A lot of people are taking up Paleo diets these days, which consist of meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts, NO sugar and only small amounts of starch. It has inspired a lot of creative recipes using replacements for sugars and starches, and some of them are downright fantastic (check out my friends at Chowstalker.com for some of the best recipes, guaranteed Paleo-friendly.)
After a while, Paleos realize there is only so much steak and bacon a body can really eat, and they often start looking for healthier alternatives to that porterhouse steak or bacon-wrapped chicken breast. After all, if you buy it in a store, liver is inspected closer than your average steak or burger meat (plus, you know, no pink slime), and contains a boatload of vitamins, minerals and protein. It also contains a lot less fat and calories than most meat (before the bacon, anyway). After I did a recent blog post on a delectable smoked chicken liver paté, I was contacted by many of them who wanted to eat more liver but simply didn’t like the taste of it.
Much of this reaction is simply psychological in my opinion. My sister and I ate liver all the time when we were kids, and LOVED IT, because we ate it before anyone told us we were supposed to hate it. I remember going to a restaurant when I was about 8, and my little sister and I ordered liver and onions off of the adult menu, prompting the waitress to look warily at my mother and ask “is this a joke?” Nope, mom told her, bring it on. They will eat every bite.
Part of it is also that my mom knows how to cook and make it so delicious we couldn’t help it. How, you ask? Same way you make everything tasty: bacon.
Best Beef Liver Ever
(This can also be made with chicken livers. Feel free to substitute different types of bacon, or to add more garlic, herbs, etc. This is just the way I like it.)
- about 2 lbs. of beef liver, sliced
- one large onion, sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
- handful of sliced mushrooms
- 5-6 slices of bacon
- salt and pepper, other herbs or spices to taste
First, crisp the bacon in a big skillet (I recommend using a deep cast-iron skillet if you have one). Once the bacon is cooked most of the way, add the onions and garlic.
Then add mushrooms, as well as any other herbs and additional flavorings you might like to taste (like rosemary, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, paprika, or chili pepper).
Then scoot all of that to the side of your skillet and sear the liver slices on each side (for about one minute). Once the meat is seared on both sides, pile the onions, mushrooms and bacon on top of the liver, turn the heat down to medium and let the meat cook through for 5-10 minutes.
This will ensure a nice caramelized sear on the meat, as well as making sure it all cooks through.
I think you may be right…this does sound like the best liver recipe ever! Thanks for the sharing and for the blog love!!
I guarantee it will make you a liver lover.
I love liver….but this sounds even better than the way I make it!
I’m with you – LOVED it as a kid because I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to. I would ask for it for my birthday dinner and my mother would have to remind me that whoever I was inviting over would probably not be so enthusiastic about my choice. I will be giving this version a try, but can’t imagine it is anything but awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Haha! Yeah, by the time we figured out we were un-cool for liking it, it was too late! Cheers!
Just picked up some liver at the farmers market and this looks like a great recipe. Do you marinate your liver at all? I’ve seen some folks soak it in lemon (or even milk) before they cook it.
I never have, but I am sure it would still be delish!
the soaking is to remove any taint i was always led to believe. i do it with milk and soaking kidneys to remove any odour! i don’t think milk affects the flavour as you rinse the meat after a soaking. lemon i think would start to cook it in the acid, and you’d get lemon in the flavour. but i live in the UK where Palaeo hasn’t caught on yet …
I never have soaked liver in anything, I would imagine that milk would take away some of the blood flavor that many people find unappealing about liver. Plus if there was any taint to the liver, I wouldn’t want to eat it, no matter what I soaked it in, and in any case that wouldn’t be a concern with farmer’s market or organic liver.
Thanks for that! Excited to give it a whirl.
i don’t know, i’ve had very fresh organic beef liver from my parents farm, that we’ve felt needed a soak. it almost refreshes the meat a little, adding plumpness.
Sounds good to me!
I made this tonight. DELICIOUS!!!
Awesome!
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This recipe is amazing! I’ve always loved beef liver and my mom made it often went i was little. I want my kids to eat it also. All 3 kids loved it, even my 11 month old. Hubby said it was the best I’ve made so far. I will be making this more. I did add freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little sherry when i was frying the liver. Thanks for a delicious recipe
Thank you so much!
I just made this recipe as my first ever attempt at cooking liver. I was honestly terrified that I was going to screw it up horribly, but it was actually very easy to make! NGL, it still wasn’t my favorite—I think eating liver is going to take some acquiring of taste. I did finish my whole serving though, and didn’t gag even once. For an amateur liver eater, I’d call that a win
Haha! I’m so glad you were able to choke it down! Just think of all of the minerals and vitamins you just nommed — your body is thanking you!
Maybe next time try it with chicken livers, they’re a milder flavor and go just as well with this recipe.
this is a recipe i’ll try. i’ve never liked liver, regardless of the many ’you will love it done this way’ efforts of friends and family over the years.
i get my beef (grass fed) from a neighbour. since few folks like organs, the heart, liver (and tongue) are also saved for me. for free! the heart and tongue, i love. the liver, not so much.
so, i hope this one makes me a liver lover. the liver arrives in 4 days!
That’s a sweet deal, good luck! I’m sure you’ll love it this way! haha
well, i am officially a liverlover now. great recipe. i added the apricots mentioned in another comment. delicious. even better reheated for take along lunches.
thanks for the great share!
Yay!
I carmalize some apricots with the onions to go over my liver. It’s incredible.
I would have never thought of that, but it sounds great!
I tried it today, very yummy, should have used more mushrooms though but the mix was perfect. Definitely making it again.
I soak offal in filtered water and lemon juice or raw milk. From what I have been told, milk gives offal a “softer” texture, both help remove impurities and get rid of the bitter taste.
Oh yeah, you can’t have too many mushrooms!
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I’ve been wanting to try liver again since I’ve gone paleo, but have been reluctant to try it again, since I have never liked it. This recipe was amazing. I could eat this in place of steak and be happy with it. I’ll be adding more mushrooms next time as well though. Thank you much!
I’m having this for lunch tomorrow. I do have a question about the liver though. You don’t mention how thick it is. All we can normally get is pre-packaged cut no more than 1/4″ thick. It’s difficult to get a little browning on both sides before it’s cooked through. After 5-10 minutes I fear it would be fit only for shoe leather.
I too have tried the milk treatment but found that it rendered calves liver nearly tasteless. Perhaps it’s necessary if you’ve gotten hold of the liver of a really old animal?
I’ve never soaked mine in milk so I wouldn’t know about the difference; I have heard that it takes away a lot of the iron-y and blood-y flavor. Since that is what liver generally tastes like, then of course eliminating that taste would eliminate all tastes.
As far as the thickness, I usually get them about 1/4 inch thick, but I move them around on the skillet a lot and watch the heat, so it’s actually quite tender. Just keep an eye on the flame.
I just made a version of this – it was my first time eating liver!! What’s the big deal? It just tastes like meat…. I didn’t have any mushrooms, but they’d be perfect with the other ingredients, and i will use them next time i make this – cause there will definitely be a next time. I’ve been paleo since March, but have put off trying organs cause they’re unfamiliar to me. No longer! For herbs, i added rosemary and sage and it was really good.
I know, it’s great! I’m so glad you had a successful meal!
My favorite liver is rabbit liver. Oh, I’ll eat other livers (goat, sheep, pig, cow, chicken), but rabbit has the best flavor by far.
I’ll be trying this recipe next week. Thanks!
I’ve never tried liver before in my life…but this recipe is in the cast iron skillet RIGHT now. Smells good…not gonna lie though, I am a bit scared! I will report back
Yes; please share!
I wish my mom had this recipe when I was growing up. We had liver and onions, but it was always overcooked and got my butt smacked more than once because I refused to eat it. I just went Paleo a few weeks ago and thought I’d give liver another try. Maybe the bacon had something to do with it, but this tasted pretty good. Not sure that I’d class it as just as good as a steak, but I know it is good for me so I’m willing to do it. I have enough leftovers to try it reheated tomorrow and I guess it is a major success that I don’t mind eating it again!
with all these comments i have to try! was looking for a change in my liver and onions, just to make some thing different… but are you not cooking the liver a bit long? i so don’t like overcooked liver
Naturally the cooking time varies a bit depending on the thickness of the slice of meat.
I want to give this recipe a try but I am not really a fan of mushrooms. Do you think brussel sprouts would work well in their place?
Thanks!
Of course! I like the earthy flavor the mushroom adds to the whole dish, especially when they all start to caramelize together. But BS would be just as tasty!
Sounds fantastic! Can’t wait to try it!
I have made this twice and love it so much , I am adding it to my weekly rotation. Delicious!
This is a great, simple recipe. So far the best liver I have had yet by far. Thank you!
Your method is the way I normally make liver for my family also. There are never leftovers.
Sometimes for a little variety, I dice up apples instead of mushrooms. I add the apples in last because they cook down quickly. Last time I used apples, instead of the usual herbs, I used some fresh chopped mint leaves. Yes, mint! It gave the liver a light & lively lift, and everybody liked it!
When I didn’t have bacon handy, I’ve added red wine while cooking the liver, and that was great too. The liver picked up the wine flavor.
I cut the liver into strips, fork-size, easy to spear, and requiring very little cooking time.
I love the ease of this dish, as well as the nutritional content.
Everything goes into one pan, and in a few minutes, you have a powerful plateful of goodness.
My wife keeps telling me I should try liver but the thought of it makes me feel ill. But your recipe sounds quite nice so maybe I should just ‘get over it’ and try it out.