Instant Pot Beef Tongue (Lengua) is extremely easy to make and is a special treat for a dinner! This is some tender and flavorful meat that you can use in so many different ways once you cook it up.
Beef Tongue ranks up there as one of the most overlooked pieces of beef to use in home cooking, but it is so delicious!
It was used heavily in America 50-70 years ago when no part of a cow from the local farms went to waste. Women began to get creative with beef tongue in the 1950s and it started to show up in various recipes in cookbooks. I’m not really sure why it has waned in popularity. Sure, it gives some people the “ewww” factor, but frankly, most people wouldn’t even know that they were eating the tongue if you didn’t tell them.
🐮 Why This Recipe Works
Easy, easy, easy – Wait until you look at the steps, it is a dump and go recipe, which means it’s completely hands off for busy nights.
Meal Prepping Heaven – Make this in no time and then you can simply shred this for Tacos, Enchiladas, Nachos and more. Make any of these additional recipes in about 15-20 minutes, so think about those nights when time is crunched for meals.
Delicious – If you haven’t grown up eating tongue, it may sound strange to think that people eat it and love it, but we do. Many countries serve this as a delicacy rather than a backup like we might observe in the U.S. It is moist, tender and melts in your mouth, thanks to the IP.
🥘 Where to Purchase
You can buy beef tongue from your butcher or several grocery stores.
If you are looking at your grocery store, check near where the livers are sold. Also, check in the frozen meat section. Sometimes they put them there, as beef tongue is not sought out as much as it used to be. If you don’t see it there, go to the meat counter and ask the butcher.
Check the local butcher or a farmers market that sells organic meats and vegetables. That is where we found two of ours. We also got one when we purchased a ½ cow years ago and that started our quest on how to cook beef tongue in the first place.
Either way, you can always call ahead before leaving your house.
🍽️ Instructions
If you are an Instant Pot cook, you know how fast, easy and flavorful that cooking in a pressure cooker can be! The meat always comes out tender and delicious and best of all, it is virtually hands off! I love saving time in the kitchen as much as possible.
Step One: Rinse the tongue and place it in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add in red onion and garlic cloves. Add one cup of water.
Step Two: Turn the Instant Pot on HIGH MANUAL for 90 minutes. Once the timer goes off, allow it to naturally depressurize.
Step Three: Remove the tongue, peel the hard layer of skin and serve up into slices for dinner.
TIP: Alternatively, make tacos, enchiladas, or grind it up for a sandwich mix (this is what my mom did in the “good ol’ days”) and it is incredible.
🧊 Freezer Tips
You bet! I wrap mine in saran and place it in a freezer safe Ziploc bag. It stays good in the freezer for about three months.
🍴 What to Do with the Peeling?
Don’t throw out the hard outer surface of the beef tongue after you peel it. It is great for adding to a pot for making your own bone broth. Stack them together and freeze them until it is time to make your homemade bone broth.
📌 Instant Pot Manual
Stay safe when using your Instant Pot. If you are unsure how to work your model, check out the Instant Pot Manual Page to double check if you have any questions. Each IP is slightly different, so referencing your model is best for all recipes if you are unsure.
Expert Tips
Cooking this in the Instant Pot easily tenderizes the meat and comes out moist and tender. Cooking the beef tongue in the Instant Pot makes the meat to get so tender that you don’t even need a knife to cut it. Either use the side of a fork or shred it by hand.
Allow the tongue to naturally release (meaning don’t open the lid until all the steam has dissipated). It will take about 20-30 minutes.
Recipe FAQ
It’s not fatty. It is an organ that doesn’t have fat attached to it, but it is not low calorie either.
It actually is. It has a lot of fatty acids, zinc, iron and B12 and benefits those recovering from illnesses. It should be eaten in moderation since it has a higher cholesterol content.
My grandmother would make beef tongue recipes when we were sick. All those great vitamins and nutrients were thought to help us get over our colds faster.
If you allow the tongue to cool too much, the outside can become hard to peel off. It is best to tackle this when it is warm.
I get that question a lot! It is extremely mild and tastes like flank steak or a mild steak. It is tender and flavorful due to the fat content.
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Instant Pot Beef Tongue
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Beef Tongue two to three pounds
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- Place one cup of water in bottom of Instant Pot. Place beef tongue on top of the water.
- Cover tongue with chopped red onion and garlic.
- Turn Instant Pot on MANUAL HIGH for 90 minutes. Allow to naturally release the pressure.
- Once cooked and cooled slightly, the outside of the tongue will gently pull away from the meat easily and now you can make tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches or whatever you'd like. It will peel easily as long it is warm. If it cools off completely, it becomes difficult to peel.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
This was delicious! Since I am keto, I used beef bone broth instead of water. After it was cooked and I diced up the meat, I used xanthan gum to thicken the gravy, and served it over cauliflower mashed potatoes. It was outstanding!! Thank you for sharing how to cook the tongue. It’s one of my favorites!
Excellent!! We have just started using xanthan gum in our house too! Works great! Cheers! ginny
So flavorful!!
Hi, thanks for posting the recipe. I love beef tongue but have only cooked it a few times. Most recipes say cover with water. Is only 1 cup correct? Looking forward to trying
Hey Dawn, thanks for asking! As long as you have a good cup of water at the bottom so the tongue doesn’t stick, you should be good to go. If you feel better to add more, go for it but it’s not needed. So many people have made it as it is and have given it 5 stars. I’m comfortable sticking to the 1 cup. 🙂 Season more if you desire or add more later on. That part is all up to you! Cheers and thanks for stopping by! Ginny
Been cooking beef tongue for 40 years now for the past 5 years with the Instantapot
Awww, thanks Lawrence! We love beef tongue as well!
That’s a long time! Do you have any added tips? Or other stuff you add to the pot?
You can add onions and garlic, if you like. It’s super simple and so easy to make to use in your tacos or any other recipes. We eat it straight out off the IP too. Just like our chicken livers, it’s not for everyone but those that get it, get it! 🙂
I get it! 😁
I have tried making tongue several times during our 40+ year marriage because my husband loves it. Me, not so much. I tried this recipe about 6 months ago and my husband thought it was the best he ever had. He has asked me several times since then to make it again. We finally butchered another steer so I am making it tonight. This recipe is so super easy and it does taste great! Now………if I could only get past the thought of what I am eating.
I made this and it was really simple to do. I followed your recipe but added some salt and pepper about a teaspoon each. When I minced it up I also added chili pepper and more salt and pepper, garlic and onion powder. Really enhances the flavor. Side note ting now cost $11.28 per pound. An average tung cost over $35.00
Randy, thanks for the sweet review!! That means so much to us. Beef tongue has gone up a lot!!! We were smoking burnt ends a couple weeks ago on the smoker and it used to be where the chuck roast burnt ends were called “poor man’s” but that chuck can be just as expensive as brisket now.
Any-hoo, so happy it worked so well for you! Cheers! Ginny
Awesome. Thank you for the recipe. Bring back some ancestral foods in a modern way is really important these days. I organize slaughters of grass fed cows, and it’s incredible how many people just let the organs get thrown away. I take everything other people don’t want and feed whatever I don’t want to eat to friends chickens.
This recipe also works amazingly for Potroasts. They come out incredibly tender. Just make sure to have them on the wire trivet inside the IP with only 8oz of water (having it submerged in water makes a very subpar product).
The only thing I’d suggest is that you remove the wording suggesting people limit it for cholesterol concerns. Maybe just acknowledge that it has higher cholesterol, so people can make their own decisions. I say this because see the research on cholesterol has changed drastically in recent years, and cholesterol has been shown to not only not cause heart disease in healthy people without familial hypercholesterolemia, but it’s actually protective against heart disease for those healthy individuals. Just my two cents. The research is worth looking into for those curious. Foods that we evolved eating shouldn’t be considered bad for you. If you’re going to choose one food to avoid, I’d suggest seed oils. That’s another good one to research.
Happy eating!
Zach, you are awesome! Thank you for the kind words and tidbits on cholesterol! Cheers! Ginny 🙂
Yes Zach, people with higher cholesterol levels live longer and it does not cause heart disease or any thing like that. Eat it up. Yum’s.
Wow! Does it really take that long to cook the tongue in the IP? x.x
It does but a lot of that time is increasing pressure! 🙂
How is it that this recipe is listed as AMERICAN?? 🤨
Beef tongue is used in so many countries for different dishes…… in America, we use them a lot on open face sandwiches, in Mexico it is used in tacos, in Belgium and France it is boiled with a Madeira sauce. In Russia, they serve it on a salad. No matter how you choose it’s origin, I hope you enjoy cooking it! How did you serve your beef tongue, Hernandez? Cheers! Ginny
Because tongue isn’t a regional meat choice? I grew up eating it in the Ohio Valley. Pretty much all cattle ranchers or farms would eat beef tongue. The only variation we’d do is add a couple bay leaves to the cooker. Served over egg noodles or smoked and sliced into sandwiches.
Oh yum!! We grew up in the west and it was always available! We’ve done it on sandwiches as well and they are delish!! My dad used to grind it up with pickles, onions and mayo to make a sandwich mix that is so good! Cheers!
Thank you for providing this easy to follow recipe. My family loved the tongue tacos!
That is awesome to find fellow beef tongue taco lover!! Hooray! I’m so glad you found it useful. Enjoy and thank you so much for coming back to let us know! Cheers! Ginny