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nana's perfect chopped liver from The Jewish Kitchen
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Nana's Chopped Liver

This classic recipe remains in style and delicious with simple, tried and true ingredients. Beef liver is ground with sauteed onions and hard-boiled eggs into a creamy spread worthy of a first course on a bed of crisp lettuce or as everyone's favorite dip with crackers or crusty rye bread.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Jewish
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 1 very large party platter

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Kosher beef lilver
  • 7 medium onions (or 5 large) peeled and sliced into rings
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, mashed
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat. Brown liver on both sides (about 5 minutes per side). When the liver is done, set aside in glass dish. Allow the liver to cool for about 15 minutes and then chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, covered, or overnight.
  2. While liver is cooling on counter, cook onions on medium heat in the same pan. Add more oil if necessary. Onions should cook until they are translucent and soft, but not brown, approximately 5-10 minutes. When finished, set aside in a separate dish and let cool in refrigerator until you are ready to process the liver.
  3. Reserve oil from frying pan and store in airtight container. You do not need to refrigerate this.
  4. Cook and peel two hard boiled eggs. Let cool, then mashed them. Remove liver from refrigerator.
  5. Prepare meat grinder. Alternate putting liver and onions in grinder. Add some mashed eggs in between. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the liver is not smooth enough to your liking, either add some of the reserved oil or some fresh vegetable oil to achieve your desired consistency.
  6. Put the chopped liver in a large bowl and chill overnight in the refrigerator. Serve the next day.

Recipe Notes

Note: Don't be fooled by the 2 hour prep time. I note this only because after you brown the liver (which will take all of 20 minutes) it needs to cool in the refrigerator for about 2 hours (or overnight). Otherwise, this recipe takes about 30 minutes of actual cooking time.