Prior to cooking liver from our cows, I avoided it. Growing up, my only experience with liver was watching my mom order it at Luby’s—liver and onions—and thinking it looked like the most disgusting, beige meat I’d ever seen. But liver is SO healthy, and liver from locally raised cows is even healthier! Here’s a recipe we love for making tasty liver bites. These are so good I eat them cold as leftovers the next day. You might not know you’re eating liver at all!

Bon Appetit!
– Chef Charly (of Grass to Food Farm)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of beef liver
  • ½ cup canned coconut milk (full-fat or light, doesn’t matter)
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
  • 2 teaspoons paprika (I especially love smoked paprika if you have it)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
  • 2-4 tablespoons of coconut oil, for pan-frying

Directions:

  • Cut beef liver into 2 inch-ish pieces.  Place coconut milk in a shallow bowl, add liver pieces, let sit at least 10 minutes.  You want the meat to soak up the coconut milk.
  • In a bowl, mix the coconut flour, arrowroot powder, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper, cloves, and cayenne.  Blend to combine.
  • Pour the seasoned flour into a gallon-size Ziploc bag, add the liver pieces, and shake to coat them all evenly.  (You can also do this in the bowl if you prefer.)
  • Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high until hot, about 3 minutes.  
  • Add half the liver pieces in a single layer (you don’t want them bunched up on each other).  Allow them to brown and crisp on one side, then flip. About 3-5 minutes per side.
  • Add more coconut oil if needed, cook the rest of the liver bites.

Questions:

Oh no, the liver is turning red, like BRIGHT RED, when it cooks and it’s scary!!!  Deep breath.  It’s okay, it’s normal, it’s just how liver transforms as it cooks.  It’s already dead and you won’t die. The red color will go away as the liver cooks.

Do I have to use these spices?  No! Don’t like paprika, add cumin.  Don’t like cloves, skip it! You can be creative here, switch up with herbs.  We like this recipe because the quick marinade in coconut milk mellows out the “liver-y” taste that turns most people off from this delicious and healthy meat!

How can I make this more delicious?  It tastes great to squeeze a fresh lemon over the hot bites just before digging in.  Also tastes great with fresh chopped herbs (we like cilantro and mint)

Recipe adapted from: