Turkish Tripe Soup Recipe: Easy & Homemade
Turkish tripe soup (işkembe çorbası) simmers beef tripe with garlic for hours, then finishes in a butter-flour milk base served with garlic vinegar.
Turkish tripe soup, or işkembe çorbası, is a creamy soup built on beef tripe that you simmer slowly with garlic, lemon, and olive oil for about four hours, then thicken with a butter-flour roux and milk. It is finished at the table with a sharp garlic-vinegar mixture stirred into each bowl.
This Turkish tripe soup recipe serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 900 gr beef tripe, washed and drained
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped, divided
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons red pepper
Method:
- Place the tripe, 4 cloves of the garlic, the lemon juice, olive oil, and 2 quarts water in a large heavy saucepan. Season with salt. Bring the mixture to a boil; then cover the saucepan and simmer for about 4 hours, or until the tripe is soft. Add extra water as needed to keep the tripe submerged. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
- Remove the tripe from the saucepan and let it cool. Reserve 1 ½ quarts cooking liquid-add a little extra water if necessary. Cut the tripe into ½ - inch pieces.
- In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour, and cook the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the cooking liquid, then add the milk and tripe pieces. Stir well and simmer the mixture for about 30 minutes.
- To serve, mix the vinegar, Turkish red pepper, and remaining garlic in a small bowl. Ladle the soup into individual bowls and spoon some of the vinegar mixture onto each serving. Serve at once.
Tripe soup sits alongside heartier home cooking like white bean stew in the everyday Turkish kitchen, and it is part of the wider world of Turkish food. For more dishes to cook at home, see the Turkish recipes hub.
If you would rather eat your way across the city than cook, our Taste of Two Continents tour runs a Spice Market breakfast, a ferry across the Bosphorus, and tastings in Kadıköy, with a max of 10 guests per group. We have run food tours since 2013 and welcomed more than 50,000 guests, with a 4.95/5 rating from over 7,800 reviews.
