Creamy Chicken Liver Pâté
There are special occasions that practically require gourmet appetizers; for those times, I break out my chicken liver recipes. This creamy chicken liver pâté is so rich, lush, and spreadable that it’s like a chicken liver mousse. Heavenly.
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Liver and onions have always been a popular combination, but you’ve never had them like this before.
This chicken liver pâté recipe is truly exceptional – a spreadable, supremely buttery, light, mousse-like pate made with chicken livers, spirits and butter. Caramelized onions add a jewel-tone garnish to the chicken liver pâté.
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My family is half French, so I grew up on my grandmother’s French pate, my mother’s country pate and countless varieties of liver spreads and mousse. In my experience, this is the best recipe yet.
This recipe comes from Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman‘s masterpiece, Pate, Confit, Rillette: Recipes From The Craft of Charcuterie {affiliate link}, and it’s a doozy. Their methods, flavor combinations and elegant but approachable recipes will win you over and make you the hero of happy hour and the holiday “hostess with the mostest”.
If you love cured meats and specialty sausages, you’ll also want to get their Charcuterie book, which we’ve used as a guide for our Applewood Smoked Bacon recipe.
This recipe will make one large or several smaller crocks of chicken liver pate, perfect for holiday parties and New Year’s eve revelry.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- It’s unique, decadent and truly a showstopper.
- Make it ahead of time – the flavors need time to marry anyway – so there’s no last-minute prep or fussing.
- It’s perfect for Christmas or New Year’s Eve and makes a special hors d’oeuvre for Valentine’s Day.
- It doesn’t taste like liver – it tastes like a meaty, buttery spread and is divine on crackers or crostini.
- It uses very humble, inexpensive ingredients for a truly gourmet liver spread that everyone will fawn over.
Ingredients for creamy chicken livers
- Kosher Salt – for brining the chicken livers.
- Chicken Livers – I use Murray Hill chicken livers.
- Unsalted Butter – if you can, use a good quality European butter for this chicken liver hors d’oeuvre recipe.
- Sweet Onions – made sweeter by a slow caramelization process.
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper – for seasoning.
- Calvados – a French apple brandy.
- Flat Leaf Parsley – adds freshness to the caramelized onions.
- Vegetable Oil
Although this chicken liver pate recipe doesn’t use any heavy cream, there’s quite a bit of butter, which gives it a rich but lighter-than-air mouth feel.
Step by step instructions:
- Combine the salt and water in a large bowl and add the chicken livers to brine for several hours or overnight.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add the onions, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the onions are very soft, 10-15 mins.
- Deglaze the pan with brandy, scraping up the browned bits, and cook the onions until the liquid has evaporated and the alliums are golden and fragrant.
- Chop the onions on a cutting board and add chopped parsley. Set aside for the garnish.
- Remove the chicken livers from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
- Heat the oil in a hot skillet over high heat. Add the chicken livers and sear for about 1 minute per side. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the livers are cooked and firm, another 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the remaining brandy to deglaze the pan and cook until all of the liquid has evaporated.
- Transfer the livers to a blender or food processor and pulse several times until the livers are pureed.
- Add softened butter, one stick at a time and puree after each addition, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Press the chicken liver mixture through a mesh strainer or tamis to remove any gristle or connective tissue and give it a smooth, creamy, mousse-like consistency.
- Transfer to a serving dish or crock and use a spatula to even out the top. Chill until the chicken liver pate has set, then top with the caramelized onions.
While the total time of prep and cooking is a little over an hour, you’ll want to refrigerate the creamy chicken liver pate overnight to allow the flavors to marry and meld.
The liver spread will firm up in the refrigerator (it does have three sticks of butter in it, after all). Remove the chicken liver mousse from the fridge about 45 minutes before serving it to soften it to a spreadable consistency.
Pro-Tips
- If you’ve got multiple parties lined up for the holidays, make one or two batches of this creamy chicken liver pate and divide it into multiple ramekins, ranging from ½ cup to 1 cup (depending on how large your get-togethers will be. You’ll have gourmet hors d’oeuvres ready for all your holiday celebrations.
Substitutions and variations:
- Swap shallots for the onions in the caramelized topping for the chicken liver pâté.
- Use other spirits for deglazing the chicken livers and onions – try Brandy, Sherry, Cognac, Armagnac or Marsala wine.
- Skip the caramelized onions and serve with a thin layer of blackberry preserves on top.
- Add fresh herbs like fresh thyme leaves to the onion mixture for an herbal contrast.
Storage:
- You can make the chicken liver pate ten days to 2 weeks ahead. Keep it covered tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use it.
- Be sure to remove the mousse from the fridge 45 minutes before serving so it’s soft and spreadable.
Freezing:
You can freeze chicken liver pate for up to three months; however, it should be frozen separately from the caramelized onions to prevent them from leaking or marring the consistency of the liver spread.
Defrost the chicken liver pate and caramelize onions, then assemble to serve.
FAQs
Chicken liver pate is a rich, creamy spread loaded with butter, so it’s not a healthy food. We bring this recipe out for special occasions and celebrations. It’s an indulgent, rich gourmet appetizer that everyone loves.
This recipe uses fresh chicken livers, brandy or spirits, butter and caramelized onions for an irresistibly light creamy chicken liver mousse.
Liverwurst is a cooked sausage made of pork, beef, veal, and sometimes goat or sheep livers. It is a common lunchmeat for sandwiches. Chicken liver pate is made only from chicken livers and served at room temperature with crackers or crostini for an elegant appetizer with cocktails.
What our tasters said:
“Oh my Gawd! It’s so light, creamy and unctuous. I’ve never had anything better in my life.” — Rosemarie
“The only problem is I could eat this all myself… and I want to.” — Frank
“I want this for every party from now on!” — Christine
If you want a decadent, elegant gourmet hors d’oeuvre recipe, look no further than this creamy chicken liver pâté. It’s perfect for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, or special birthdays, engagement parties, anniversaries, or special events.
I think it’s also a very elegant hors d’oeuvre. If you need gourmet appetizers for a New Year’s celebration, anniversary or other special event, you’ll definitely want to make this chicken liver recipe.
Serve chicken liver mousse with toast points or crunchy crostini rounds. It’s even delicious spread on your favorite crackers. The smooth, lush pate will melt on your tongue with a sophisticated flavor and texture that will make you feel very upper crust.
What to pair with creamy chicken liver pâté:
- Champagne or sparkling wine.
- Cognac French 75
- Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktail
- Christmas Old Fashioned
- Gin French 75
More gourmet appetizers you might like:
More pâtés and chicken liver recipes to try:
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Chicken Liver Mousse with Caramelized Onions
INGREDIENTS:
FOR CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 pound chicken livers trimmed of veins and connective tissues
- 1½ cups butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
FOR CARAMELIZED ONIONS
- ¼ cup butter
- ¾ pound sweet onions thinly sliced
- ½ cup brandy, cognac or armagnac
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
DIRECTIONS:
BRINE THE CHICKEN LIVERS:
- In a medium bowl, add the kosher salt and water and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
- Add the trimmed chicken livers and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
FOR THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS:
- Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook until the onions are very soft, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue to cook until any remaining liquid has cooked off and the onions turn a golden brown color.
- Stir in half of the brandy to the caramelized onions to deglaze the pan. Continue to cook until the pan is dry and remove from the heat.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a cutting board and chop finely. Add the chopped parsley and fold into the onion mixture to blend. Set aside to cool.
FOR THE CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE:
- Drain the water from the chicken livers and pat them dry with paper towels.
- Place a skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken livers and sear them for about a minute on each side.
- Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook the livers for an additional 3 or 4 minutes until firm. Deglaze the pan with the remaining brandy and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the chicken livers to a food processor and pulse until very smooth. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of room temperature butter, 1/2 cup at a time, processing after each addition until it’s well incorporated.
- Transfer the chicken liver mousse to a tamis or use a fine mesh sieve to press the mouse through, discarding any gristle or solids.
- Transfer the mousse to a serving dish (I divided it into two smaller dishes), cover and refrigerate for an hour.
- Once the mousse has chilled, top it with the caramelized onion mixture and cover and refrigerate overnight for the flavors to marry.
- Remove the mousse from the refrigerator one hour before serving so the mousse can come to room temperature. It spreads easier this way and will have more flavor at room temperature than when its cold. Serve with your favorite crostini or crackers.
NUTRITION:
Pin “Chicken Liver Pâté with Brandy and Quick Caramelized Onions” for later!
What would be a good non alcoholic substitution for the brandy?
I’ve heard that there is a non-alcoholic brandy (though I’ve never tried it) or you might try an apple cider.
I completely agree that some occasions adamantly call for a gourmet appetizer and this Creamy Chicken Liver Mousse fits the ticket perfectly! I appreciate your step-by-step instructions for this recipe and agree that this is one of those recipes that only get better after a day or two so the brandy really gets a chance to soak in. The caramelized onions and herbs are the perfect topping for this rich and creamy mousse and I can’t wait to serve this for our next dinner party. This is going to be one very delicious hit!
This is such a decadent and rich appetizer. Sounds so flavorful!
This recipe went straight to my Pinterest! I still remember the first time I had chicken livers and loved them so much! Wonderful recipe, full of flavor and so creamy.
So glad you shared all the tips, tricks, and prep work because I loved having them! Making this next week.
Thanks for sharing all the prep work, I wouldn’t know where to start! Can’t wait to share this on a special occasion!
Lisa, you’ve gone and knocked it outta the park…again! This is a gorgeous recipe that’s takes the intimidation out of liver pate. Thanks for another winner!