Menudo (Mexican Tripe Soup)

Hard·30 min

A long-simmered soup of honeycomb beef tripe and hominy in a deep red guajillo-chile broth, garnished with raw onion, oregano, and lime — Mexico's legendary weekend and hangover cure.

A traditional Mexican soup with a chile-based red broth, especially associated with northern Mexico and served at Sunday gatherings and festive occasions.

Spoon up a rich, brick-red broth humming with toasted chile and oregano. The tripe is silky and yielding, the hominy bursts with a soft corn pop, and a squeeze of lime cuts through it all with a bright, restorative tang.

Hours of gentle simmering breaks down the tough collagen in tripe into gelatin, giving the broth body and the meat its silky tenderness. Toasting and rehydrating dried chiles deepens their flavor into the soup's signature red richness.

Variations

menudo rojo (northern, with hominy), menudo blanco (Sinaloa/Sonora clear broth), menudo with pig's foot, Jalisco-style with extra chile

On the Palate

Where Menudo (Mexican Tripe Soup) sits in the Mexican flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 8

How it's made

8 steps · 30 min

1
15 min
Rinse and scrub the honeycomb tripe thoroughly, then cut it into bite-size squares.
2
240 min
Cover the tripe with water, add onion, garlic, and bay leaf, and simmer gently for several hours until tender.
Watch out
Keep it at a lazy simmer for hours until the tripe turns silky and yields easily — a hard boil makes it rubbery instead of tender.
3
15 min
Toast guajillo and ancho chiles, soak them in hot water, then blend with garlic into a smooth red paste.
Watch out
Toast the chiles just until fragrant and pliable — let them scorch and the whole broth turns bitter.
4
5 min
Strain the chile paste into the pot and add drained hominy.
5
60 min
Season with dried oregano, cumin, and salt, then simmer until the broth turns deep red and rich.
Watch out
Simmer until the broth deepens to a rich brick red and tastes rounded, not raw — that's the chile flavor fully bloomed.
6
30 min
Skim the surface and adjust salt, cooking until the tripe is fully tender and the flavors meld.
7
5 min
Ladle into bowls and offer chopped onion, oregano, crushed chile flakes, and lime wedges at the table.
8
3 min
Serve piping hot with warm corn tortillas or bolillo rolls.