Mexican Name Finder
Soup or stewSpanishnorthern Mexico

Menudo

"small things, the offal"

Say it

meh·NOO·doh

Where it comes from

Spanish menudo (small, minute; in the plural, offal)

What Menudo means

Menudo is a Mexican soup or stew name of Spanish origin meaning "small things, the offal". It comes from Spanish menudo (small, minute; in the plural, offal). It is pronounced meh-NOO-doh, and it is most associated with northern Mexico.

Menudos in Spanish are the small parts of an animal, the offal. The word names the tripe, not the broth; central Mexico calls the same soup pancita or mondongo.

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Pozole, menudo, birria, caldo. Mexican soup names are blunt and descriptive: menudo means "the small things", the offal that goes in it, and pozole comes from a Nahuatl word for foam, describing how the hominy blooms open as it cooks.

Share card

Menudo means small things, the offal

Related Mexican food names

  • Caldo de resSoup or stew

    beef broth

    KAL-doh deh RESSpanish
    Spanish caldo+de resnorthern Mexico
  • CocidoSoup or stew

    cooked one

    koh-SEE-dohSpanish
    northern Mexico
  • Mole de ollaSoup or stew

    pot stew

    MOH-leh deh OH-yahSpanish
    central Mexico
  • MondongoSoup or stew

    tripe

    mon-DON-gohSpanish
    Yucatán
  • PancitaSoup or stew

    little belly

    pan-SEE-tahSpanish
    Spanish panza+-itaMexico City
  • PucheroSoup or stew

    cooking pot

    poo-CHEH-rohSpanish
    Yucatán
  • Sopa aztecaSoup or stew

    Aztec soup

    SOH-pah as-TEH-kahSpanish
    Spanish sopa+aztecacentral Mexico
  • Sopa de limaSoup or stew

    lime soup

    SOH-pah deh LEE-mahSpanish
    Spanish sopa+limaYucatán

Browse all Mexican food names, or the name finder for people's names.