Tacos de hígado
Tacos de hígado are tacos of beef or pork liver, most often cooked quickly with onions (encebollado) or taken from the carnitas pot, and finished with lime.
Overview
Liver is one of the cheapest and most widely available offal cuts in Mexico. Univision describes two common taco styles for beef liver: cooked with onions or steamed. At carnitas stands pork liver is also cooked in the communal pot, though El Financiero notes that some customers regard it as a plain, somewhat tough cut compared with maciza or costilla.
Hígado encebollado, liver with onions, is also a staple of home cooking. Grupo Animal describes it as a dish grandmothers and mothers made once a week as part of a frugal, waste-free kitchen, and laments that the habit is fading.
Preparation
Good liver tacos depend on short cooking. Grupo Animal recommends choosing fresh liver that is reddish-brown and firm, removing the outer skin and sinews, cutting it into bite-sized pieces and cooking it fast over high heat, since long cooking makes it hard and dry. Soaking the pieces in milk for an hour is a common trick to soften any bitter taste. Infobae's version marinates thin slices briefly in lime, garlic, salt and pepper, sautés the onions first and then cooks the liver two or three minutes a side before returning the onions to the pan.
Street cooks often add a sauce to the liver and onions. Time Out Mexico describes a Tepito vendor, Don Martín, who has cooked liver with onion and a closely guarded sauce for about four decades and finishes each taco with lime.
Nutrition
Infobae reports that beef liver is rich in heme iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, zinc and folic acid, and is often eaten to help prevent anemia. It also notes that liver is high in cholesterol and purines, so people with heart disease or gout are advised to eat it occasionally.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g beef liver, membrane removed
- 1 cup milk (optional, for soaking)
- 2 tablespoons oil or lard
- 2 white onions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 serrano chile, sliced (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 limes
- 12 corn tortillas
- Salsa roja or salsa verde
Steps
- Cut the liver into thin strips or bite-sized pieces, removing any veins. Soak in the milk for up to 1 hour, then drain and pat dry.
- Heat half the oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and cook the onions with a pinch of salt until soft and lightly golden, 10 minutes. Add garlic and chile for the last minute. Set aside.
- Raise the heat to high, add the rest of the oil and sear the liver in a single layer for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until just pink inside. Season with salt and pepper.
- Return the onions to the pan, toss for 30 seconds and squeeze in the juice of one lime.
- Serve at once in warm tortillas with salsa and lime wedges.
Overcooked liver turns grainy and bitter; pull it from the heat while it is still slightly pink.
Where to try it
- Hígado encebollado de Don Martín, Mexico City: Tepito street stall at Matamoros and Toltecas run by a cook who has made liver tacos for about 40 years.
- El Kali, León
- Taquería La Colmena, Santa Barbara, California
- Yeshua Tacos, Mexico City
Reviews
Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.
See also
References
- "Hígado encebollado de Don Martín". Time Out México. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Hígado encebollado: un clásico que se pierde de la cocina casera". Grupo Animal. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Qué tan saludable es el hígado encebollado". Infobae México. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Ojo, zorrillo, vísceras... tacos exóticos (y deliciosos) que no esperabas en el plato". Univision. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "¿Qué son nana, nenepil y bofe? Esto hay en tus tacos de carnitas". El Financiero. Retrieved 2026-10-10.