How to Cook Chicken Liver

How to cook chicken liver on stove with caramelized onions for dinner. Sauteed chicken livers are high in protein and a great way of how to cook organ meat to tender well.

Chicken Liver and Onions Recipe

If you have only made a beef liver recipe in the past but want to know how to do the same thing with poultry, we have it here. NO more wasting parts and pieces y’all. That is right, add some sliced onions with some seasonings and wow do these turn out great. Serve as a side dish or high protein nutrient rich meal.

Do you need to soak chicken livers?

There is a trick on how to cook organ meat properly. It isn’t hard but will help tone down the strong flavor it would have if you skip it entirely. It is not a must but highly suggested. The purpose of it is to not mask the natural flavors but settle them down a bit.

Chicken liver nutrition

Vitamins and mineral facts will vary slightly of course, not every bird is the same. For the most part you can expect this for about 2 ounces;

• Calories: 130
• Protein: 19 grams
• Fat: 5 grams

Chopped Chicken Liver

You can leave these whole, sliced or chop them into small bite size pieces. That part is up to you of course but the smaller they are the more you can coat the outsides with a bit of a crisp and seasonings. Really depends on how crispy you want them to become, and how it is served. If I’m making this as a main dish it is left as is.

Chopped and diced into large bite size pieces are great if served over rice, or if you were to cook in the air fryer.

Fried Chicken Liver

We will go over how to make this and our pork liver pan seared because honestly that is the best of the best. Using butter, after making some sauteed onions, the flavors are just amazing. You just need a bit of oil so both sides get golden brown and is cooked all the way thru to the middle.

Just like any other cooked liver and onions dish I like to soak for about an hour in whole milk. That step will tone down the metallic taste vs. if you skipped it. Keep it in the fridge and pat dry after that time.

Air Fryer Chicken Livers

• Place diced liver pieces in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs and thoroughly coat the outsides.
• Transfer to a shallow bowl filled with seasoned breadcrumbs with salt and black pepper, toss to coat.
• Repeat until all are well coated.
• Preheat air fryer to high heat at 400 F for 5 minutes.
• Spray inside of basket with non stick spray.
• Place coated pieces in a single layer in the air fryer.
• Cook at 400 for 6-8 minutes, gently flip pieces over halfway thru
• Air fry until crispy as desired on the outside but still tender in the middle.
• For extra crispy spray with olive oil the last minute or two

So the cook time for these and prep beforehand for the breading is basically the same as we do with air fryer chicken gizzards. You don’t need to boil them ahead of time like you have to do with this those so it is faster. You’ll get that same crispy crunch to the outsides though which is OMG delicious. Bite-size pieces are the best for this method.

Just like with deer liver, if you want to tone down the strong flavor I would suggest soaking pieces in a bowl of milk for an hour before beginning the next steps. This is optional but suggested. Pat outsides dry if you do, then continue.

How to Cook Chicken Liver in a Pan

• In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour with salt and pepper.
• Rinse and dry the liver with paper towels on the outside.
• Roll each piece in flour on all sides.
• Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and fry for 5 minutes on one side.
• Turn the liver over to the other side, cover the pan with a lid
• Fry for another 4 minutes on low heat.
• Transfer to a plate.

Fry the chopped onion in butter and garlic powder for 5-6 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and stir, fry for another 3-4 minutes. Lay the onion on top of the liver and serve. Jump to recipe and get started on it now.

Slow Cooker Chicken Liver

This isn’t ideal as you really need to use a skillet anyway first but you could season flour with salt and pepper and toss bite size piece in it until coated. Heat pan with olive oil and fry pieces until lightly browned with some diced bacon and onions together. In slow cooker whisk together 1 cup broth with 1 can cream of mushroom soup. Transfer meat, onions and bacon to your Crock. Stir to coat and cook on low for 2-3 hours.

How to Cook Chicken Liver for Dogs

Chicken liver for dogs are quite good for them. Salt, pepper and onions are not so we are going to leave those out. With any other Crockpot dog food recipes you want to leave the seasonings out, they are fine with just the natural flavors of the foods friends. The best way to cook these for your pooch is to;

Leave out all the other things and just boil livers in a few inches of water for about 15 minutes or until they reach the internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Then you need to remove, set on paper towels and cool completely. Do not give it to them hot, they will burn their mouths.

Then you can dice it up and let them enjoy some, they will love it. Store the rest in the fridge in a freezer bag, great treats here and there too.

Can you freeze chicken livers?

Want to do some batch cooking and make a bunch all at once? Great idea, this is a great one to do just that. Follow these instructions, cool, lay on a baking sheet separated and freeze until solid. Then transfer to a freezer bag marked with the date and freeze for months. Thaw a few on the countertop for the day and let them enjoy a couple year round this way.