional recipes just like Pozole Rojo, Birria de Res, Chile Verde. Dishes with organ meats can be an acquired taste.
🌶️ How to Make the Red Chile Sauce
- Remove stems from the dried chile pepper and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil and turn off heat.
- Let sit in the hot water for 5 minutes to rehydrate the chiles.
If you do not add the red sauce, this dish is called menudo blanco, or white menudo.
Other Names
- Menudo is the most common name for this dish. Depending on where you come from in Mexico, some people call it “Pancita” or “Mondongo.”
- Since this is an authentic menudo recipe from Durango in Northern Mexico, we also add hominy and a red chile sauce.
- Add all the sauce ingredients to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
To make the red chile sauce, we needs lots of guajillo peppers and chile de árbol.
The sauce is NOT spicy because there is a lot of water in the pot. The chiles will add a robust and deep flavor to the tripe soup.
Fun Fact: Because it’s such a hearty soup, some people also refer to it as a hangover cure.
How to Get Rid of the Smell
Tripe (or pancita de res) has a distinct smell. Luckily, there are several ways to minimize the smell.
Tips to Reduce the Smell:
- Put the tripe in a large stockpot.
- Cover with water.
- Add juice of 2 limes, or 4 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least 1 to 1 ½ hour. Discard water. Continue with recipe.
OR
- Put the tripe in a large pot.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat off.
- Add 4 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 2 garlic cloves.
- Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Discard water. Continue with recipe.
🥣 How to Cook Honeycomb Tripe
For Stovetop:
- Cut tripe into small pieces. About 2 inch pieces.
- Place the tripe inside the pot.
- Add onion, garlic, and bay leaf. This is when to add the pigs feet, if using.
- Cover with water (4 inches above the meat), and let simmer for 2 ½ hours.
For Instant Pot:
- Cut tripe into small pieces.
- Place the tripe inside the pot.
- Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and add water to max level. Also add pigs feet, if using.
- Add lid, move valve to SEALING, press High Pressure 50 minutes, full natural release.
- When done, change to a bigger pot. You also need to add 4 cups beef broth when adding the sauce and hominy.
For Slow Cooker:
- Cut tripe into small pieces.
- Place tripe inside the pot along with onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Add pig’s feet, if using.
- Cover with water.
- Set on low for 6 hours.
- When done, change to the biggest pot you own. When adding the sauce and hominy, also add 4 cups beef broth.
- Take out the whole onion, garlic, bay leaves from the pot.
- Using a strainer, strain the red sauce and add the white hominy to the pot.
- Cook for another ½ hour.
It is not hard to make this menudo recipe. It just takes a long time. Look for ways to cut your cooking time.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- The Mexican tripe soup will be ready in no time if cooked in the instant pot.
- Make the chile sauce ahead of time. You can make it days before, or use frozen sauce from months ago.
- Cook the tripe a day, two days, even three days before.
- Ask the butcher to chop the tripe for you.
Is menudo healthy or unhealthy?
Believe it or not, menudo is good for you. 1-cup of serving has 210 calories and 13 grams of lean protein.
🫙 Storing Instructions
- Store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge until ready to consume. In the fridge, Mexican Menudo will last 3-4 days. It actually tastes better when it’s reheated.
- Place in a sealable plastic bag and remove as much air as possible. Thaw before reheating. In the freezer, it lasts 3-4 months. It will have lost some of its freshness and texture, but the taste will still be there.
- Do not leave the stew at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or bacteria will start to multiply and FAST.
💡 Ideas for Toppings
- Raw, diced white onion
- Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Dried Mexican oregano
- Crushed Chile de Arbol or New Mexico Chile. Crush it open slightly, and put it in your soup bowl for some extra heat.
🥄 What does it taste like?
Menudo tastes like a robust, red chile stew with rich flavors. The tripe itself is mild in taste but has a texture of clams or chewy calamari.
There are yummy bites of corn hominy and an earthiness from the broth.
This is truly the BEST menudo recipe, if I say so myself. It is pure Mexican comfort food meant to feed a large crowd. It’s a delicious dish that’s perfect for special occasions and family gatherings.
😋 Hungry for More?
Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube for my latest recipes and videos.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate the recipe below!
Menudo Recipe
Ingredients
For the Tripe:
- 6 lbs Beef Honeycomb Tripe chopped into 2-inch pieces
- Water (enough for 6 inches above meat)
- 1 onion cut in half
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cow's feet (optional)
For the Red Chile Sauce:
- 8 chile guajillo stem removed, deveined, and seeded
- 3 chile de árbol stem removed, deveined, and seeded
- Pinch whole cumin
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ onion
- Salt (to taste)
- 2 cups water
You'll Also Need:
- 6 cups Hominy rinsed
Toppings:
- Diced raw onion
- Chopped Cilantro
- Lime
- chile de árbol
Instructions
- Rinse the beef honeycomb tripe well.
- Add honeycomb tripe, 1 whole onion, 5 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, and pigs feet (if using) to a large stockpot.
- Add water. About 6 inches above the honeycomb.
- Cover and bring to a boil for 2 ½ hours.
- In the meantime, make the red chile sauce.
- In a smaller stockpot add the chile guajillo and the chile de árbol.
- Add water. Enough to cover all the chiles.
- Bring to a boil.
- Turn heat off and let sit for 5 minutes until soft.
- Add all the chiles, ¼ onion, 2 garlic cloves, pinch of cumin, and salt to the blender.
- Using the water from which the chiles cooked in, add it to the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Before adding the chile sauce, remove and discard the onion and bay leaves from the pot.
- Add the red sauce and 2 tablespoons salt to the honeycomb tripe pot.
- Add 1 cup of water to the blender to get any remaining red sauce and pour into the pot.
- Rinse the hominy.
- Add the hominy to the pot.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover and let simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve with toppings and enjoy!
Video
Notes
For a slow cooker: Set on low for 6 hours. HOW LONG WILL MENUDO LAST? In the fridge, menudo will last 3-4 days. It actually tastes better when it’s reheated. In the freezer, menudo will last 3-4 months. It will have lost some of its freshness and texture, but the taste will still be there. TIP TO REDUCE THE SMELL:
- Put the tripe in a large stockpot.
- Cover with water.
- Add juice of 2 limes, or 4 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least 1 to 1 ½ hour. Discard water. Continue with recipe.
I live in one of the Mexican food capitals of America and have menudo often. This recipe is decent. It was actually my first time making menudo. I ordered some bollilo bread with it (traditionally eaten with menudo) and it hit the spot.
So glad you enjoyed this!
I usually drive across town (35 min) to get good menudo. I decided to try making it for the first time today using your recipe. I have to say, it rivaled my favorite place. Thank you for the great recipe. My family loved it!
So glad you enjoyed this!
This is amazing. I’ve never seen anyone else cook tripe except for my Irish family! I can’t wait to show them this and your tips to reduce the smell of cooking it! I grew up with that smell in my grandmother’s kitchen 🙂
Hope you try this recipe! It’s delicious
So happy I found this soup recipe! We live abroad and nowhere near good Mexican food and this hit the spot.
So glad you enjoyed this!
Do you have a recipe that uses raw hominy?
I don’t. All my recipes with hominy (at the moment) use canned hominy.
I have to admit, I’ve never been too convinced by tripe but I think it’s definitely one of those things, it depends how it’s prepared. The rest of this, though, all has me well and truly sold so I’m definitely looking foraward to giving this a try.
Hope you try it! It’s delicious
Maggie – when you say add the water from the Chiles boiled in, do you add ALL of the water from the boiled Chiles to the blender or a certain amount ?
Yes, add the water they were boiled in. I don’t always do this, depending on how dusty the chiles were. Many times, I discard the boiled water and just use 2 cups of fresh water to blend the sauce. Then strain the sauce into the pot to make the menudo.
I have never heard of this before, but the flavours sound amazing. I can’t wait to try it.
It’s a really yummy dish, hope you try it
Looks so good! Can’t wait to try this one.
So glad you enjoyed this Katie!
Got all the ingredients, going to do it today ! Thank you for the recipe!
You’re going to love it! Let me know how it tuned out
I am an Irish guy with a wife from Spain who also has Mexican friends!
Talk about being well rounded when it comes to food right?
One of the many exciting dishes we’ve had with our friends is her Menudo.
I cannot wait to try this out on my own!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
So glad you liked this recipe! It’s delicious.
Can’t wait to try it this way. Alittle different from the way we make it, but, almost the same. Love to try different ideas. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed this!
Can this be made the same with frozen tripe?
Thank you so much for your wonderful recepies I love authentic Mexican food like this, I will be trying your great recepies thanks again!!! also, what do you think about a combo recepie with menudo and pozole together as a mixed combo!!????
I’ve never thought of mixing menudo and pozole. I might just try that. lol. Thank you for the idea!
Question: Why remove the whole onion, garlic, and bay leaves? I understand removing the bay leaves, but why the garlic and onion? What is gained by removing the onion and garlic?
Thanks!
Amazing …! i love mexican food and i love its flavor and looks sooooo yummy & delicious. i can’t wait make this. Thanks for sharing…….!
Thank you! Hope you enjoy!
I’ve never cooked tripe before but it looks really good!
Oh yeah. Tripe is delicious!
Wow I’d never heard of menudo! This recipe sounds really good!
It’s a Mexican classic. Hope you try! It’s a favorite.
Wait til you try it. It’s amazing!
I love the traditions that are connected with food! Some are cultural, like the ones you described and others are just familial. I wish sometimes that we could go back to the “walk around the plaza” era. sigh. At least we still have menudo!
Exactly! Me too.. I love my memories of the plaza.
Yes, me too. I love the traditions and memories that foods bring.
I love the flavors in Mexican food, common with Indian cuisine. This sounds interesting.
I was shocked at how many people from India follow me on Facebook. Then one of them contacted me and told me that our foods were similar. So cool!
This is so cool! I’ve never even heard of honeycomb tripe. Thanks for the peek into Sundays in Mexico. That was so great to read.
Thank you! Love Sundays..
This is so cool! I’ve never even heard of honeycomb tripe. Thanks for the peek into Sundays in Mexico. That was so great to read.