Kentucky Fried Chicken Livers with Gravy

Of all the yummy things my mom used to cook for me, her Southern-style chicken livers have to be my favorite. She braised them and served them over rice topped with gravy. Yum! I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic, and chicken livers came to mind when I was planning this week’s menu. This recipe practically jumped right off my Pinterest board and demanded I make it. Thanks, mom 🙂

We love Kentucky fried chicken livers. We like them with gravy or honey mustard sauce.

The Ingredients

My shopping list for this recipe was only 1 item: chicken livers (and they were only $1.99). I had the milk, flour, and spices on hand. Sometimes I get lucky and can find them in the poultry section of the meat counter, but that’s pretty rare. This time I had to search the frozen aisle to find them. I don’t mind frozen, just the waiting for them to thaw. I can be really impatient.

The Process

This recipe was clearly written, and it took me 30 minutes to make my chicken livers and gravy (20 minutes for the livers and 10 minutes for the gravy). The process was pretty much how I have always cooked fried chicken livers, although I rarely made gravy with them.

Some of the livers were still joined, so I used kitchen scissors to snip apart the thin strip of connective tissue that joined the lobes. It’s not mandatory, but I find it makes breading and frying easier and more even.

Breading

Once I dropped them into a bowl of milk, I quickly mixed up the breading in a shallow pasta bowl (it was perfect for this!). I also added the optional cumin and cayenne since I love both flavors. By the way, cayenne is potent, so go easy if you are not used to cooking with it.

Next, I preheated 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a 12' nonstick skillet. I gave the oil four minutes to pre-heat on 5/10 (electric stove) and made sure my spatter screen was handy. Frying chicken livers can get messy!

After I drained the milk, I used a pair of tongs to add a few livers at a time to the bowl of seasoned flour. A quick flip, then a gentle tap, and I placed the breaded livers on a plate. The process went quickly, and the tongs kept my fingers from getting caked with flour.

Frying

When it was time to cook, I cooked the livers in two batches and turned them several times. They turned out well-browned and crispy on the outside while staying juicy on the inside. I’m sure I was drooling at the smell!

The gravy was very simple to make and came out nicely. The texture was thick and creamy—everything white gravy should be—and peppery. I recommend removing the gravy from the heat when it’s still just a little thinner than you like. It will thicken as it cools. If you get it too thick, return it to the heat and whisk in hot water or milk until it thins to your liking. It’s an easy fix.

To Serve

This gravy practically begs to be spooned over homemade biscuits or plain white rice. Or just about anything else, for that matter. It’s that good! It’s also nice and peppery, but a squirt or two of hot sauce is nice too. I’m wild about hot sauce, and the smoky flavor of Tabasco is so good with this recipe!