Keto/Paleo Liver Pate Recipe

By a show of hands, who likes the taste of liver? Unless you’re a cat, you probably don’t.

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of liver either. But today I’m going to give you a delicious recipe for liver pate that’s incredibly quick to make and that (best of all) doesn’t actually taste like liver — or least only tastes a little bit like liver.

Now, you might be wondering: if liver tastes so bad, why even bother with it?

Well, it turns out that liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. If there’s such a thing as a superfood, then liver is it. This organ meat is packed with vitamins A, B3, B5, B6, B12, D, E, K2, choline, cofactor Q10, copper, iron, potassium, zinc… you name it, it’s got it.

The problem is that organ meat isn’t always what most people would describe as delicious. As a result, few people eat it on a regular basis. Even those who are laser-focused on optimizing their health and nutrition tend to avoid it in favor of tastier animal parts.

That’s why I’ve been looking for better ways to increase my liver intake. Beef liver supplements are a good option, but I’ve also found pâté to be a delicious way to get more organ meat into my diet.

It can be prepared in less than 10 minutes, and it only requires a handful of readily-available ingredients.

Ingredients You Need

From an ingredients perspective, you need raw liver (ideally from a pasture-raised animal), bacon fat (or pastured unsalted butter), an onion (red, yellow or sweet), garlic, thyme, sea salt, cracked black pepper, coconut cream (optional) and filtered water.

Besides that, feel free to use any other spices (nutmeg, allspice, bay leaves, etc.) to season your pate to taste.

I get raw liver (the main ingredient in this recipe) from either Whole Foods (look for a jar of chicken livers in the butcher’s section) or from the grass-fed cow we purchase every year from a local farmer. 

Obviously, we don’t purchase a live cow — we purchase all of the animal’s meat, organs and bones, and keep the bounty in a large chest freezer.

For the fat in the recipe, I often use the fat that’s left over in the pan after frying the strips of pastured bacon. I just let it cool down and solidify, and then scrape it into a container. Alternatively, you can also pour the still-liquid fat into a heat-resistant container and let it cool down there.

If you don’t have bacon fat, you can also use pastured butter.

The type and amount of onions you use is entirely up to you. Some people prefer shallots, but I just use whatever we happen to have at home. That’s usually 1/4th of a large red onion. But you can use as much as a whole onion of any kind, based on your personal preferences.

The same goes for the garlic; I prefer freshly-minced garlic, but if you don’t have that you can substitute with onion powder.

We grow thyme and other herbs in our garden, so we use those. If you don’t have fresh thyme leaves, feel free to use dried thyme from the store. 

As far as salt and black pepper are concerned, I recommend an unprocessed salt (such as Redmond Real Salt) and freshly-ground peppercorns. Some of the nutrients in black pepper oxidize after grinding the peppercorns, which means that ground pepper from the store might not be as nutrient-dense as the pepper you grind at home.

The coconut cream in this recipe is simply there to make the pâté creamier, so it’s optional. I’ve made liver pâté with and without coconut cream and have never been able to tell much of a difference.

Equipment You Need

The main piece of equipment you need for this recipe is a food processor, which you’ll use to turn the chunks of liver and other ingredients into the creamy paste that is the pâté.

In addition to that, you’ll need a frying pan with a lid, measuring spoons (or a good eye), and containers to store the final product.

I use little glass bowls that each hold approximately four servings of pâté. That way, I can keep one portion in the fridge and the others in the freezer. You can also use ramekins and cover them with a cloth or plastic wrap if they don’t come with a lid.

How to Make Beef or Chicken Liver Pâté

This recipe should take you less than 10 minutes to prepare, and there isn’t really much opportunity for error — even if you don’t get the measurements or ingredients exactly right.

In fact, I encourage you to experiment and try different seasonings and fats to make this pâté turn out exactly to your taste.

Case in point: while I like the pâté as described in this recipe, my wife prefers it with more salt and seasonings, which helps to better mask the taste of the liver.

To get started, melt a spoon of bacon fat or butter in a pan or skillet over medium heat. Then add the garlic and onions and saute them until they smell good. That shouldn’t take longer than a minute or two.

Next, add the liver, black pepper, salt, thyme and water. Cover the pan with a lid, and let the mix simmer for a couple of minutes. When the center of the liver turns pink and the outside looks lightly browned, you can turn off the heat and let everything rest for another 4-5 minutes.

Then, transfer all the ingredients from the pan into a food processor and puree everything as you slowly add the remaining fat and coconut cream — plus any extra salt or black pepper you want to add.

Process the mix until the texture becomes creamy like a mousse and the onion is totally integrated into the puree. 

While still hot, transfer the pâté into individual containers, cover them, and refrigerate or freeze them.

Once the pâté has solidified — typically after about four hours in the fridge — you can enjoy it with grain-free crackers or cheese.

Frequently Asked Questions

Beef Liver Pate Recipe Wrap-Up

Up until a few decades ago, people would regularly eat organ meat because they knew how nutritious it was. Plus, the liver, heart, kidneys and intestines are often considered animal by-products — which makes them relatively inexpensive. 

Considering that organ meat is the most nutritious part of an animal, that’s great news. Why spend $20 to $30 on a pound of steak when you can get a pound of pastured chicken livers for less than half of that price?

If you’re not convinced by the nutritional advantages of liver, I hope this recipe motivates you to explore different ways to prepare organ meat so that taste and smell aren’t an issue. And if you’re looking for more evidence, read through my guide on why you should include organ meat in your diet.

Try it out and let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment below.