Beef Liver Pate

Beef liver pâté with crackers - a health snack or appetizer

Eating beef liver may not sound very appetizing, but it’s an incredibly nutritionally dense food and is part of traditional cuisines the world over. It got a bad rep during the mid-20th century, because it contains cholesterol, but it also contains a high proportion of protein relative to fat. AND it has high quantities of essential vitamins and minerals - especially grass-fed beef liver like ours. If you’ve never tried liver before, this simple liver pate recipe is great, because it is seasoned with pungent ingredients like thyme and balsamic vinegar that tone down the strong ‘liver’ flavor. If you are interested in the health benefits of liver, pate is an easy, convenient way to add liver to your diet - eat is as a snack or appetizer throughout the week!

Note, you will need a food processor or blender for this recipe. You will also need: 

Liver slices, soaking in lemon juice before cooking.

1 lb Beef Liver (we sell beef liver in frozen 1 lb packages; each package has a few slices of liver that are about 1/2”-3/4” thick)

1-2 Lemons, juiced

2 TBSP Butter

1 fresh Onion or 1-2 Shallots

3-4 cloves of Garlic

fresh or dried Thyme leaves

Balsamic or Red Wine vinegar

2 TBSP Whole Milk or Heavy Cream

Salt & Pepper to taste

Thaw your frozen beef liver, and then soak the strips in lemon juice for about an hour. This tones down the strong liver flavor and is a great way to prepare raw liver before any kind of cooking not just making pate. 

Finished liver pâté with a layer of melted butter on top.

Melt 2 TBSP butter in a skillet. Add onions/shallots and garlic - stir a little and cook until translucent. Remove the liver strips from lemon juice and pat dry before placing on the hot skillet. The goal is to brown each side, but try to avoid over cooking - just a couple of minutes on each side depending on thickness of the strips. Once both sides are browned, remove liver, onions, & garlic from the pan and let cool. 

Puree the liver-onions-garlic mixture along with thyme, vinegar, salt & pepper in your food processor. Once it’s pretty well pureed, give it a little taste and see if it needs more salt, pepper, thyme…You may also wish to add milk/cream at this point. Note, the liver taste may be a little strong at first, but the flavors of the onions, garlic, vinegar, and thyme really integrate once the pate has had a chance to sit in the fridge for a little while. You can also try other herbs - rosemary, fennel seed, lemon thyme, etc. depending on your personal preferences.