Simple Beef Chili With Beef Liver
Soup season is upon us, and chili with beef liver is always my favourite choice! Hearty, delicious, and satisfying, this nutrient-dense chili features beef liver, making it a fantastic way to incorporate organ meat into your diet.
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I’ll take any opportunity to sneak ground liver into a meal, and chili is one of my favourite ways to do it! With all the classic chili ingredients, this recipe allows you to serve your loved ones a delicious, nutrient-dense dish without them even knowing it has liver in it.
Packed with flavour from hearty beans, juicy ground beef, and sweet tomatoes, this chili not only warms the soul but also boosts nutrition with the added goodness of liver. It’s the perfect way to enjoy a comforting meal while secretly enhancing its health benefits!
Why Beef Liver?
Beef liver is highly valued in many cultures around the world. In traditional diets and indigenous cuisines, liver was often prized as a nutrient-rich food that provided essential vitamins and minerals, including iron, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and folate. Because of its nutritional value, it was commonly used to support general health, a healthy pregnancy and the development of robust babies.
The Benefits of Beef Liver for General Health
Beef liver is often called a superfood because it’s packed with nutrients that can greatly benefit your health. Here are some simple reasons why adding liver to your diet can be a good idea:
- Loaded with Nutrients: Liver is full of important vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, vitamin D, and B vitamins. Liver especially high in vitamin B12, which is great for your energy and helps keep your blood and nerves healthy .
- Great Source of Iron: Liver is rich in a type of iron that your body can easily absorb. This can help prevent and treat iron deficiency anemia, which makes you feel tired and weak .
- High in Protein: Liver provides a lot of high-quality protein, which is essential for building and repairing tissues, making hormones, and supporting your immune system .
- Good for Your Brain and Liver: Liver is one of the best sources of choline, a nutrient that supports brain function and helps your liver process fats effectively .
- Contains Antioxidants: Liver has antioxidants like glutathione, which help protect your cells from damage and support your body’s natural detox processes .
- Supports Vision and Skin Health: Liver is extremely rich in vitamin A, which is important for maintaining healthy vision, skin, and immune function.
How Much Liver Should I Eat?
A healthy and sustainable amount of liver consumption for an adult would be around 2-4 oz a week and 1-2 oz per week for a child. These liver cubes are around 2oz which makes it easy to calculate your intake. Aim to use 1-2 liver cubes per adult that you’re cooking for per week. If you want to add liver to your children’s diet, simply share your liver-enriched food with your children and they will reap the benefits from their usual portion of the meal!
Beef Liver Cubes
To make this recipe, I would first recommend you make some beef liver cubes. Making these ahead of time makes the process a whole lot easier and cleaner! I always have a bag of beef liver cubes on hand to add whenever I cook a dish with ground meat. Simply add a 2oz beef liver cube per pound of ground meat. This ratios allows you to reap the benefits of beef liver without it overpowering your meal, no one will even know it’s in there!
The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. Please consult your health care provider before making any health care decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition.
Beans
Bean, beans, beans. I love black beans and dark red kidney beans for chili. But you can use pinto, garbanzo, cannellini, fava, or navy.
Instant Pot
If you’d like to use an instant pot, as I usually do, you can. Simply do all the steps on saute function and then finish with 20 minutes of high pressure with the valve turned to sealing.
Serving Suggestions
Best served with good ol’ sourdough corn bread or savoury einkorn biscuits!
Top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado, or fresh herbs!
What You’ll Need
Materials
- Large pot with a lid or instant pot
- Wooden spoon
- Cutting board
- Sharp kitchen knife
Ingredients
Onion: Nice and diced.
Garlic: Can never have too much garlic.
Fat: Olive oil, butter, lard, tallow, bacon fat, whatever you like to saute vegetables.
Ground Beefy: Meat is meat, work with what’s most available.
Beef Liver: I highly, highly, recommend making some beef liver cubes before proceeding. It makes cooking with beef liver sooo much cleaner.
Bell Pepper: Nice and diced for some sweetness and colour.
Can Tomatoes: A big ol’ can. Diced or crushed.
Tomato Paste: For extra sauciness.
Beans: I like dark red kidney beans or black beans! Refer to text for more about beans.
Broth: Beef broth, chicken broth, Bouillon cubes or Better Than Bouillon paste.
Brown Sugar: Just a dash to soften the acidity of the tomatoes.
Salt: To bring everything together.
Pepper: Cause salt and pepper go together.
Cumin: Probably my favourite spice.
Chili Powder: For some spice and smokiness.
Other Spices (optional): You can throw in some dried oregano, paprika, chili flakes, or whatever your heart desires.
How To Make Chili with Beef Liver
- Heat the Pot: Place your pot on the stove over medium heat.
- Sauté Onions: Add your fat and diced onions, sautéing until soft.
- Add Garlic: Stir in minced garlic and sauté until aromatic.
- Brown Meat: Add ground beef and ground liver (or frozen liver cubes) and sauté until browned.
- Incorporate Vegetables: Add diced bell pepper and sauté until soft.
- Combine Ingredients: Stir in strained canned tomatoes and beans, along with broth and spices.
- Simmer: Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for at least 45 minutes. Let it simmer for as long as possible to enhance the flavours.
Notes
If it’s overly acidic from the tomato, try sprinkling some baking soda. Only a sprinkle at a time until it’s reached its desired flavour.
Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, fresh herbs, whatever you like!
I suggest 1-2 cans of beans depending on how beany you like it. I just used 1-8oz. can of red kidney beans but another can wouldn’t hurt.
Simple Chili With Beef Liver
Equipment
- Large pot with a lid or instant pot
- Wooden spoon
- Cutting Board
- Sharp kitchen knife
Ingredients
- 1 Onion
- 5 Garlic Cloves minced
- 2 tbsp Fat olive oil, butter, lard, tallow, bacon fat
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 2-4 oz. Ground Beef Liver
- 1 Bell Pepper diced
- 1 Large Can Tomatoes diced or crushed
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1-2 Cans Beans drained – red kidney, black, pinto or white
- 2 Cups Broth chicken, beef or vegetable
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
- Other Spices optional (dried oregano, paprika, chili flakes)
Instructions
- Heat the Pot: Place your pot on the stove over medium heat.
- Sauté Onions: Add your fat and diced onions, sautéing until soft.
- Add Garlic: Stir in minced garlic and sauté until aromatic.
- Brown Meat: Add ground beef and ground liver (or frozen liver cubes) and sauté until browned.
- Incorporate Vegetables: Add diced bell pepper and sauté until soft.
- Combine Ingredients: Stir in strained canned tomatoes and beans, along with broth and spices.
- Simmer: Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer for as long as possible to enhance the flavours.
Storage
I love to make a large batch and freeze half in a large Ziploc bag. It seems to taste better the longer the ingredients mingle together.
I’m also not scared of leaving it on the stovetop in the pot overnight and heating it up for breakfast in the morning. Soup for breakfast is the best!
Recommended Reading
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such wonderful info being shared freely out there.