Recipe
Beef Tongue, Pressure-Cooked and Sliced
Tongue is one of those cuts that scares people in concept and converts them on the first bite. The pressure cooker turns what used to be a four-hour Sunday project into a 90-minute weeknight meal. It tastes like the most tender beef you've ever had — because it is.
Cook time
90 min
Yields
6 servings
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- •1 Spring Lake Cattle whole beef tongue, 2.5–3.5 lb
- •1 large white onion, halved
- •1 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
- •4 bay leaves
- •1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- •2 tbsp kosher salt
- •Water to cover (about 8 cups)
- •To serve: corn tortillas, cilantro, white onion, lime, salsa verde
About the cut
Beef tongue is a single muscle that works every minute of the animal's life — which means it's full of connective tissue that rewards low, slow cooking. On a Piedmontese animal, the lean genetics mean a cleaner-tasting braise with less fat to skim. Read the full lengua cut guide for traditions, sourcing, and serving notes.
Method
- Rinse and load. Rinse the tongue under cold water, removing any surface bits. Place it in the pressure cooker.
- Build the broth. Add halved onion, halved garlic head, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Cover with water by 1 inch.
- Pressure cook. Lock the lid. Cook on high pressure for 75 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally — about 15 more minutes.
- Lift and peel. Lift the tongue onto a cutting board. While it's still warm, peel off the thick outer skin starting from the wider end. It comes off in big sheets.
- Trim the base. Cut away any cartilage or hard fat from the back end of the tongue. Discard.
- Slice across the grain. The grain runs long-ways down the tongue. Slice perpendicular to it at 1/4 inch — or chop fine if you're going taco-style.
- Optional crisp. For taco taquero presentation, sear the slices in tallow for 30 seconds per side. The edges crackle and the texture goes from creamy to crispy.
- Serve hot. Pile onto warm corn tortillas with cilantro, onion, a squeeze of lime, and your salsa of choice. Save the broth — it's golden for menudo or sopa de res.
Chef's notes
- •Peel the skin while warm. Cold tongue is a wrestling match.
- •No pressure cooker? Same ingredients, low simmer 3.5–4 hours covered. Same skin-peel step.
- •Save the cooking broth — vacuum-seal in 2-cup portions and freeze. It's better than store-bought stock.
- •Sliced tongue keeps in the fridge 4 days. Reheat in a splash of broth to keep tender.
- •For lengua en salsa verde, simmer the chopped tongue in tomatillo salsa for 15 minutes after pressure-cooking.
Reserve a whole tongue from this harvest
Whole tongues come off in limited quantity. Get on the list early.