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Last Updated on January 28, 2024
Cooking with organ meats can be intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be! Organ meats are extremely nutrient-dense and can be made to taste delicious. Get inspired with 69 tasty offal recipes.
Offal Recipes
I’d love to begin this post with some peppy one-liners and puns because “offal” and “awful” are just too perfect to pass up, but I believe it’s been done a time or two, so I will spare you my pathetic attempt at comedy (this time).
If you’re not yetconvinced organ meat is good for you, then pleaseread Chris Kresser’s article “Liver: Nature’s Most Potent Superfood” and The Paleo Mom’s “Why Everyone Should Be Eating Organ Meat“.
Once you warm up to the idea of consuming offal, you will find Chris Kresser’s article “How to Eat More Organs” extremely helpful. He outlines which organ meat might help make the transition from muscle to organ easier and also provides links to recipes which will help with preparation.
I’m organizing this recipe round up by organ type: heart, liver (divided into liverwurst and pates, and straight liver recipes), kidneys, and “miscellaneous” – which will include tongue, sweetbreads, feet, gizzards, and bone marrow.
Offal Recipes: Hearts
There are loads of health benefits of chicken hearts and beef hearts. These organ meat recipes for cooking hearts can help make it tasty.
Grilled Beef Heart
Grilled Beef Heart – The heart is a hard-working muscle with a mild flavor, and this tasty recipe will give you a grilled beef heart your family will devour.
Best Beef Heart
Best Beef Heart – Are you looking for an easy dinner? This recipe is a delicious dish that a home cook can have on the table in ten minutes.
Heart Roast
Heart Roast – Everyone will love this heart roast dish at the end of the day. It’s a great way to feed the family a nutritious meal.
Rosemary Chicken Hearts
Resemary Chicken Hearts – Grab some chicken hearts, rosemary, black pepper, and thyme to whip together a tasty. The hearts will even keep for a few days if stored in an air-tight container.
Mushroom and Spinach-Stuffed Beef Heart
Mushroom and Spinach-Stuffed Beef Heart – Another great way to serve beef hearts is by stuffing them with mushrooms and spinach. This muscle meat takes divine when finished and takes serving organ meats to a new level.
Pan Fried Chicken Hearts
Pan Fried Chicken Hearts – Keep this quick recipe in your pocket for a busy night. The chicken hearts are sauteed in olive oil and served with green onions.
Caramelized Balsamic Leek Turkey Hearts
Caramelized Balsamic Leek Turkey Hearts – Treat yourself tonight to some delightful turkey hearts and caramelized balsamic leeks. Garnishing the hearts with basil will give the dish an extra pop of flavor.
Slow Cooker Beef Hearts
Slow Cooker Beef Hearts – Another way to prepare offal dishes is by cooking them in a slow cooker. This slow cooker recipe for beef hearts is super easy and just needs a side of vegetables to create a meal.
Chicken Hearts with Mushrooms and Onions
Chicken hearts with Mushrooms and Onions – Serve these chicken hearts with a side of potatoes or rice. You can also use white sweet potatoes if you avoid nightshade foods. This is a healthy recipe that’s simple to prepare.
East Indian Chicken Fry Stir Fry
East Indian Chicken Fry Stir Fry – Another yummy way to prepare raw offal is by making a chicken heart chili fry. It’s an incredible meal when paired with ladi pav or rice.
Brazilian Pan Fried Chicken Hearts
Brazilian Pan Fried Chicken Hearts – Create a delicious spread for your family by pan-frying chicken hearts until they’re golden brown. Be sure to toss in some chili, salt, and cumin!
Fried Chicken Hearts
Fried Chicken Hearts– Snack on fried chicken hearts as you snack on popcorn! Fry them up in avocado oil before dipping them in the sauce of your choice.
Grilled Venison Heart Skewers
Grilled Venison Heart Skewers – Before you begin, be sure to remove the excess blood. Then marinate the heart for several hours before grilling it on skewers. You’ll end up with a delicious dish your family will love.
All About Chicken Hearts
Learn about the health benefits of chicken hearts plus ways to eat them.
Offal Recipes: Liver
If you’re looking for a variety of meats, then you should try liver. Liver is an organ full of protein, B vitamins, and iron.
Homemade German Liverwurst
Homemade German Liverwurst – If you’re looking to use all the organs of an animal, then give German Liverwurst a try. It uses fresh liver to create a delicious spread.
Keto Liver and Onions
Liver and Onions – Make liver and onions in the air fryer without any flour! It’s fast and healthy, plus you can use any type of onion such as spring onions or white onions.
Braunschweiger Liver Sausage
Braunschweiger Liver Sausage – Combine pork liver with pork belly or jowls to create a tasty spreadable sausage.
Turkish Liver
Turkish Liver – It’s a simple matter to pan-fry lamb or veal liver with chili flakes and then serve it with a parsley salad. This easy dish tastes divine!
Chicken Liver Pate with Sage, Apple, and Thyme
Chicken Liver Pate with Sage, Apple and Thyme – Before beginning this recipe, be sure to trim the liver of any clinging external fats. Once you’ve finished making the pate, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight before serving it the next day.
Chicken Liver Parfait – Pate
Chicken Liver Pate – Make this yummy pate for your next dinner party. The best part is that you can prepare it up to three days in advance.
Italian Pate with Fried Anchovies, Capers, & Lemon
Italian Pate with Fried Anchovies, Capers & Lemon – Try this pate that has a Florentine twist. The recipe makes a large amount of pate, but you can freeze any extra you have.
Chicken Liver Curry
Chicken Liver Curry – Make an authentic chicken kaleji masala for dinner tonight. You’ll need a white onion, bay leaf, and chilis among other ingredients. Be sure to serve the curry with naan.
Asian Beef Liver Pate
Asian Beef Liver Pate – Serve up this unique liver pate with cucumber slices, carrot sticks, or plantain chips at your next dinner party.
Chicken Liver Pate with Apples and Brandy
Chicken Liver Pate with Apple and Brandy – This delightful chicken liver pate includes some apples and brandy. It’s a fabulous pate that tastes amazing.
AIP Beef Liver Pate
AIP Beef Liver Pate – Are you looking for a smooth and flavorful pate? This recipe has you soaking the liver in coconut milk to make sure the dish isn’t bitter.
AIP Chicken Liver Pate
This creamy, decadent chicken liver pate is compliant for the Autoimmune Protocol, paleo, SCD, and GAPS diets.
More Liver Recipes
Eating the liver is a great idea if your goal is to make use of the whole animal. You can add liver to meatballs, make a pate, or serve up a delectable liver lettuce boat.
Hidden Liver Meatballs
Hidden Liver Meatballs – Serve up some delightful meatballs to your family that have liverwurst hidden in the recipe.
Creamy Chicken Liver Pate
Creamy Chicken Liver Pate – Are you looking for a gourmet appetizer? This creamy chicken liver pate is an incredible dish to serve at your next special occasion.
Balsamic Liver Lettuce Boats
Balsamic Liver Lettuce Boats – Some of the best things in life are simple. These balsamic liver lettuce boats are easy to make and are the best way to introduce your family to liver.
Keleji Recipe
Easy Keleji Recipe – If you’re trying to convince your family to try eating beef offal, an easier sell is to make beef liver curry. You’ll need ghee, spice blends, and yogurt as well as some beef liver. If you’re dairy free, consider coconut yogurt; it melds well with curry!
Chicken Livers With Mushrooms and Herbs
Chicken Livers With Mushrooms and Herbs – This delightful recipe combines sauteed chicken livers with mushrooms cooked with tarragon. Be sure to garnish the dish with fresh Italian parsley before serving.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers – Another good first taste of liver is to serve your family liver wrapped in bacon. After all, bacon makes everything better! And this easy dish only needs three ingredients.
Best Liver Recipe
Best Liver Recipe Ever – If you’re thinking about trying a paleo diet, you need to check out this tasty liver recipe. It’s sure to be a hit with your family and friends.
French Pate
French Pate – This classic recipe comes straight from the author’s French grandmother. Plus, it only takes 20 minutes to make.
Garlic Fried Chicken Livers
Garlic Fried Chicken Livers – Another way to use all the bits of an animal is to fry chicken livers in garlic. Be sure to garnish them with parsley before serving.
Chicken Liver Pasta with Porcini Mushrooms
Chicken Liver Pasta with Porcini Mushrooms – Grab celery stalk, white wine, porcini mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes to make a yummy meal for your family.
Boudin Balls
Boudin Balls – These tasty boudin balls combine pork shoulder, chicken livers, cayenne pepper, and other ingredients to create a tasty dish to serve with your favorite sauce.
Pork and Chicken Liver Terrine
Pork and Chicken Liver Terrine with Spiced Apple Compote – Do you need a dish you can take to a social gathering that boasts variety meats? This one uses pork shoulder, pork belly, chicken liver, and pork tenderloin. Be sure to serve it with a spiced apple compote!
Peri Peri Chicken Livers
Quick and Spicy Peri Peri Chicken Livers – This quick recipe is one your family will adore and ask you to make again. It only takes about twenty minutes including making the peri peri sauce from scratch.
Pork Liver
Pork Liver – Fry up some pork liver and onions for dinner tonight. In addition to the liver and onions, you’ll need some red wine, bacon, and garlic.
Hidden Liver Mediterranean Burgers
Hidden Liver Mediterranean Burgers – These AIP Mediterranean burgers will be a hit with your children. And you can serve the burgers for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Cajun Dirty Rice
Cajun Dirty Rice – This delightful Cajun dirty rice includes chicken livers, pork sausage, and Cajun seasoning. Plus, you can use any type of rice with this recipe including long-grain white rice and basmati.
Filipino Beef Caldereta
Filipino Beef Caldereta – If you’re looking for a new comfort food dish to serve your family, give this Filipino beef caldereta a try. It includes a liver spread to give the dish a creamy flavor.
Offal Recipes: Kidneys
Another cut of meat you can serve your family is kidneys. Kidneys are a great source of protein, zinc, vitamin A, and other vital nutrients.
Steak and Kidney Pie
Steak and Kidney Pie – If you love kidney pies, then check out this delicious steak and kidney pie that’s also paleo and AIP-friendly.
Stew With Steak and Kidneys
Steak and Kidney Stew – This gluten-free and Keto-friendly steak and kidney stew makes a divine meal on a cold winter night.
Irish Kidney Soup
Irish Kidney Soup – Serve family and friends a traditional Irish kidney soup for St. Patrick’s Day this year. The trick is to cook the onions and kidneys over medium heat before adding the stock.
Lamb Kidney
Lamb Kidney – This quick French lamb kidney combines mustard, white wine, and cream with kidneys to create a tasty meal for your family.
Beef Kidney Kofta
Beef Kidney Kofta with Spinach and Figs – Serve up kidneys on spinach with some Turkish figs. It’s a culinary delight perfect for the summer months.
Devilled Kidneys on Toast
Devilled Kidneys on Toast – Use some Worcestershire sauce and mustard to create a glaze for this traditional devilled kidneys on toast recipe.
Offal Recipes: Tongue
The tongue is a slightly more challenging bit of offal to cook with, as many people are suspicious of how a tongue tastes. However, there are many yummy recipes that you can serve your family that they will adore.
Beef Tongue With Onions and Garlic
Tender Beef Tongue With Onions and Garlic – This beef tongue recipe uses the beloved modern preparation of a slow cooker to create a meal your family will love.
Smoked Beef Tongue Pastrami
Smoked Beef Tongue Pastrami – This recipe for beef tongue pastrami gives you a beef tongue that’s tender and moist.
The Curious Coconut has an excellent tutorial on how to prepare beef tongue. The recipe she uses is not AIP-compliant, however (though it looks delicious).
Beef Tongue and Soy-Free Soy Sauce
Beef Tongue and Soy-Free Soy Sauce – Before beginning this recipe, give the tongue a good soak in cool water. When you’ve finished cooking it, the tongue will have a soft texture and yummy taste.
Offal Recipes: Gizzards
There are many health benefits of chicken gizzard, and you can make them into nuggets!
Fried Chicken Nuggets
Fried Chicken Nuggets – Gizzard Style – Are you craving some chicken nuggets but need them to be Paleo and AIP-friendly? This recipe combines gizzards, sweet potato flour, and avocado oil to create a nugget you’ll love munching on.
Instant Pot Chicken Gizzards
Chicken Gizzards – This easy dish uses the Instant Pot to cook the chicken gizzards to perfection.
Offal Recipes: Oxtail
Oxtail, despite not being an internal organ, falls under the category of offal. It is primarily utilized for its flavorful essence in soup preparations. Although oxtail contains more bones than meat, when carefully braised, the resulting meat is exceptionally rich in taste.
Southern Oxtail
Southern Oxtail – Serve your family oxtails on rice covered in a flavorful gravy. It’s the perfect meal for a Sunday dinner.
South African Oxtail Stew
South African Oxtail Stew – Add a new winter comfort food to your repertoire with this delish oxtail stew. Coat the oxtail with salt and pepper-spiked flour before beginning to cook it. You’ll end up with a delightful meal that’s perfect with a side of rice.
Oxtail Ragu
Oxtail Ragu – Try an Italian oxtail ragu that dates back centuries. The oxtail is cooked in tomato sauce until it’s so tender that the meat is falling off the bone.
Other Offal Recipes
You may need to check with your local butcher to find fresh brains, marrow from the center of animal bones, beef cheeks, and other needed animal parts to create these tasty offal recipes.
Offal Stew
Offal (but not awful) Stew – If you need an offal recipe that is delicious rather than awful, check out this one. It combines a variety of organ meats into a tasty stew.
Spicy Brain Masala
Spicy Brain Masala – Cook up a spicy goat brain curry dish for dinner tonight. You can serve it with naan or rice.
Grilled Sweetbreads
Grilled Sweetbreads with Balsamic Glaze – This grilled sweetbread is similar to other more common sweetbread preparations. This recipe has you skewer and grill the sweetbread before basting it with a balsamic vinegar glaze.
Crispy Salmon Skin “Bacon”
Crispy Salmon Skin “Bacon” – Don’t waste the skin on your salmon. Turn it into a delicious crispy ‘bacon’ that you can enjoy for breakfast.
Herb Marrow Butter
Herb Marrow Butter – This incredible butter is AIP, Paleo, Keto, and Low-Fodmap friendly. Combine the bone marrow with herbs and turn the gelatinous mass into a delicious butter.
How to Make Haggis
How to Make Haggis – Have you wanted to try haggis? Truly, a list of offal recipes is not complete without haggis! Here are the step-by-step directions on how to make haggis at home.
Roasted Bone Marrow
Roasted Bone Marrow – Try serving roasted bone marrow as an appetizer at your next gathering. It’s an enticing dish that’s complaint with AIP, GAPS, and Paleo diets.
Black Pudding Scotch Eggs
Black Pudding Scotch Eggs – Black pudding is another term for blood sausages. These hardboiled eggs are wrapped in the black pudding before being deep fried.
Balmoral Chicken
Balmoral Chicken – Balmoral chicken is a chicken that’s stuffed with haggis. It’s truly delightful when served with a whiskey sauce on top.
Haggis Neeps and Tatties
Haggis Neeps and Tatties – Haggis, neeps, and tatties is a traditional Scottish dish. It’s haggis served with mashed potatoes and turnips, rutabaga, or swede.
Haggis Neeps and Tatties with Whiskey Sauce
Haggis Neeps and Tatties with Whiskey Sauce – Upscale your haggis neeps and tatties by stacking the dish and pouring a tasty whiskey sauce over it.
Homemade Chicken Bone Broth
Don’t forget about all the goodness found in the marrow and bones! Making chicken bone broth is easy, and it’s SO great to have it on hand for any recipe.Use all your leftover chicken bones to create a nourishing chicken bone broth to serve your family.
In Conclusion
These offal recipes offer a wide range of delicious and nutritious options for those looking to incorporate organ meats into their diet. From traditional dishes to creative and innovative recipes, there is something for everyone to enjoy. By exploring the delicious possibilities of offal, we can not only expand our taste horizons but also reap the health benefits that these nutrient-dense cuts provide.
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