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Chicken Liver Pâté

The best chicken liver pâté recipe you’ll ever try! This easy appetizer spread for crackers fits in with a fancy charcuterie board or straight out of the bowl on gameday!

Small crock of chicken liver pâté with a plate of crackers

From the movie Beauty and the Beast:

🎵 “Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious

Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!” 🎵

This liver pâté recipe is craaazy good. It’s the kind of appetizer that will make people who think they hate liver love chicken liver!

It is addicting and you won’t be able to stop going back for more!

What this is not: a fancy French pâté.

This is an easy pâté without alcohol, without herbs and without gelée on top.

This fits right in with other appetizers you might serve at a party such as Little Smokies Wrapped in Bacon, spicy Sausage Cream Cheese Dip and Ranch Oyster Crackers.

Close up shot of one cracker topped with chicken liver pâté

This is my grandma’s recipe from the 70’s, possibly earlier.

It might be Jewish deli-style, the kind they serve on rye bread.

All I know is that we’d live for the 2 times a year my grandma would make this and fight for the last scoop!

I must note that this liver pâté was ALWAYS served with these onion crackers.

They’re expensive on Amazon, but you should be able to find them at your local grocery store.

Livers sauteeing in butter for chicken liver pâté

Chicken Liver Pâté Ingredients

  • Chicken livers – you can get these fresh or frozen. Just make sure they’re thawed, rinsed and patted dry.
  • Butter – this chicken liver pâté is not healthy if you consider butter bad. There is a whole stick of butter in this recipe! If butter is your friend then I’d say this is good for you since liver is full of vitamins and minerals.
  • Onion – this recipe features both cooked and raw onions. I love the tiny bit of crunch and zest the raw onions add!
  • Hard boiled eggs – you can use 1-3 eggs depending on your preference. One egg really lets the liver flavor shine. Using three eggs is a great way to bulk up the spread and add richness without sacrificing flavor.
  • Miracle Whip – yes, you read that right. We’ve tried substituting mayonnaise, but the Miracle Whip adds the perfect amount of sweetness to balance out the distinctive flavor of the liver. Pâté can sometimes be dry, but not with this miracle ingredient!

Liver and onion cooked in butter for chicken liver pâté

How to make liver pâté

  1. Saute livers and onion in lots of butter.
  2. Mash everything up along with hard boiled eggs, more onion and a touch of Miracle Whip.
  3. Chill and then serve with crackers.

Small crock of chicken liver pâté with a plate of crackers

Often, traditional pâté is served as a silky-smooth paste or mousse.

Grandma used a potato masher for hers, which left lots of chunky texture to the dip, which I adore!

I’ve included both directions below depending if you prefer a blended puree, or a heartier texture.

Whatever method you choose, I highly recommend you make this a day in advance.

If you can wait, the flavors improve even more after sitting in the fridge!

Chicken pate will last up to a week in the fridge and can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

Small crock of chicken liver pâté with a plate of crackers

Chicken Liver Pâté

Yield: about 2 cups
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes

This ridiculously easy chicken liver pâté can be whipped together in 20 minutes with only 5 ingredients, but plan to make it ahead of time since the flavors develop while it chills! Serve with crackers.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken livers
  • ½ large onion, chopped, divided
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick)
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, finely minced or mashed*
  • 2 tablespoons Miracle Whip
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Crackers, for serving

Instructions

  1. Rinse the chicken livers and pat dry.
  2. In a large pan over medium heat, add the livers, half the chopped onion (1/4 of an onion) and the butter. Cook until the livers are no longer pink in the middle, about 10 minutes.
  3. Follow one of the directions below for either a smooth spread or one with texture.

For chunkier spread:

  1. Mash the cooked livers (including butter and onions) with a potato masher and pour into a bowl. Add remaining chopped onion, hard boiled eggs, Miracle Whip and salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Mash everything together until desired texture is achieved. Can be as smooth or chunky as you like. Add additional Miracle Whip if a creamier texture is desired.
  3. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight. Serve with crackers.

For smooth spread:

  1. After cooking the livers, add to a blender or food processor. Be sure to include the butter and onions that cooked along with the livers.
  2. Add the remaining chopped onion, hard boiled eggs, Miracle Whip, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
  3. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight. Serve with crackers.

Notes

*you can use 1-3 eggs, depending on your taste.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 111Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 198mgSodium: 109mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 8g

Nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Please consult the labels of ingredients you use for more accurate results.

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a comment below! Or tag @kitchengidget on Instagram with the hashtag #kitchengidget

Lorie

Thursday 1st of August 2024

Can you use mayo instead?

Rebekah

Tuesday 6th of August 2024

Yes.

James

Tuesday 2nd of July 2024

Great recipe. Easy and very tasty.

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