Creamy Chicken Liver Pâté

This is the best Chicken Liver Pâté recipe. Creamy, packed with flavor and the perfect easy appetizer or snack served with crackers or crostini.

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Setting time 6

Total Time 6 30

Servings if served as snacks with drinks

Calories 135kcal

Author Alida Ryder

Ingredients

1½ lb (750g) chicken livers cleaned and trimmed
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 large onion finely chopped
2 Granny Smith apples peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves crushed
6 sprigs fresh thyme
⅓ cup brandy
⅔ cup heavy cream
6 tbsp butter softened
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Sear the chicken livers in a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. I like to cook the chicken livers in avocado oil but you can use butter too.
Do this in batches to prevent over-crowding the pan - you want a nice deeply golden crust on the chicken livers. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Sauté the onions, apples and garlic with the thyme in the same pan, scraping up any of the sticky bits left behind from the chicken livers (this is a huge flavor boost).
Cook until soft and golden then add the chicken livers and any of their resting juices back into the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the brandy and (carefully) flambé, allowing the alcohol to burn off. Alternatively, simply let the mixture simmer for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to cook off.
Transfer the liver mixture to the bowl of a food processor (you can use a blender too) and add the cream. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add the softened butter, one tablespoon at a time, blending until the chicken liver pâté is very smooth. At this stage, I often like to pass the pâté through a strainer but this is not a necessary step. It does give you a must smoother end result, of course, but not a step home cooks should feel obliged to do.
Transfer the pâté to ramekins (this recipe makes a generous amount of pâté. I used 3 large ramekins but you could do 6 smaller ramekins or make one large dish if you preferred).
Pour over melted butter then add a sprig of thyme. Set in the fridge for at least 2 hours but ideally overnight.
Serve with crackers or crostini with preserves. I like tomato and chilli preserves but most preserves will be delicious.

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