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Sliced pickled tongue
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5 from 1 vote

How to Prepare and Cook Pickled Tongue

Old fashioned, pickled lamb or goat tongue is a great treatment, especially good on sandwiches.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Marinating time2 hours
Total Time4 hours 15 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Lamb Tongue, Offal, PIckled
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 236kcal
Cost: 20

Equipment

  • 1 3 quart sauce pot
  • 1 large container for curing the tongues

Ingredients

Basic Tongue Pickle

  • 1.5 lb Lamb or goat tongues roughly 5-6 tongues depending on size
  • 1 each carrot, onion, and a rib of celery, cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 quart cider vinegar
  • 2 quart meat stock
  • 1 quart barley malt honey, molasses, sorghum molasses, or 2 lb brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pink salt

Aromatics (can be adjusted to what you prefer)

  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 5 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Zest of one orange
  • 1 bulb garlic halved
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Optional Dried Spices

  • 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 5 allspice berries
  • 1 Tablespoon mustard seed

Instructions

  • Toast the dried spices.
  • Combine all the ingredients in a small pot, cover, and bring to a simmer.
  • Cook for 3 hours, or until the lamb tongues are completely tender.
  • Remove the tongues to a cutting board with a slotted spoon and allow them to cool until you can handle them, then peel with your hands or a paring knife.
  • Transfer the lamb tongues and their liquid to a container, seal tightly, label and date, then allow the tongues to age for 5 days completely covered by the pickling liquid.
  • After five days, you can remove the lamb tongues, slice, and eat.
  • If you are not going to eat the pickled tongues right away, make sure to leave them underneath the pickling liquid in an airtight jar, or store them in a freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic, labeled and dated. If you want to freeze the tongues for storage, you may want to leave the skin on to help resist freezer burn.

Notes

Any tongue can be pickled using this method. Beef tongues and pork tongues are the best alternative to lamb. 

Nutrition

Serving: 3oz | Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 140g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 150mg | Sodium: 243mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 224IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 14mg