This Venezuelan Mondongo is easy to make and full of flavor. Made with beef tripe (Panza) and lots of vegetables, this tripe hearty soup/stew will be a pleasant surprise for your palate. Recipe includes video, step-by-step photos, and lots of tips.
Venezuelan Mondongo Recipe
If you are an adventurous cook, you will love today’s recipe: Venezuelan Mondongo (tripe stew).
What is Mondongo?
Venezuelan Mondongo is a very hearty soup, more like a stew, made with beef tripe (Panza), pork feet (paticas de cochino), and lots of vegetables.
In my early years, I did not know what this soup was made of. They served me a bowl, which by the way, smelled very good, and I ate it without asking. For me was a soup, period. Then, when my years of innocence were fading away, and I found out what it was made with, and it was too late, I have allowed myself to be seduced by my taste buds instead of my brain.
Anyway…
I invite you to be adventurous and give it a try to this amazing and hearty Venezuelan Mondongo.
I was fortunate that my mom is visiting and she helped me prepare this Mondongo. Actually, this is her recipe and she did most of the work. So let’s get started!
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions (scroll down).
- Beef tripe: I use Rumba Meat Beef Honeycomb tripe, which I bought in my local Walmart store. The tripe must be clean and cooked before you start making the soup, so make sure to read the instruction below thoroughly.
- Chicken broth: You can use store-bought or homemade. PRO TIP: I like to dissolve one chicken bouillon in 1 cup of hot water for 1 cup of a super flavorful broth.
- Veggies: This soup is full of veggies. You’ll need onion, mini sweet peppers, leeks, green onion, and lots of garlic to add more flavor to the broth. And then, you will also need to add corn ears, green beans, and carrots.
- Root vegetables: You will need cassava (yucca), yautia (ocumo), white yam (ñame). Sometimes, these root vegetables are hard to find in regular grocery stores, so I recommend looking in Asian or Latino stores.
- Chickpeas: I use canned chickpeas.
- Masa balls: These balls are essential for the mondongo. They are made with Harina PAN. All the quantities and instructions are included in the recipe card below.
- Salt and black pepper
- Cilantro
Step By Step Recipe Photo Tutorial
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions (scroll down).
1 – Clean and Cook the Tripe.
Wash the tripe thoroughly under running warm water. lace it in a large bowl, squeeze the juice of the lime over the tripe, sprinkle with baking soda and scrub vigorously. inse and repeat; then wash the tripe again in warm water. ut tripe into bite-size pieces. ook the tripe over the stovetop or the pressure cooker. ee details in the recipe card below.
Bring back your passion for baking, even if you cannot use eggs!
2 – Make the Masa Balls.
Combine the Harina P.A.N., water, and salt. Knead until smooth and no lumps. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Form equal size mini balls, about 1 tablespoon each. set aside until is time to add it to the Mondongo.
3 – Start the Mongongo Broth.
In a large pot over medium-low heat, add chicken broth, onion, pepper, leeks, green onions, garlic, and cooked tripe; stir to combine. ring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 15 -20 minutes.
4 – Add the Veggies.
Add corn, green beans, carrots, cassava, yautia, and white yam; mix to combine. over and let it simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
5 – Add chickpeas and masa balls.
Simmer, uncovered, for 5 – 10 minutes, or until the masa balls emerge to the top. Taste and add more salt and black pepper, if necessary. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
6 – Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve hot.
Tips And Tricks to Clean And Cook Beef Tripe
- Wash the tripe thoroughly under running warm water.
- Scrub the tripe vigorously with lime juice and baking soda. Repeat this two times then wash the tripe again with warm water.
- If the tripe is too dirty scrape the entire surface of the tripe with a long sharp knife.
- Par-boil Beef Tripe: If you are not familiar, parboiling is basically partially cook something which will then be cooked another way. So, to par-boil the tripe place it in a large stockpot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Throw out the water then rinse the tripe in cold water several times.
- Cook tripe in salty water until tender. I prefer to cook it in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) because is faster, it just takes 20 minutes, but if you don’t have a pressure cooker simmer for a 2 -3 hours in a normal pot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Venezuelan Mondongo is a very hearty soup, more like a stew, made with beef tripe (Panza), pork feet (paticas de cochino), and lots of vegetables.
Tripe is a cut of meat that comes from the stomach lining of various farm animals, including cows, pigs, sheep, deer, and goats. Although tripe might be not very popular here in the USA, it is in Europe, South America, and Asia. Actually, it is considered a delicacy in many places, such as Italy, Spain, and France.
Venezulan Mondongo is usully serve with casabe, arepas, platanos or tostones, or white rice.
Yes, you MUST clean and scrub the tripe before adding it to the soup. The tripe has a nasty smell and taste, which can be eliminated with a good clean. o not skip this step!
The best way to clean beef tripe is under running warm water. hen scrub the tripe with lemon or lime juice and baking soda. Repeat this process three times to make sure the tripe is well cleaned.
Storing Instructions
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
More Venezuelan Recipes You’ll Love!
Venezuelan Mondongo Soup
Ingredients
For cleaning and cooking the tripe:
- 1 ½ – 2 lb Rumba Meats beef tripe
- 8 – 10 cups water
- 2 – 3 limes
- 2 – 3 tablespoons baking soda
For the Mondongo:
- 10 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup mini sweet peppers, diced (I used red and yellow) (see notes)
- 1 cup leeks, sliced
- ½ cup green onion, sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ – 2 lb Rumba Meats beef tripe cooked and cut into small pieces
- 2 -3 corn ears, cut into 1-inch slices
- 1 1/2 cups green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 baby carrots, sliced
- 1 cup cassava (yucca), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup yautia (ocumo), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup white yam (ñame), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 10 – 12 masa balls
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
Clean and Cook the Tripe:
- Wash the tripe thoroughly under running warm water. Place it in a large bowl, squeeze the juice of the lime over the tripe, sprinkle with baking soda and scrub vigorously. Rinse and repeat; then wash the tripe again in warm water. Cut tripe into bite-size pieces.
- Stovetop: Place the tripe in a large stockpot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes and then drain. Add more clean water and bring to boil over medium heat. Partially cover and simmer until tripe is very tender, about 2 hours. Drain and set aside.
- Instant Pot: Place tripe and water into the Instant Pot. Close the lid. Select “Manual” and adjust the time to 15 minutes. Cook. When the time is over, turn off and let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally, about 10 minutes. Carefully turn the vent to release any extra pressure that might still be in there. Remove the lid. Drain and set aside.
Masa Balls:
- To make the masa balls combine 1 cup of Harina P.A.N. with 1 ¼ cup of water and ½ teaspoon of salt. Knead until smooth and no lumps. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Form equal size mini balls, about 1 tablespoon each. Set aside until is time to add it to the Mondongo.
Mondongo:
- In a large pot over medium low heat, add chicken broth, onion, pepper, leeks, green onions, garlic and cooked tripe; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and let it simmer for 15 -20 minutes.
- Add corn, green beans, carrots, cassava, yautia and white yam; mix to combine. Cover and let it simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add chickpeas and masa balls. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 – 10 minutes, or until the masa balls emerge to the top. Taste and add more salt and black pepper, if necessary. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
- Serve hot.
Video
- Wash the tripe thoroughly under running warm water.
- Scrub the tripe vigorously with lime juice and baking soda. Repeat this two times then wash the tripe again with warm water.
- If the tripe is too dirty scrape the entire surface of the tripe with a long sharp knife.
- Par-boil Beef Tripe: If you are not familiar, parboiling is basically partially cooked something which will then be cooked another way. So, to par-boil the tripe place it in a large stockpot, cover it with water, and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Throw out the water then rinse the tripe in cold water several times.
- Cook tripe in salty water until tender. I prefer to cook it in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) because is faster, it just takes 20 minutes, but if you don’t have a pressure cooker simmer for 2 -3 hours in a normal pot.
Nutrition
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Rumba Meats. ll opinions are entirely my own.
Originally posted in December 2017, post content was edited to add more helpful information, no change to the recipe in March 2022.
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