Honduran Mondongo (Tripe Soup)
Mondongo is Honduras' famously hearty tripe soup — a slow-simmered, deeply flavored dish that turns a humble cut into pure comfort food. Tender pieces of beef tripe are cooked for hours with yuca, plantains, corn and vegetables until everything is soft and the broth is rich.
It is very much a weekend dish. Across Honduras, mondongo is a Sunday tradition, simmered slowly at home or served steaming at local comedores, and it has a well-earned reputation as a restorative morning-after cure. Like sopa de caracol, it belongs to Honduras' rich family of soups.
The tripe needs a good cleaning and a long, gentle simmer to become tender — that patience is the secret. Seasonings vary by family, but garlic, cumin, sweet pepper and fresh culantro are common, sometimes with a squeeze of lime at the table.
Mondongo is served hot and filling, often with rice, tajadas and warm tortillas on the side to make a complete meal.
Honduran Mondongo Recipe
Prep: 30 min · Cook: 2 h 30 min · Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef tripe, cleaned and cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons lime juice or vinegar (to clean)
- 1 lb yuca (cassava), peeled and chunked
- 2 green plantains, sliced
- 2 ears corn, cut into rounds
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 sweet pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 sprig culantro or cilantro
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Rub the tripe with lime or vinegar, rinse well, and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Simmer the tripe in salted water for about 2 hours (or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker) until tender.
- Add the onion, garlic, sweet pepper and cumin and cook a few minutes.
- Add the yuca, plantains, corn and carrots and simmer 30 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Stir in the culantro, adjust the seasoning, and serve hot with rice, tajadas and tortillas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mondongo?
Mondongo is a Honduran tripe soup made by slow-simmering beef tripe with yuca, plantains, corn and vegetables until tender. It is a hearty, comforting weekend dish.
Why is mondongo eaten on Sundays?
Its long, slow cooking suits an unhurried weekend, and it has a reputation as a restorative, filling dish, making it a classic Sunday meal in Honduras.
How do you make tripe tender?
Clean the tripe well, then simmer it gently for a couple of hours (a pressure cooker speeds this up) until soft before adding the vegetables.
What is served with mondongo?
Mondongo is served hot with rice, tajadas (fried plantains) and warm tortillas, often with a squeeze of lime and a spoon of chismol salsa.