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Sunday mornings in Mexico always started the same way – with a big pot of Menudo. In Durango, the entire city would practically shut down.
Even the kids would go inside to spend time with their families and less time outside playing fútbol.
Church was a must. Maybe a walk later around the Plaza de Armas for a paleta or a visit to a relative who might or might not know that we were coming over (“Surprise!”).
What is Menudo?
Menudo is a Mexican stew made of beef tripe (or stomach). It is cooked in a red chile broth with hominy and topped with lime, onion, cilantro, and oregano. It is one of Mexico’s most traditional stews just like Pozole Rojo, Birria de Res, Chile Verde.
How to Cook Honeycomb Tripe:
The Menudo meat, or Pancita de Res, has a distinct smell, and there are several ways to minimize the smell.
Tips to Reduce the Smell of the Honeycomb Tripe:
- Put the tripe in a large stockpot.
- Cover with water.
- Add juice of 2 limes.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least 1 to 1 1/2 hour. Discard water. Continue with recipe.
Instead of lime, you can also use 2 tablespoons vinegar.
OR
- Put the tripe in a large stockpot.
- Cover with water.
- Bring to a boil.
- Turn heat off.
- Add 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar and 2 garlic cloves.
- Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Discard water. Continue with recipe.
If you are using the same pot as when you were trying to take the smell away, you will need to WASH the pot. The odor lingers.
Different Ways to Cook Tripe:
For Stovetop:
- Place the honeycomb tripe inside the pot
- Add onion, garlic, and bay leaves.
- Cover with water (4 inches above the meat), and let simmer for 2 ½ hours.
For Instant Pot:
- Place the honeycomb tripe inside the pot
- Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and add water to max level.
- Add lid, move valve to SEALING, press High Pressure 45 minutes, full natural release.
- Note: Change to a bigger pot. You also need to add 4 cups beef broth when adding the sauce.
For Slow Cooker:
- Place tripe inside the pot along with onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Cover with water.
- Set on low for 6 hours.
How to Make the Red Chile Sauce
- Remove stems 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.
The Name Game:
“Menudo” is the most common name for this dish. Depending on where you come from in Mexico, some people call it “Pancita.” In other countries, people also call it “Mondongo.”
In some parts of Mexico, the recipe for Menudo, or Pancita, would stop right here. This is an authentic Menudo recipe from Northern Mexico.
In Durango and several northern states, 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 chile and chile de árbol.
Don’t worry. The sauce is not spicy. Remember that there is a lot of water in the big pot.
The chiles will add a robust and deep flavor to our tripe soup.
Fun Fact: Because it’s such a hearty soup, some people also refer to it as a hangover cure.
- Take out the whole onion, garlic, bay leaves from the pot.
- Add the red sauce to the pot and cook for another ½ hour.
It is not hard to make this dish. It just takes a long time. Look for ways to cut your cooking time.
Tips for Easy Cooking:
- Make this recipe in an instant pot. The Mexican tripe soup will be ready in no time.
- 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 Mexican menudo healthy?
Believe it or not, menudo is good for you. 1-cup of serving has 210 calories and 13 grams of lean protein.
How Long does it last?
In the fridge, Mexican Menudo will last 3-4 days. It actually tastes better when it’s reheated.
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.
Ideas for Toppings:
- Raw, diced white onion
- Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Dried oregano
- Crushed Chile de Arbol or New Mexico Chile
Some people will serve dried chile de árbol, crush it open slightly, and put it in their soup bowls 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 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. Perfect for special occasions and large family gatherings.
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Menudo (or Pancita)
Ingredients
- 6 lbs Beef Honeycomb Tripe chopped into 2-inch pieces
- Water
- 1 onion + ¼ onion divided
- 7 garlic cloves divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups Hominy
- 8 chile guajillo stem removed, deveined, and seeded
- 3 chile de árbol stem removed, deveined, and seeded
- Pinch whole cumin
- Salt
- Toppings:
- Diced raw onion
- Chopped Cilantro
- Lime
- chile de árbol
Instructions
- Rinse the beef honeycomb tripe well.
- Add honeycomb, 1 whole onion, 5 garlic cloves, and 2 bay leaves 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. If you are using the same pot as when you were trying to take the smell away, you will need to wash the pot. The odor lingers. 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.
Nutrition
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
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.
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
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!
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!
Love it so easy I truly recommend this recipe. And it is all some with flour tortillas and just as good with corn tortillas.
So glad you liked this recipe. It’s delicious, if I say so myself.
I once was married to a Mexican for years and this soup was a big deal every Sunday. I lost the recipe because my mother in law passed away. So I was excited to be able to make this for my son’s and their families
So glad you enjoyed this! Hope you try it
MY DAD loves tripe! I am sending him this recipe ASAP cause I know he would probably want to make it for himself – TONIGHT!
Your dad would love this recipe!
Menudo is popular here in New Mexico. I dont eat meat so I have never tried it.
Hope you try it! It’s so good!
I will have to try this. I’m in Texas and I hear it referred to as menudo, but I have yet to taste it!
It’s so good! Hope you try it!
I love Mexican food but have never had tripe. It sounds strange but looks like it tastes amazing.
It really does! Hope you try this recipe
I’ve never had this before. I would love to make this for my family.
It’s so yummy!
This authentic menudo looks so hearty and full of delicious flavor.
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed this!
Looks so savory. I really love beef honeycomb at most of my soup or saucy dishes.
It is really savory! Hope you try it
I’m not very adventurous when it comes to organ meat, but this recipe makes tripe look delicious!
It’s delicious indeed. Hope you try it!