Affiliate Disclosure

Since I did not grow up with organ meats, eating beef tongue was a hard sell for me. I began learning about the importance of consuming organ meats, including beef tongue, when I changed my diet and began healing several years ago.

Why Eat Beef Tongue?

Nutrients

Beef tongue is packed with B vitamins, especially Vitamin B12. It is high in iron and has smaller amounts of zinc, Vitamin C, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and selenium. This isn’t a comprehensive list, but as you can see, eating beef tongue covers a lot of bases when it comes to vitamins.

Cost

As grocery store prices have been soaring, many people are trying to afford to eat healthy, but are struggling. One great way to do that is to eat beef tongue and other organ meats! We did buy a number of beef tongues when we purchased our half cow. The price per pound of buying meat in bulk is much more affordable than grocery store prices. Even if you cannot purchase in bulk, purchasing beef tongue is very affordable. I believe we purchased ours at $3.99/lb or less.

Cooking With Beef Tongue

Fear

I will be honest. The idea of cooking with beef tongue was intimidating for me for a long time. The best thing you can do is to just bite the bullet and to start making it. You may not make it perfectly the first time, but after more practice, you will start to improve. The same can be said for cooking in general!

Plan Ahead

Beef tongue is not a last minute type of meal, unfortunately, unless maybe you have an Instant Pot. It requires advance preparation to make the tongue tender. It is worth it though and it is of course important to plan your meals somewhat in advance if you do not want to go out to eat. I am not the best at this, but I do try to keep in mind what I am making for dinner by the morning at a bare minimum.

Keep an Open Mind

If you did not grow up eating beef tongue, that is okay! It is still possible for you to like it or even love it. You just have to be a little open minded. Several years ago, when I was just getting started eating real food, the thought of eating an animal’s liver was sickening to me. I think part of that reason was my mind was a little conditioned to think it was disgusting. I am no longer disgusted by the thought of most organ meats, so it is possible to change! Let’s jump into the recipe. Please check out my video on YouTube below or on Rumble here for more details on how to cook it. I also have another great beef tongue recipe here.

Beef Tongue

Print

Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2.5 lbs grass fed beef tongue
• filtered water (enough to cover tongue)
• 2 1/2 tsp himalayan salt (plus more for later preparation)
• 1 tsp organic garlic powder (plus more for later preparation)
• 1/2 tsp organic cumin powder (plus more for later preparation)
• freshly ground organic black pepper
• 1/2 tsp organic cardamom powder (plus more for later preparation)

Instructions

1. Place tongue in Vita Clay pot or pot on stove.
2. Fill pot with enough filtered water to cover the tongue with an inch or more of water over the top of the tongue.
3. Season with salt, and other spices (optional black pepper, or you can use other spices to your liking).
4. Bring water to a boil on stove and let boil for 2 1/2 hours (you may need to turn the heat down a little and/or cover so too much water does not evaporate. If using Vita Clay, place on slow setting for 2 1/2 hours.
5. Before tongue is finished cooking, prepare an ice bath for the tongue (fill a large bowl with ice and water).
6. Remove tongue from pot with tongs and place into the ice bath.
7. Wait a few minutes until the tongue has cooled down and is cool to the touch.
8. Take the tongue out of the ice bath with tongs and place on a cutting board.
9. Use fingers or make a small incision in the tongue to begin peeling it.
10. The outer layer of the tongue should easily peel off since the meat has cooled down.
11. Begin slicing the tongue like a beef tenderloin.
12. Heat up a cast iron griddle to medium heat and place all slices on it.
13. The pockets of fat in the tongue should begin to render.
14. Season the side that is up with spice (salt, garlic powder, cardamom, black pepper, cumin).
15. When the bottom side has rendered or browned enough, flip it and season the side with the spices.
16. Once both sides are browned and seasoned, place tongue slices back on cutting board.
17. Cut the tongue slices again as if you were cutting a skirt or a strip steak into thin strips. This makes the meat look more appetizing and you can easily serve into tacos (tacos de lengua!) or arepas! It is great with salsa or guacamole. Serve it with your favorite vegetable sides and rice. Enjoy!

Notes

For all around delicious flavor, I recommend poking holes all over the tongue prior to cooking and inserting whole garlic cloves in the holes.