Name: Sautéed Chicken Livers
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 lb fresh chicken livers; 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 large onion (sliced); 1 teaspoon salt (divided); 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Recipe

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These sautéed chicken livers and onions make a hearty and delicious meal in 20 minutes!

First time cooking livers? In this post, I explain how to prep sautéed chicken livers and everything you need to know to make them taste great!

sauteéd chicken livers over a bed of cooked onions

Chicken Livers with Onions

Chicken livers are inexpensive and have lots of nutritious properties that make them a great ingredient to add to your diet. This Sautéed Chicken Livers recipe yields flavorful livers with a mild flavor and good texture. It’s as good as my recipe for baked chicken livers, but in half the time!

Caramelized onions bring 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

You can make this recipe with fresh or frozen chicken livers. Then, you’ll only need olive oil, onion, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika (Spanish, sweet, or smoked).

How to make Sautéed Chicken Livers & Onions

First, cook the onions until they’re nice and golden brown. Remove them from the pan, then cook the chicken livers with the seasonings for about 3 minutes per side. Overcooked livers are dry and feel grainy, and we don’t want that. Once cooked, add the onions back into the pan and toss them to heat through. Check out the video below for a visual of this recipe.

Tips and Tricks

Prepping sautéed 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.

Cut them into similar-sized pieces and trim the fat to ensure they all cook evenly and you have a terrific meal on your plate.

Soaking them in a little milk for about an hour is something many people recommend, but know that it’s not essential and 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 or 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. Never cook frozen chicken livers on the pan.

How to Serve Chicken Livers with Onions

Serve this sautéed chicken livers and onion with roasted cauliflower rice or an easy everyday side salad.

Sautéed Chicken Livers

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 20

These sautéed chicken livers and onions make a hearty and delicious meal in 20 minutes!

5 from 17 votes

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Watch how it’s made:

Ingredients

1 lb fresh chicken livers
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Prep 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.

Cook the onions:

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, hot, add the onions in 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.

Cook 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.