Menudo – Mexican tripe soup with red chilli
A rich red guajillo and ancho chilli broth with beef tripe and cow's feet simmered until meltingly soft, plus hominy. Everyone tops their bowl with onion, oregano, ground dried chilli and lime. In northern Mexico it is the Sunday-morning soup.
- 4 h 10Time
- 1 hHands-on
- 4Portions
- ≈ $64per portion
- 780kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 1 kgBeef tripe, in 3 cm pieces
- 750 gCow's feet, cut into pieces by the butcher
- ≈ 3 lWater
- ½Yellow onion, in one piece
- 4 clovesGarlic
- to tasteSalt
- 6Guajillo chiles
- 2Ancho chiles
- 2 clovesGarlic, for the chilli sauce
- 3 mlCumin
- 2 tbspMexican oregano
- 500 gHominy, precooked, drained
On the side
- 1Yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 tspChili flakes, piquín or árbol chilli
- 3Limes, in wedges
- 12Corn tortillas
Method
- Rinse the tripe and cow's feet well in several changes of cold water. Cut the tripe into pieces of about 3 cm.
- Put the tripe and feet in a large pot with the water, the piece of onion, the garlic and some salt. Bring to the boil and skim off the foam that rises.
- Partly cover and simmer over a low heat for about 3 hours, until the tripe is tender and the meat on the feet comes away from the bone. Top up with hot water if it reduces too much. (In a pressure cooker it takes about 1 hour.)
- Meanwhile, remove the stems, seeds and veins from the dried chillies. Toast them for a few seconds per side in a hot, dry frying pan without letting them burn.
- Soak the chillies in hot water for 15 minutes.
- Drain the chillies and blend until smooth with the garlic, cumin, half the oregano and about 250 ml of broth from the pot. Sieve the sauce.
- Prepare the toppings: finely chop the onion and cut the limes into wedges.
- Lift out the feet and pick off the meat and cartilage. Cut it into pieces and return it to the pot. Discard the bones, onion and garlic.
- Rinse the hominy and add it to the soup with the chilli sauce. Simmer for another 30 minutes so the flavours come together, and season with salt.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan and wrap them in a tea towel.
- Serve the menudo piping hot in deep bowls. Let everyone top it with onion, the rest of the oregano, ground chilli and lime, with the warm tortillas on the side.
The cost is estimated from average prices in Mexico (PROFECO, Quién es Quién en los Precios (datos abiertos), 2026-07).
