NO Jewish gathering would ever be complete without a nice, big bowl of chopped liver for everyone to dip their Tam Tams or veggies into.
A thick, rich and creamy chicken liver pâté, this is the stuff of Jewish prophets. I’ve always loved the stuff and wanted to make my own. So I found this BE ALL, END ALL recipe from a woman named Mirj on food.com.
It is a time consuming recipe with the browning of the onions, but it’s also VERY easy (your Instant Pot will play a background role here in hard-boiling the eggs) and you’ll wow yourself that YOU made this and not the kosher butcher.
Prepare to be worshipped by those chopped liver lovers!
Here’s How I Made It!:
The key to a damned fine chopped liver comes from the flavor of onions. So get three big ones…
…and dice them up.
Now to a large frying pan, add in some vegetable oil (or schmaltz, which is rendered chicken fat). Heat it up…
…and add the onions. We need them to be BROWN – like just before they point of them beginning to burn “brown.” They also need to be stirred quite often so they don’t burn. This is going to take a while…
…so pull up a chair and a book and get comfortable. This will take about a good 20-30 minutes.
When they look like this, we can leave them for a few minutes and move onto…
…the chicken livers!
Drain the livers and lay them on a foil-lined baking sheet…
…and broil them in the oven for a few…
…(while continuing to cook our onions)…
When the livers are done cooking, remove them from the oven…
…and let them cool down for a moment.
Back to our onions – when they look like this, NOW they’re done.
Using tongs, transfer the livers to a good blender or food processor…
…along with the onions. Make sure you get EVERY LAST ONION AND SCRAPE OF OIL into that blender/food processor!
We’ll also add in some hard boiled eggs (use that method in the IP here).
Pulse the livers, onions and eggs together.Note: If you want a coarser chopped liver, LIGHTLY pulse the eggs in the food processor/blender separately at the beginning (so they’re crumbly), remove and set aside. After you’ve pulsed the liver and onions together and transferred to a bowl, THEN mix the crumbled eggs in with them.
Remove the top, press in any pieces that weren’t blended and add in some kosher salt…
…then replace the top to pulse and blend again.
When it’s done, it should have that chopped liver consistency we all know and love!
Next, transfer the chopped liver to a bowl…
…and add some seasoned salt to taste. Mix well…
…add a cover to the bowl (foil is fine too) and let it set in the fridge for at lest a good 3-4 hours (overnight is even better) as it needs to firm up and get cold. Chopped Livah is a dish BEST SERVED COLD!
When it’s firmed up and chilled, it is time to eat!
And the way we do that is with a box of Tam Tams ☺️…
…(which are hexagonal matzoh crackers. See?)
Dip the Tam Tam into the Chopped Liver…
…and revel in pure, Jewish delicacy bliss.Everyone will beg you for this recipe! Mazel Tov!
Instant Pot Chopped Liver
Now before the word "liver" scares you off, this iconic spread often seen at a Jewish gathering is really a French pâté. The secret is in sautéing the onions until caramelized to create that super rich foundation of flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 3 large Spanish onions, chopped coarsely
- 1 lb of chicken livers, drained
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut up (this is the only thing I used my Instant Pot for in this recipe)
- Seasoned salt, kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In your Instant Pot, make 4 hard-boiled eggs (click here for recipe) and LIGHTLY pulse in a food processor so it’s still coarse and slightly crumbled. Set aside
- Using a large pan or skillet on your stovetop, heat the oil on medium heat
- Add the onions. This step is everything as a HUGE portion of that classic chopped liver flavor comes from them. You are going to be cooking them for a solid 20-40 minutes (stoves vary) over medium heat – stirring and then letting it set and repeating that process until the onions are a beautiful deep brown color, but NOT burned. Basically, they should be cooked just before they enter the burned phase
- While you’re cooking the onions, set your oven on broil. Add the drained chicken livers to a tin foil lined baking sheet and then pop into the oven for 10 minutes
- Remove the broiled livers and place in a good blender or food processor and pulse until it’s nice and chopped
- When the onions are done, transfer every last one as well as every last drop of oil from the pan to the food processor. SCRAPE that pan! Don’t leave any behind!
- Pulse the livers and onions together and blend until all is mixed in and to your desired consistency
- Add kosher salt (about 1/2 tbsp) and pepper to taste. Pulse again
- Transfer to a serving bowl and, with a mixing spoon, add in the crumbled eggs and stir until it’s all combined. Everything will be hot. Add about 1/2 tbsp of seasoned salt and mix in and season however else you wish to taste but don’t change things up too much or it won’t be the classic Jewish chopped liver you know and love
- Cover the bowl and let set in the fridge for at least 2 hours so it gets firm and cold – THAT’S how we serve this
- Serve with Tam Tams, matzoh or your favorite veggies for dipping
- Enjoy!
Jeffrey's Tips
If you’re impatient and tempted to keep checking on it (like I am) to sneak tastes and see if it’s cool enough yet, I suggest you make this at night right before bed and then let it set in the fridge overnight. And then have a few scoops for breakfast!
Also, if you want a coarser/chunkier chopped liver, VERY lightly pulse the eggs in a food processor separately so they are large crumbles and then stir by hand into the blended livers and onions at the end.
Matthew (CK)
Next time you’re making chopped liver, try only cooking about 60% of the onions. Chop the rest more finely and add in raw. That gives you a little bite and a little crunch.
Marianne
Second time I’ve made this. So delicious, my husband and I eat it for dinner when I don’t feel like cooking.
Laura
Jeffrey… vegetable oil?? Shame on you after you gave us a recipe for shmaltz!!!!!
Jeffrey
Ha! Use either 😉
MG
My family recipe for chopped liver is a combo of 1/2 chicken and 1/2 beef liver. Gives it more body than only chicken, but less grainy and dry than beef alone.