Sautéed Chicken Livers

Chicken Livers with Onions

Cooking chicken livers with onions and some seasoning is a sure way to make them taste great. This recipe yields flavorful livers with a mild flavor and good texture.

There’s a reason onions are always paired with liver, their caramelized taste brings down any of the “metallic” taste people sometimes complain about. Although, chicken livers are much milder in flavor than beef or calf liver and I personally don’t find them to have that aftertaste.

Ingredients

Here is what you’ll need to make chicken livers sauteed with onions:

• Chicken livers: you can use fresh or frozen chicken livers.
• Olive oil: for cooking these down and adding flavor.
• Onion: sliced thinly and evenly, essential for the recipe.
• Salt: for seasoning the livers.
• Black pepper: for seasoning.
• Garlic powder: minced garlic works as well.
• Paprika: Spanish, sweet, or smoked paprika works.

Check the recipe card below with ingredient measurements and more.

How to make Sautéed Chicken Livers & Onions

Once you see how simple this is to make, you’ll love having this easy chicken recipe in your back pocket.

1. Trim the chicken livers
   On a plastic cutting board, trim any visible fat from the chicken livers and slice the larger ones into smaller pieces for even cooking. Gently pat them dry with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Wash your hands well after handling the livers.
2. Cook the onions
   Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, hot, add the onions along with ½ teaspoon salt. You want to cook them, stirring throughout, until they are nice and golden brown. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes. Once ready, remove them from the pan onto a plate.
3. Add the livers
   Add the livers, ½ teaspoon of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to the same pan. Continue cooking them for about 3 minutes on the first side; you want a nice brown sear on the outside, flip them, and cook until both sides are done, and the middles are slightly pink or just light grey to about 165F. Side note: overcooking them will make them dry out and feel grainy, and we don’t want that.
4. Combine and serve
   Once cooked, add the onions back into the pan, gently toss them to heat through for about 30 seconds, transfer everything onto a platter, and serve.

Want to see how easy they are to make? Check out this video!

Tips and Tricks

Prepping chicken livers to taste great is not a difficult task. If you’re weary of the taste, here are some tips to make them taste better.

Make them all the same size.
Since chicken livers are not all the same size, trimming the fat and cutting them up into similar-sized pieces will ensure they all cook evenly and you have a terrific meal on your plate.

Soak them in milk
A lot of people recommend soaking the chicken livers in a little milk for about an hour but know that this isn’t essential, and this is traditionally done with beef or calf livers. Chicken livers have a milder taste, and it’s not necessary.

Toss if they smell
Chicken livers shouldn’t smell, so if you’ve had them in the fridge for a while and they have a musky/rancid smell, throw them out.

Thaw if frozen
Never cook frozen chicken livers on the pan. You’ll have a watery run-off, and you won’t achieve a crisp outer texture that’s pretty important. Thaw them first, pat dry them with a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture, and then prep as noted.

How to Serve Chicken Livers with Onions

Serve this livers and onion recipe with Roasted Cauliflower Rice or an Easy Everyday Side Salad.