Chopped turkey liver with giblets is the ultimate old-fashioned comfort food. The liver, and sometimes the hearts and gizzards, are cooked with onions, mixed with hard-cooked eggs, salt, and mashed into a rich spread. This traditional recipe leaves nothing to wast and delivers a healthy dose of iron, copper, and B vitamins.
Chopped turkey liver is made by cooking turkey liver, hearts, and a small amount of gizzard with onions, then chopping everything with eggs into a smooth, savory spread.
What Is Nose-to-Tail Cooking?
Nose-to-tail cooking means using all the edible parts of an animal, not just the popular cuts. This is how people cooked for generations. Nothing went to waste.
Bone Broth: Bones are simmered for hours to make rich, gelatinous broth.
Chicken Soup: Whole chickens are cooked with bones, skin, and meat to stretch one bird into multiple meals.
Liver and Organ Meats: Chopped chicken liver is common in Eastern European homes, cooked with onions and eggs and served as a spread.
Similar dishes appear around the world, from German liver and onions to French pâté, Italian tripe, and Mexican menudo.
Nutrition in Liver
Liver is rich in iron, copper, and B vitamins. The hearts and gizzards add protein and minerals, making use of the whole bird.
Mary's Organic Turkey Giblets
I picked up what looked like a package of Mary's organic turkey livers at Whole Foods. As it turned out, the package included liver, hearts, and gizzards.
Mary's Organic turkeys are raised without antibiotics or added hormones. They eat a vegetarian, non-GMO diet. These turkeys are certified organic, humane, and free-range. They contain no preservatives or gluten.
Chicken livers are soft and mild while turkey livers are similar, but a little drier and more dense, with a slightly deeper flavor.
The hearts are tougher than the liver. Heart meat is a muscle, not an organ like liver, and it's higher in protein and B12.
Gizzards are found in birds, not humans. They're part of the bird's digestive system and work like a grinding muscle since birds don't have teeth. That constant work makes them very firm.
Preparing the Giblets
This package was handled the same way chopped chicken liver is usually made.
The giblets, liver, hearts, and gizzards were cooked in a skillet in butter. You can use your favorite cooking oil.
Because gizzards are very tough, only one was used. The goal was a smooth chopped liver without any chunks.
Instead of a food processor, a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the meat grinder attachment was used. Everything was run through twice to make sure the gizzard was fully broken down.
If using a food processor, chop the gizzard first and process it until smooth. Remove it from the bowl, then process the hearts and livers into a paste before mixing everything together.
Ingredients
You can use this same recipe with chicken livers, beef liver, or calf's liver.
- Butter, olive oil, tallow, or chicken fat (also called schmaltz)
- Chopped onions, about 2 large yellow onions
- Turkey livers, hearts, and gizzards
- Hard-boiled large eggs
- Fresh thyme
- Sugar (optional)
- Chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook until golden, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl.
- Add another tablespoon of fat to the skillet. Arrange the liver, hearts, and gizzard, if using, in a single layer and add the thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is no longer pink inside, about 5 minutes. Transfer everything to the bowl with the onions, discard the thyme sprigs, and let cool slightly.
- Once cooled, place the meat, onions, and hard-boiled eggs into a food grinder or the bowl of a food processor. Grind or pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Work in batches if necessary.
- Stir in the parsley. Season with the sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems dry, add more melted butter or other fat. A spoonful of mayonnaise can also be used for moisture.
- Chill before serving. Taste again and adjust the seasoning if needed.
How to Serve Chopped Turkey Liver
Thanksgiving appetizer: cook the giblets the day before Thanksgiving. During the holidays, it's easy to find packages like the one shown so you have enough to work with. Serve chopped turkey liver cold with carrot and celery sticks or crackers as a starter while the turkey cooks.
Lunch: spoon it over lettuce and add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and olives.
Dinner: serve it deli style, with potato salad or coleslaw.
Storage
Store chopped liver in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To freeze, pack it tightly and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, stir well, and adjust seasoning before serving.
Takeaway
Before you toss the giblets in the turkey cavity, turn them into a simple chopped liver instead. This is a centuries-old way to use the whole bird and get real flavor, nutrition, and value out of every part of the bird.
Chopped turkey liver tastes much like chopped chicken liver and is handles the same way. Sometimes I just sauté or bake the liver and eat them with a little salt while I;m making dinner. They're good!
FAQ
They're similar but not the same. Pate is usually blended very smooth and often has cream, wine, or brandy. Chopped liver is cooked with onions and eggs, then chopped so it stays a bit rustic and chunky. It's more deli-style than fancy.
The biggest mistake is overcooking the liver, which makes it dry and bitter. Rushing the onions is another one. If the onions aren't soft and golden, the flavor will be flat. Over-processing is also common. You want it chopped, not whipped into a paste.
Turkey liver is rich in iron, copper, B vitamins, and other nutrients. It's a nutrient-dense food, which is why people have eaten it for generations. Like any organ meat, it's best enjoyed in reasonable portions as part of a balanced diet.
Turkey liver tastes rich and savory. It's a little stronger than chicken liver but not as strong as beef liver. When cooked with onions and salt, the flavor is smooth like classic chopped liver.
More Liver Recipes
- Chopped Chicken Liver: the classic version most people know and love
- How to Cook Veal Liver: simple pan-fried veal with onions.
- Air-Fryer Chicken Livers and Onions: quick, crisp, and flavorful.
- How to Make Liver Taste Good: tips that work for any liver recipe.
- Cajun Dirty Rice: a southern rice dish made with chicken livers and spices.
Chopped Turkey Liver with Giblets
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter, olive oil, tallow, or chicken fat (also called schmaltz)
- 1½ cups chopped onions, about 2 large yellow onions
- 1 pound mixed turkey livers, hearts, and gizzards, if using, trimmed of fat and connective tissue
- 3 hard-boiled large eggs, quartered
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook until golden, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl.
- Add another tablespoon of fat to the skillet. Arrange the liver, hearts, and gizzard, if using, in a single layer and add the thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is no longer pink inside, about 5 minutes. Transfer everything to the bowl with the onions and let cool slightly.
- Once cooled, place the meat, onions, and hard-boiled eggs into a KitchenAid food grinder or the bowl of a food processor. Grind or pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Work in batches if necessary.
- Stir in the parsley. Season with the remaining tablespoon of sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems dry, add more melted butter or other fat. A spoonful of mayonnaise can also be used for moisture.
- Chill before serving. Taste again and adjust the seasoning if needed.
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