Can You Put Liver In An Air Fryer? (read this first)

The air fryer is the best culinary innovation of the 21st century so far. Cooking food in an air fryer is a super healthy alternative to frying or even oven baking, because air frying requires little to no oil.

There’s one meat that’s particularly suited to air frying and that meat is liver. Liver is available in 4 types;

1. Beef Liver
2. Pork Liver
3. Chicken Liver
4. Lamb’s Liver

In this article we’ll take you through the best way to air fry each type of liver.

Why You’ll Love Air Frying Liver

Apart from the obvious health benefits of eating liver, there are several reasons why air frying liver will become your new favourite way of cooking liver. These include;

• It’s a healthy way to cook liver
  Cooking liver in the air fryer drastically reduces the amount of oil needed to cook it. In many cases, you will not need to use any oil at all.
• Eliminates mess in the kitchen
  The traditional way to cook liver involves a frying pan on the hob. This inevitably means oil, fat and grease splatters all around the kitchen and hob area. When using an air fryer to cook liver, all of the cooking process is done inside the basket inside the air fryer which keeps any potential mess contained.
• Reduces that strong liver smell
  There’s no question that cooking liver on the hob creates a strong smell of liver all over the house. As the liver is cooked inside the air fryer, a large proportion of that smell is contained inside the air fryer.
• Cooks fast
  Liver cooks incredibly quickly in an air fryer especially compared with in a frying pan on the hob.
• Air fried liver is incredibly tasty
  For some reason air fried liver has more flavour compared to liver fried in a frying pan.
• Easy to clean up
  Once the cooking process is completed, the only washing up required when air frying liver is typically the air fryer basket. Even this can be reduced by using a disposable air fryer paper liner.

How To Cook Beef Liver In An Air Fryer

Beef liver is often sold as ox liver and has a milder flavour than pig’s liver. 

Ingredients

• 454g (1lb) Fresh Beef Liver
• Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Remove any veins, cartilages or fat from the liver
2. Preheat the air fryer to 200 C (400 F)
3. Season the slices of liver
4. Spray the air fryer basket with oil or place a disposable paper liner in the basket
5. Place the liver slices in the basket ensuring there is a gap between each slice
6. Air fry for 6 minutes at 200 C (400 F)
7. Turn the liver slices over
8. Air fry for a further 4 to 6 minutes or until the internal temperature of the liver reaches 63 C (145 F)
9. Serve

Air Fried Beef Liver Cooking Tips

• If you want to you could coat the liver in flour before placing in the air fryer basket
• All air fryers are different and liver comes in different thicknesses. Which is why we recommend using a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the liver before serving
• Allow the liver to rest for 3 to 4 minutes before serving to let the juices redistribute and the fibres relax

How To Cook Pork Liver In An Air Fryer

Pork liver is often sold as pig’s liver and has the strongest flavour of all livers.

Ingredients

• 454g (1 lb) Pigs Liver
• 50g (2 ounces) plain Flour

Method

1. Preheat the air fryer to 200 C (400 F)
2. Place the flour in a bowl and coat each slice of liver with flour
3. Spray oil in the basket or line the basket with a disposable paper liner
4. Place the liver in the basket in a single layer ensuring there is a gap between each piece
5. Air fry for 6 minutes
6. Turn the liver
7. Air fry for a further 4 to 6 minutes or until the internal temperature of the liver reaches 75 C (167 F)
8. Remove from the basket
9. Serve

Air Fried Pork Liver Cooking Tips

• Coating the liver in flour is optional and can be omitted if you don’t want to use flour or are gluten intolerant 
• All air fryers are different and liver comes in different thicknesses. Which is why we recommend using a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the liver before serving. Pork should reach a minimum of 75 C to be safe to eat.
• Allow the pig’s liver to rest for 3 to 4 minutes before serving to let the juices redistribute and the fibres relax

How To Cook Chicken Liver In An Air Fryer

Chicken liver has a far milder flavour than pig’s liver or ox liver and cooks really well in an air fryer.

Ingredients

• 225g (8 ounces) Chicken Livers
• 50g (2 ounces) plain Flour
• 1 Egg
• Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Cut the chicken livers in half and remove any fat or stringy bits
2. Place the flour in a bowl 
3. Beat the egg in another bowl
4. Dip the liver in flour shake of the excess
5. Dip the floured liver in the egg 
6. Redip in the flour
7. Preheat the air fryer to 200 C (400 F)
8. Spray the basket with oil or place a disposable paper liner in the basket
9. Arrange the chicken livers in a single layer in the basket ensuring there is space around each one
10. Air fry for 4 minutes
11. Turn the chicken livers
12. Air fry for a further 4 to 5 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 75 C (167 F)
13. Remove from the basket
14. Serve

Air Fried Chicken Liver Cooking Tips

• You can omit coating your chicken livers if you prefer
• As every air fryer is different, all cooking times are for guidance purposes only. You should use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature of the liver is safe to consume.
• Chicken livers should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches at least 75 C

How To Cook Lamb’s Liver In An Air Fryer

Lamb’s liver can be cooked in exactly the same way as ox liver.

Ingredients

• 454g (1lb) Fresh Lamb’s Liver
• Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Remove any veins, cartilages or fat from the liver
2. Preheat the air fryer to 200 C (400 F)
3. Season the slices of liver
4. Spray the air fryer basket with oil or place a disposable paper liner in the basket
5. Place the liver slices in the basket in a single layer ensuring there is a gap between each slice
6. Air fry for 6 minutes at 200 C (400 F)
7. Turn the liver slices over
8. Air fry for a further 4 to 6 minutes or until the internal temperature of the liver reaches 71 C (160 F)
9. Serve

Air Fried Lambs Liver Cooking Tips

• You can coat the lambs liver in flour before cooking if you prefer
• All cooking times are for guidance only because every air fryer is different and liver slices can vary too
• Lambs liver should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches a minimum or 71 C (160 F)
• You should allow the lambs liver to rest for a couple of minutes before serving to allow the fibres to relax

Air Fried Liver Serving Suggestions

Liver is traditionally served with bacon and onions apart from chicken liver which we like to serve with chips.

You can serve your air fried liver with;

• Mashed Potatoes
• Roast Potatoes
• Chips
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Garden Peas
• Smoked Bacon
• Fried Onions
• Leeks

What Are The Health Benefits Of Liver?

There are a number of health benefits to eating liver which include being rich in;

• Vitamin A
  Vitamin A is vital for normal vision, the autoimmune system and the reproductive system.
• Vitamin B12
  Vitamin B12 improves brain functions and helps the formation of red blood cells as well as DNA.
• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
  Vitamin B2 helps turn food into energy and is vital for the development of cells in the body.
• Vitamin B9 (Folate)
  Vitamin B9 is also important for the development and growth of cells and DNA.
• Iron
  Iron is essential to carry oxygen around the body and the iron found in liver is known as heme iron which is the type of iron most easily absorbed by the human body.
• Copper
  Copper is vital for the absorption of iron and copper also helps to regulate brain function and energy production.
• Choline
  Choline is vital for brain development and liver function.

It is also a great source of protein as liver contains all of the essential Amino acids. The human body can produce some Amino acids but those considered essential can only be found in our food. And liver is a great source of essential Amino acids.

Liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods we can eat. Liver produces more protein pound for pound than sirloin steak and contains less calories. Liver also contains around half of the calories found in other comparable meats like lamb or beef.

What’s the best day to use an air fryer?
Fry-Day!

SEE ALSO:

• Can You Put Raw Chicken In An Air Fryer?
• Can You Put Multiple Foods On Top Of Each Other In An Air Fryer?
• Can You Put Pork Chops In An Air Fryer?
• Can You Put Raw Bacon In An Air Fryer?

Frequently Asked Questions