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This simple recipe features perfectly cooked beef liver with soft, caramelized onions. Pan-seared with butter, the offal is soft, tender, and flavorful.
Love beef recipes? Try beef shanks, garlic butter steak bites, and New York steak.
Organ meat often gets a bad rap for being too intense and metallic. But it tastes fantastic when cooked with the right combination of flavors.
Inspired by my chicken livers recipe, this beef version is just as delicious and so simple.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this beef liver recipe
- Mild flavors. Some beef liver recipes can be a little bit bland, but this recipe is delicious, subtle, and mildly earthy.
- Quick and easy. This dish is very quick to cook. Once the liver is soaked in the flavor boosters, it typically takes me less than a minute to cook.
- It is super healthy. Owing to its nutrient-dense and low-calorie nature, beef liver is packed with health benefits. It is rich in iron, minerals, copper, vitamin A and B vitamins, making it an extremely healthy addition to your diet (source).
- Easy to customize. Keep it classic with just onions, or cook it with as many veggies as you like. Mushrooms, bell peppers, or tomatoes are all fabulous flavor boosters.
Ingredients Needed
- Grass-fed beef liver. I have used fresh slices of beef liver, but you can also use frozen liver. Thaw the meat entirely before soaking it in buttermilk if needed. I prefer to get my livers from butcher shops, but most grocery stores stock them, too.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk helps to dial down the intense liver flavor. Feel free to substitute buttermilk with regular or dairy-free milk. If you struggle to find buttermilk in a store, DIY at home by adding a teaspoon or two to a cup of milk.
- Olive oil. I like using olive oil for pan frying, but you can use any neutral oil for this recipe.
- Salt and ground black pepper. To season.
- Paprika. It adds a lovely hint of heat.
- Garlic and onion. We’ll use powerful aromatics like minced garlic and sliced onion to complement the intense beef liver flavor.
- Flour. To lightly bread the beef liver.
- Butter. Butter helps to mask the beef liver flavor by adding richness to this recipe.
How to cook beef liver
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Tenderize the liver. Soak beef liver in buttermilk and refrigerate for 10 minutes or up to an hour.
Step 2- Season the beef. Drain the beef liver, pat dry, and season with pepper, paprika, and salt on both sides.
Step 3- Pan fry. Coat the liver in flour, shake off the excess, and pan-fry them in a large skillet with in melted butter for 3 minutes per side, until they change color.
Step 4- Cook the onions. Remove the cooked liver pieces from the pan, throw sliced onions and minced garlic, and sauté in oil until tender.
Step 5- Serve hot. Place the liver back in the pan and cook with the aromatics for a few minutes. Remove from the heat, garnish with freshly chopped parsley, and serve warm!
What to serve with this
As the livers can be a protein source for your lunch or dinner, build your sides around i. Some healthy ideas include a cauliflower potato salad, sauteed potatoes, cauliflower mashed potatoes, and air fryer frozen green beans.
Recipe tips and variations
- Select a fresh beef liver. Look for a deep red, brownish, or purplish-colored liver with a firm texture. Do not buy it if it has a foul odor or appears discolored
- Make it gluten-free. Substitute wheat flour with a gluten-free substitute like gram, rice, or cornflour.
- Add bacon. Since the liver is a leaner cut of meat, you can add bacon to infuse a rich, savory flavor while cooking it.
- Change the flavor profile. Use herbs like thyme and rosemary with garlic, pepper, and olive oil to make it more fragrant. You could also complement beef’s strong flavor with Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and balsamico.
- Use a different cooking method. While pan searing works best, you can also grill, broil, or fry the liver for a different texture and flavor.
Storage instructions
To store. Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container and consume it within 2-3 days.
To freeze. Although I don’t prefer freezing beef, you can freeze leftovers in a ziplock bag and use it within 2-3 months.
To reheat. I recommend reheating beef liver in the oven until it’s warmed up. Sprinkle broth or brush with water to lock in the moisture.
Frequently asked questions
You can make burgers by mixing ground beef liver with another cut of beef. You can also make beef stroganoff or liver pâté using beef liver.
No, I wouldn’t recommend skipping this step. Soaking beef liver in milk or buttermilk draws out the metallic-tasting blood impurities, tenderizes the meat, and neutralizes the acidity and bitterness of the liver.
You want the beef liver to be medium-rare to medium for a tender and moist preparation. It should be blushing pink when you cut into it.
You can also stick a meat thermometer in the liver to confirm its doneness. When the internal temperature reaches 145°F, stop the beef from further cooking.
More beef recipes to try
Perfect Beef Liver
Video
Ingredients
- 21 ounces beef liver
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 onion sliced into strips
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Soak the beef liver in the buttermilk and let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or up to an hour.
- Discard the buttermilk and pat dry the beef livers with paper towels.
- Season on both sides with salt, pepper, and paprika, and dredge in flour. Shake off any excess.
- In a frying pan, melt the butter and cook the livers for 3 minutes on each side until they change color. Remove them from the pan once cooked.
- Add oil to the pan, along with the onions. Cook until they become tender with occasional stirring.
- Bring back the liver to the pan and cook together for another minute.
Would Goat Milk work as a substitute for soaking? I dont do well with cows milk.
Absolutely!
My sister would marinate the liver in red wine and BBQ. Delish!
Oh great idea!
I can’t wait to try this. My dad made the best liver. But he blanched it before flouring and frying. (All the scum that comes on top of water is the impurities that give it the metallic taste, like your buttermilk.) He also said to have the butcher cut the slices no more than 1/4” thick. And always cooked it in bacon grease…liver, onions and bacon with buttery mash potatoes. Great dish!
I’m sure this one is easier, but still putting bacon in it I think.