🌮 Beef tongue tacos (tacos de lengua)

Name: Beef tongue tacos (tacos de lengua)
Total time: 200 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mexico · nationwide
Ingredients: 1 beef tongue (about 1 kg); 1 onion, halved, plus 1 onion finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, salt; 12 small corn tortillas; 1 bunch cilantro, chopped; 250 ml salsa verde; 2 limes, cut into wedges

Origin: Mexico · nationwide

350kcal

per serving · 200 g

175kcal

per 100 g

24 gProtein12 g / 100 g

16 gFat8 g / 100 g

28 gCarbs14 g / 100 g

Tacos de lengua are soft corn tortillas filled with slow-braised beef tongue, diced and then crisped briefly on a griddle. The meat is remarkably tender and rich, almost buttery in texture. They are topped with chopped white onion and cilantro, finished with a squeeze of lime and a spoonful of tangy green salsa verde.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

High protein12 g protein per 100 g — 27% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: beef tongue

Not veganbecause of: beef tongue

Not keto14 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

beef tongueonioncilantrolimegreen salsacorn tortilla

Recipe

4 servings200 min

Ingredients

1 beef tongue (about 1 kg)
1 onion, halved, plus 1 onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, salt
12 small corn tortillas
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
250 ml salsa verde
2 limes, cut into wedges

Method

Put the tongue in a pot with the halved onion, garlic, bay leaves and salt, cover with water and simmer for about 3 hours until tender.
While still warm, peel off the tough outer skin and dice the meat.
Sear the diced tongue on a hot griddle for a few minutes until lightly browned at the edges.
Warm the tortillas on a dry pan.
Fill each tortilla with meat, top with chopped onion, cilantro and salsa verde and serve with lime.

How to make it lighter

Two tacos instead of three already trims the plate noticeably.
Pile on onion, cilantro, lime and salsa — they add a lot of flavour for very few calories.
Warm the tortillas on a dry pan instead of frying them in oil; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.

History

Beef tongue has long been a prized cut at Mexican taquerías and street stalls, where cheaper offal cuts became beloved fillings. Today tacos de lengua are a standard on taco stand menus across Mexico and in Mexican communities in the United States.

Count it in one photo

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →