How to Cook Chicken Livers for Dogs: Making Fido a New, Delicious Treat

Cooking Chicken Livers for Dogs

Chicken liver is a highly nutritious and delicious meal for your dog that you can cook up easy. Unfortunately, not many dog owners think about feeding their dog chicken liver because they themselves are not used to eating it.

If you’re one of them, you are seriously missing out because learning how to cook chicken livers for dogs will allow you to come up with a new recipe that Fido and your wallet will surely thank you for.

Even if you are no fan of livers, it is no news that dogs love them. We have yet to see a dog that would not jump at the opportunity to have a taste of this treat. Not only is chicken liver delicious, it is also very good for your dog’s health—especially for his eyesight and to improve the silkiness of his coat.
fresh chicken livers
Some people worry that giving their dog chicken liver might have a bad side-effect. But don’t worry because as long as you cook it well, the chicken liver will only improve your dog’s overall health.

In this piece, we will take you by the hand through the steps that will make you the best chicken liver chef your dog has ever had. We’ve got plenty of recipes you can try.

Do you think your dog has shown you all of his love before? Wait till you unlock the floodgates of reserved love when the little ball of fur tastes this delicacy you’re about to make.

Why You Should Serve Chicken Liver to Your Dog

For those who think they already have enough treats for their dogs, it is perhaps necessary that we take a quick detour to let you know the numerous benefits of giving your dog chicken liver:

  • Chicken liver is very rich in amino acids and high-quality proteins.
  • Chicken liver is a good source of Vitamin B Complex.
  • There is a rich collection of fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamin A, D, E, and K) in chicken liver.
  • Chicken liver contains minerals in abundance. Some of these are zinc, copper, and iron.
  • Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are easily obtainable from chicken liver. These will improve the shininess of your dog’s coat.
  • Serving chicken liver to your dog will help improve his eyesight due to the high Vitamin A content.
  • Chicken liver can increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. This translates to your dog coming out stronger and with higher levels of endurance.

The question you should be asking yourself right now is why you haven’t started serving liver to your dog yet. Lack the expertise or know-how needed to pull this off? Let’s get started with the tips and tricks then.

How to Serve Liver to Your Dog

There is no hard and fast rule about how chicken liver should be served to a dog. Some dogs prefer it one way, while other dogs would opt for another cooking method instead.

Image showing a woman holding a bowl full of raw-organ-meat-dog-food

Although, one thing is clear. It is best if you don’t serve the chicken liver raw. If you absolutely have to for one reason or another, make sure that the liver you’re serving is from a very trusted source and that your dog is used to eating raw food. Even then, there is a small margin for error.

That is why we advise that you serve chicken liver to your dog cooked instead. Aside from the fact that you will be eliminating the risk of pathogenic infections, you will also be dulling their natural predatory instinct instead of promoting it. Raw meat can cause a conflict of domestic and wild instincts in a dog.

So if you’re ready to get cooking, make sure you’ve got some raw chicken livers at hand. If possible, get livers from free-range chickens. These chickens tend to have livers with higher nutritional benefits.

Likewise, there is a good chance that these chickens had been exposed to a lesser amount of toxins and chemicals. If you’ve got the livers ready, let’s move on to the recipes:

Recipe 1 – Chicken Liver Meat Meal

For this recipe, you will need:

  • Chicken livers
  • A medium-sized pot
  • A plate
  • A small bowl

# Step 1: Washing

It doesn’t matter whether you got the livers from a grocery store or a nearby farm—you should still wash the livers. Put all of them (or those you want to cook all at once) into a small bowl and run cool water over it.

Image showing Healthy Chicken Liver

You will instantly notice some coloration and debris floating in the water. Rinse thoroughly—about once or twice—to get rid of them. When the water runs clear, you can move on to the next step.

# Step 2: Prep

Place the pieces of chicken liver that you have rinsed into a clean pot. Add some cool water. You should pour about 1 inch of water for every 10 pieces of liver that you have in the pot.

# Step 3: Cooking

Turn your gas stove to high heat and let it take the water to boiling temperature. When the water has boiled, you can then turn down the heat a little bit. Put in the liver and allow them to simmer. Leave it for about 15 minutes before you turn off the gas stove.

Your dog will typically eat the chicken liver as it is, but if you are feeling adventurous, you can try adding some seasoning to improve the taste and smell of what you’re cooking. So that you don’t destroy the natural essence, it is best if your seasoning is vegetables-inspired. Carrots, bell peppers, cabbages, and other related vegetables will do.

Note that if they are not tender after said 15 minutes, you can leave them on the stove for a little longer. The same goes for if they get tender faster than stated, at which point you should turn off the gas stove.

# Step 4: Post-Cooking

Take the pot away from the heat and drain the excess water into a sink. Remove the pieces of liver from the pot onto a plate and allow them to cool. Your pooch must have been watching you while you’ve been shuffling to get their treat done.

The scent would have reached his nose, and he would like nothing more than to sink his teeth into your juicy cooking. So, what are you waiting for?

Recipe 2 – Chicken Liver Cookies

For this recipe, you will need:

  • Flour
  • Cornmeal
  • Powdered milk
  • Garlic powder
  • Salt
  • Egg
  • Vegetable oil
  • Water
  • Chicken livers
  • A medium-sized pot
  • A bowl/container

# Step 1: Prep

Here, you’ll have to repeat Step 1 and 2 from the Recipe 1 we have explained above.

# Step 2: Processing

Boil as many pieces of the liver as you want. Once they are done, put them in a food processor. Puree the chicken livers with a little bit of oil.

Chicken and Liver Dog Cookies

After that, freeze the pureed chicken livers, preferably in half-cup portions.

# Step 3: Make the Dough

Measure two cups of the flour, a three-quarter cup of cornmeal, and half a tablespoon of garlic powder. Put them in a bowl. Add another half-cup of powdered milk, six tablespoons of vegetable oil, and a tablespoon of salt to taste. Break an egg into the mixture.

So that the mixture doesn’t get too thick, throw in half a cup of water (or broth to make it even tastier).

Image showing a man doing a dough

To the already-existent mixture, pour in some of the pureed chicken liver. For the exact measurements we have recommended, half a cup of the pureed chicken liver will be enough. Knead these for about 5 minutes till you start to have an even dough. Put it in the fridge to chill for an hour, or preferably, overnight.

# Step 4: Baking

Roll the dough and cut it according to whatever shape you want. Place the cut shapes on a cookie sheet and then, in an oven, set the temperature to 350-degree Celsius or 662-degree Fahrenheit and watch the batch bake.

Depending on your preference as to the crunchiness of the cookies, you should allow it to bake for 30 minutes more or less.

# Step 5: Post-Cooking

Retrieve the batches as soon as they are done and send in some more till you have baked them all.

After cooling, you can immediately serve them to your dog and/or store them in an air-tight container for later.

Recipe 3 – Chicken Liver-Shaped Biscuits

For this recipe, you will need:

  • Chicken Livers (1 pound)
  • Chicken (1 pound)
  • Eggs (3 pieces)

# Step 1: Washing

Once again, follow the set of instructions in the first recipe. However, this time, limit your doings to only the first point (washing). Wash the chicken meat too since we will be adding them to this recipe.

# Step 2: Processing

Put your chicken in a blender or a food processor. Break all three eggs and pour them into the blender too. Blend the entire mixture for a while, but make sure it doesn’t turn into fine liquid. It should still be rather rough.

Pour the livers into the semi-blended mixture and keep blending. Let this go on until you have something that looks like malt.

# Step 3: Baking

Turn on the heat in the oven. Pre-heat it to about 230 degrees Celsius or 446-degree Fahrenheit. Apply a light grease to your oven’s cookie sheets, or just use parchment paper instead if that’s available.

Pour the mixture from your blender into the center of the greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper) then start baking it. After about one hour of baking, retrieve the mixture. Note that at this point, it would still be all gooey and sticky, but it would have started the solidification process.

With a knife or a spatula, cut specific shapes that you fancy into the dough. Turn it into smaller pieces to ensure all sides of the biscuits get baked evenly when you finally bring them out.

Don’t forget to flip the biscuits too so that one side doesn’t get all the brown, or worse, black. Allow to bake for one more hour, or till the treats get evenly browned—whichever happens first.

# Step 4: Post-Cooking

Turn off the heat but allow the treats to stay in the oven for several more hours so they can cool before you start serving or refrigerating them at all. Store the excess chicken liver treat in an air-tight container for your dog. Each batch you make should be able to last about two weeks in the refrigerator.

Serving Chicken Liver to Your Dog

Serving Chicken Liver to Your Dog

Essentially, you can serve all of the treats you have just made to your dog at once. But as we have explained in each recipe above, these treats should last quite a while in the fridge. They can be also used as training treats for your dog if you want to.

Or, instead of serving it as a standalone treat, you can equally consider mixing it up with some of their regular food. Just like the way you’d enjoy your rice with side dishes, so would your dog.

Also, you could just serve these treats as a supplement to your dog’s meals. In a week, you should serve your dog cooked chicken livers no more than 3 to 5 times. Although, bigger dogs can take them at a slightly higher frequency, so 5 to 7 times per week will not be bad for them.

The point is, giving them too much will do more harm than good. Due to the high concentration of vitamin A in livers, your dog is prone to overdosing if they eat it too much. That can lead to conditions such as bone deformity, limping (caused by bone spurs on the spine and legs), and muscle weakness.

Likewise, chicken liver is high in fat and can contribute to issues of weight in your dog. That is not to mention the stomach problems that could arise from the high fatty content we previously talked about. As a precaution, make sure you never fry the liver you are going to give to your dog. They don’t need the excess grease.

Don’t worry, though. The risks we mentioned above are very unlikely scenarios. All of these can be prevented if you are serving your dog the right amount of liver. You can also talk to your vet to know how much your dog can consume before you set out with giving him this treat at all

Wrap Up

We have addressed what makes liver a viable option for your dog. If you’d like to try your hand at cooking some of the recipes we’ve explained above, we believe you now have all you need to get started. It really is a very simple and nutritious dish. Your dog will definitely understand the extra effort you have put in for their sake and will love you all the more.

Did you find our article useful? Do you plan to try any of our recipes? Of course, we would also like to hear from you—especially if you have a secret family recipe on cooking chicken livers for your dog. Even if you don’t, don’t hesitate to share your experiences with the community.