The Raw Liver Smoothie Shot

This post has been updated (in particular, the pop culture references) since its original publish date.

I’m bursting with energy as I type this.

Not because I’m excited about writing this post (or because I’m excited about everyone abandoning my blog when they read this…please, please don’t leave me) but because…well…I had a raw liver smoothie shot today.

And dang. That’s some good, clean, long-lasting energy.

It’s also something I’d never in a million years have thought I’d have on the menu. But then I became a weird “real foodie;” curious about finding and trying all the weirdest, most nutrient-rich foods on the planet – just to see what I’d been missing in my decades of Standard American Dieting.

Bone marrow, raw milk, organ meats – you name it, I’m weirdly excited about trying it. Why not?

The Raw Liver Smoothie Shot

Part n’ parcel to my descent down the real-food rabbit hole was my realization that the foods I refused, REFUSED, NOSERIOUSLYIREFUSED to eat for many years were only weird…to ME.

Across the world, for centuries before we had the luxury of picking and choosing any food, any season, from any corner store, almost any time of day, there were foods with such amazing nutrient content that they were literally considered sacred by cultures across the world.

I’m talking about foods like raw milk, eggs, seafood….and especially, liver.

These foods are not weird. In fact, no food is weird. Food is just food. There’s food we’re familiar with, and there’s food we’re not familiar with. It’s social conditioning, really.

Yes, there are concerns that go beyond social conditioning, and they crop up whenever I talk about one of these “weird foods.” Generally, these concerns are myths or, at the very least, totally overblown. Specifically, when it comes to the liver, I hear:

Benefits of Eating Raw Liver

The liver is a super nutrient dense food and is rich in fat-soluble vitamin A, amino acids, minerals, and all the B vitamins, including folate. It’s one of the most nutritious foods on the planet, ounce-for-ounce.

The truth is, many of us are just afraid of the liver. It came off the menu just a few decades ago in a time of foods-a-plenty, where you could suddenly buy individual pre-packaged cuts of overly-large factory-farmed chicken boobs at the grocery store, and we’re scared of anything different. We’re especially scared of the raw stuff.

So we believe lots of myths about it, and we freak out about it, and we stop reading our favorite writers’ blogs about it (don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me).

Look, we all take risks in life. I don’t consider this one of the big ones.

The bigger risk? Re-casting Kevin Costner in Yellowstone. Why would this ever happen!?

Why I Tried The Raw Liver Smoothie Shot

Back to the point. Why did I decide to try raw liver?

It wasn’t a highly scientific decision. Honestly, I just like to try weird things. The first time I tried it, back in 2014, I’d heard some interesting ideas about raw liver being particularly energy-boosting (the “anti-fatigue factor”), and I wanted to see if it was true.

(Of course, all the “Bro-biohackers” are now doing it for the same reasons, so it’s turning into a trend. So allow me to quickly say: FIRST!)

So it was that, plus my curiosity, plus Kevin Costner ate it in Dances With Wolves and, as you might have gathered, I’m a fan. So, you know. Shouldn’t that be enough?

And I’ll tell ya: it lived up to the hype! It was like a B12 injection followed by a 5-hour energy infusion, but with no energy crash and no single-use plastics.

I attribute this to the amino acids, purines, and high B-vitamin content; in particular, vitamin B6, which is heat-sensitive and likely drastically reduced in most modern, cooked-or-processed foods.

My Final Thoughts – and Should YOU Eat Raw Liver?

Just because I’ve done it doesn’t mean I recommend YOU do it. In fact, the only reason I’m publishing this now is because I’ve been asked repeatedly to make it public. So, here you go!

Details:

  • Beef liver is easier to get, but has a stronger taste. I get mine from my local farmer (find yours here.)
  • Many people do frozen liver “pills” but I just can’t stomach ’em. It makes me feel like I swallowed tiny ice cubes that sit in my stomach, mocking me (I’m liver. I’m cooold. I’m in your stomach. Brrr). This “smoothie shot” is much easier for me to handle.
  • I don’t do this every day. Just when I feel I need some extra nutrition or energy.

Here’s one of the ways I’ve made the TRLSS.

  1. Defrost a small portion of raw liver in cool water. This makes it a little more blend-able.
  2. Add the raw liver into the mini blender with 1/4 cup strawberries or tart cherry juice. I add enough water to cover the blender blades, if necessary, then pureé. Take it down. Done.

Voila. Energy for miles.

That’s it!

Would you ever try this? Let me know your (kind, considerate) thoughts in the comments…

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124 Responses

  1. Thanks for posting the detailed instructions, I’ve been curious since you mention the shots in the podcast. I’ll be trying this very soon.

      1. I had my liver squares prep’ed in the freezer for a while and this week I was brave enough to try it out… didn’t like it 🙁

    1. My local Whole Foods carries grassfed beef liver, it’s in the frozen section and you usually have to ask for it because it’s hard to find.

  2. I don’t know if I have the guts to try this. Then again, I still have to force myself to eat sardines, so why not liver? My husband will think I’m crazy; then again, what else is new. I also don’t use shampoo and I brush my teeth with clay. Might as well pile on more “crazy”!

  3. I would totally try this! Anything to get it down without chewing and tasting it! I’m currently doing the pills and this is working well for me. This sounds easier to prep than the pills were though, or atleast faster to prep. Thanks for the recipe!

  4. Um, hell yeah I’ll try it. I’m already doing thawed liver “pills” and I was planning to puree my next batch for better digestibility. This sounds way better than having liver slurry with a kombucha chaser.

  5. Hey Liz. Yeah I’ve been experimenting with this since you mentioned it on the podcast. I use approx 1 Tblsp liver, 1/4 C full fat canned coconut milk, 1 raw duck egg, 1 Tblsp chopped raw beet, and 2 tsp local bee pollen. I don’t do this every day but rather rotate it in with other larger breakfasts. Tons of super focused good energy!

  6. Hi Liz, first off – absolutely love & adore your site, the book & the BB podcast 🙂 I was a vegetarian for almost a decade before finding your work and I am SO appreciative of everything you do.
    I too have been waiting for this post since it was mentioned on the podcast 🙂 Quick question – once you puree the liver and pour it out on a sheet, do you freeze that first, then the next day use the pizza cutter to make the squares and then freeze the squares in an air-tight container? Thanks!

    1. Hey Nicole! Thanks for the kind words, they are much appreciated 🙂
      YES, I re-freeze the liver after I pour it on to a sheet – and I re-freeze it for 2 weeks. (I probably don’t need to do that, but everybody’s so cray-cray about the “2 weeks kills pathogens rule” that I just do it out of habit). A few hours after I set it to freeze, before it’s rock-solid, I use the pizza cutter. I just keep the squares on the sheet and pull them off as needed, although I should probably put them in an airtight container. I’m admittedly not all that regimented about things!

      1. I did it… I’m not sure I got the liver/berry ratio quite right (might need to up the berry quotient next time)… but it was pretty easy to throw down.
        I literally just finished it, I’ll see how long I can feel the effects…
        Do you generally use it as a supplement to breakfast?

          1. I tried it again today – added honey and cocoa to it and it was a bit better… I’m using liver that’s been in the freezer for a while though (we go through 1/4 cow in 6 months or so)… maybe I should get some fresher fixins’

          2. OK – I see what I’m doing wrong/differently… I just read down the page that you get about ~1/2 tablespoon of liver in each shot. I’m putting WAY more than that… time to titrate back on the liver

  7. Liz, thanks so much for posting this (finally!) When you mentioned it on the Balanced Bites podcast I was quite intrigued…I’ll try anything if you claim it will make me a more energetic, productive human. Well, almost anything. To me this was just logical, so I blended up my frozen raw liver pills, (I had the same experience with them that you had, blehh.) I threw in some coconut milk and lots of cinnamon, and was admittedly surprised at how non offensive it was. What an amazing way of achieving better day to day performance without a single side effect. So awesome, I’ve been doing it 2-3 times a week. thanks for putting it out there and helping improve my health! You are one badass gal 🙂

  8. I’d try it! Have you tried it with frozen blueberries? That would be my choice 🙂
    It’s a super interesting idea – however I’m pretty open to liver and organ meats in general. Love me some pâté with grass-fed butter!

  9. I would try the liver shot without a second thought. What freaks me out is having to blend the liver and look at, touch, smell, etc. the resulting liver goo. 🙁 Also, cleaning said goo out of the blender. Gag.

    1. Leslie, I don’t know what sort of blender you have, but I have a Vitamix which is pretty much a blender on steroids. I just cut a piece of frozen liver right off a whole liver slice and throw it in the VM with the rest of the ingredients. The VM does the work for me. Afterwards, just put soap and water in the blender and blend to clean. You’ll never have to deal with liver goo this way.

  10. When I started readin this post, I thought no freaking way, and by the end I was like, “yeah, I should try that.” I’ve always hated liver (my mom lives it and always tried to feed it to me as a kid)…but over the last couple of weeks I have been working on my transformation into a dirty hippie…so we will see. Have to find some grass-fed liver first…which is slightly more difficult when you live on the moon (aka AK), thank goodness for the interwebz and UPS!

  11. I’ve been doing a raw liver shake off and on for a few months now, but I like the idea of a “shot”much better! The shake was big enough to be a meal replacement (containing coconut milk, lemon juice, frozen cherries, strawberries and green bananas, potato starch, probiotics, coconut oil, as well as turmeric, ginger, salt and pepper), but I really don’t like drinking my food. No pleasure there for me! I’m just about out of my shake cubes and LOVE the frozen sheet of liver idea! This will get started after Saturday’s trip to my farmer’s market to pick up more liver.

  12. Man I tried doing the liver pills and I felt the same way (frozen pills in the tummy and also a stale blood taste in the mouth sorry for the graphic description)…and I am also not a huge fan of cooked liver, so I am looking forward to giving it a try 🙂 I love listening to you on the podcast…it is the only way that I clean the house. So as you can imagine my house doesn’t get clean very often.

  13. Aaaaaah!! So glad you posted this!! I just posted a blog 2 weeks ago about how I heard you talking about this on the podcast and how I wanted to try it for myself! So excited you shared this!! I love it!! Especially the part about Kevin Costner making it look like something special..LOL

    1. Oh yeah, and I forgot to ask, is it okay to refreeze meat? I’ve always been told once thawed you can’t refreeze it. Now I don’t remember who told me that exactly or why. So instead I took a meat cleaver and karate chopped the frozen liver into little bits and put it back in the freezer real fast before it thawed. I like your way much better as I was slightly afraid of also chopping off a finger or hand. LOL

      1. I’ve been told the same thing, but I could never understand why! I just go rogue and do it anyway. But…your way sounds fun 🙂

        1. There isn’t a safety or sanitary reason it is due to a lose in texture/taste. When you freeze meat the ice crystals basically punch little holes every where and this can cause a slight texture change. Thawing the meat and then refreezing creates even bigger holes from the ice crystals making the texture seem slightly off. This is really only an issue in things like steak, chicken breasts. Ground meats are already beat up pretty bad so texture shouldn’t change much if you thaw then refreeze and since you are going to puree the liver anyway it wont cause a problem in the slightest! (or at least 99.9% chance the average human won’t notice any change!) Hope this clears it up 🙂 love the blog btw

  14. Sounds like what I need to try!
    I live overseas and getting liver from grass feed cows or free range chickens isn’t an option.
    Is liver from conventionally raised animals still good to eat?
    I basically eat a cooked one inch cube per day. My wife and I call this our liver vitamin.

    1. I personally would stick with the cooked liver if you’re doing conventional! I really wouldn’t do raw from conventionally raised animals. But it’s great that you’re getting your liver in! 🙂

  15. Yay! I’m so glad you finally posted this! I love the idea of pureeing the liver and then freezing it to use in the shots. I’ll have to do that sometime soon. For now, I think I’ll just use my liver “pills” I’ve made and barely taken…I’m 34 weeks pregnant and think this will be a great energy boost to get me through the next 6 weeks 🙂

  16. This is probably going to sound nit picky anal BUT you say you typically just mix strawberries and liver together for your shot BUT in the picture you’ve got egg yolks, berries, liver, ginger (?) and a milk. Is that another ingredient list you’ve found success with or just a collection of ingredients that might work well with it? I’m REALLY wanting to try this liver nutrition out but am afraid from all the feedback I’ve gotten from friends and family who have eaten liver before (“it’s disgusting”, “it tastes like a**”, usual negativity with “weird” food). Just want to give my palate the best chance at success that I possibly can so I can make this a part of my routine health practice if possible!

    1. Hey Lindsay! Above that picture I say “I used to be reaaaal complicated about it, adding everything from coconut milk to defrosted frozen fruit (it gets nice and syrupy when you defrost it) to ginger and egg yolks.” – that’s what the picture is of. Maybe I should take that picture out, but I wanted to show an alternative way to go; one that I used to use. You can definitely do that, but I go on to say “Then, I realized you really can’t taste the liver – and you can make the smoothie much smaller and easier to get down – if you just mix some melted frozen strawberries with a few “pieces” of frozen pureéd liver. So that’s what I do now.” Does that help? You really can’t taste the liver, and it’s a pretty small shot so you can definitely just swig it down, chase it with some kombucha or something and be done!

  17. Yay for liver shots!! Been doing this every since you brought it up on the podcast with Diane. It’s the only way to go! I actually wrote a post and did a little video on my blog because I wanted to help spread the liver love 🙂 Many folks I know are now on the liver train because of these shots. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

  18. I’m excited about this! I know I need liver, and I keep trying hard, but I really cannot eat it without gagging. I don’t want to give up, and I have a GORGEOUS beef liver in my freezer. I think I might try experimenting with pears, or think of something else with a strong flavor that’s low-salicylate/low histamine–sadly, I’m sensitive. I’d welcome any ideas. 🙂

  19. I have a pound of chicken livers I was trying to figure something out for. Could I just lay those out, as is, on a sheet and freeze, then put individually in the “shot” each morning? Would one chicken liver be an equivalent to what you are using? I guess I’m not sure how much liver goes into each shot.

    1. You definitely COULD, but I’ve found that without pureeing first, the more solid chunks of frozen unpureéd liver are much harder on the blender blades. Defrosted liver pureés incredibly easily, and the re-frozen pureéd liver basically disintegrates into the smoothie quickly and without too much slamming around in the blender.
      On average, I put about 1/2 ounce of frozen pureéd liver in each smoothie shot. I have a small kitchen scale and I weighed it this morning. I suppose that would be around 1/2 Tbs.

  20. I may have read through the instructions too fast, but I’m confused. If you’re ultimately going to blend the liver into a smoothie, can you use pieces of whole (un-pureed) liver and just blend with fruit as you go? Why the puree part? Is it just because it’s damn-near impossible to cut off a chunk of rock solid frozen liver?

  21. Also, on a completely unrelated note…I was looking into a local farm that sells pasture-raised meat / eggs and grassfed beef…they also sell raw cheeses and milk. They state on their website that the milk is labeled “not safe for human consumption” as required by Florida law. My question: what about raw milk makes it unsafe for consumption? Just curious. I’m new to the raw dairy world.

    1. This is a super loaded question, Jeannie! Probably too much for a blog comment 🙂 I write about raw milk in my book, Eat the Yolks (which, if I do say so myself, is a great read!) and The Untold Story of Milk by Dr. Ron Schmid is great too! In short, raw milk was demonized not because it’s inherently dangerous, but because cows were being confined and fed slop, so of course their milk was yucky too. From here, pasteurization became synonymous with “safe” and raw milk got a bad name. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about raw milk from trusted farmers who raise their cows on pasture. Listeria, a food borne infection often associated with raw milk, is actually more often found in mass-produced dairy (and one outbreak was also connected to canteloupe). It’s no more dangerous than any other healthy food. There are no guarantees in life, but I do trust my source of raw milk!

  22. Haha. Sorry! But thanks for the response. Good to know…I just didn’t know it was required by law to label as “not safe for human consumption.”
    I’ll purchase the book 🙂

  23. Btw, I just noticed now that the comment above my first comment explained exactly why you puree the liver first.
    Sorry.
    (It was late at night…my fatigued eyes must’ve skimmed right past that!)

  24. The Weston A.Price site says that all calves liver – even grocery store stuff – is grass fed, because even industrialized feed lot animals are raised on grass for the first part of their lives. I buy baby beef liver at my farmer’s market from an organic beef farmer when I can get it. If not, I buy it from the grocery store. Do you know if this is true? I eat liver smoothies a couple of times a week.

    1. It is probably true, Lin, although I can’t be totally sure – I also can’t be sure that the feedlot animals are slaughtered in a low-stress manner. So many unknowns! It’s frustrating.

  25. Thank you so much for this! I bought liver a while ago & have been wanting to try this. (Per you on BB podcast!) I tried a few times & the results were baaaaad!!! This is so easy! I used my organic frozen cherries from Costco & added just a bit of coconut milk (since it was already in the fridge). And may I say it was pretty darn palatable!!!
    Thank you for making it easy to take down liver! :0)

    1. Totally going to try this for breakfast this week. Liver gives so much energy..Making a nose to tail lamb meatloaf for our new menu, so will have fresh lamb liver to try it with. Keep up the good work. Sounds like you are having a blast.

  26. Greetings from Australia! Thanks Liz, I’m taking the plunge this week with offal so your post came at just the right time…..I have chicken livers for yummy pate arriving at my organic butcher tomorrow, and you’ve inspired me to go for some raw beef liver also – I’ve been wanting to try raw liver ‘shots’, but I think your smoothie could be the way to go!

  27. This is so great in so many different ways! Thanks for sharing… I think I know what I’m doing with my frozen liver stash now… 😛

  28. When we kill chickens to eat, I always throw the livers in the freezer. Now, I think I’ll blend them before freezing! This sounds great and I can’t wait to try it.

  29. Ah, I’ve been debating trying this since you talked about it on the podcast. Now that you’ve posted the details I have no excuse not to! I’ll let you know how it goes :/ I get liver from a great butcher in Harlem. The cows are locally raised and grass fed, but the meat is not frozen when I buy it (and I don’t think it’s ever been frozen). Do you think that would be safe to eat raw? I’ll definitely do the 14 day freeze!

  30. Does the 14 day freezer rule apply to all types of liver? I just purchased some chicken liver, am I ok eating it raw?

    1. Kara, I go ahead and apply the 14 day rule to all liver. I’m currently freezing some pureéd chicken liver for the 14 day stretch.

  31. Hey Liz,
    So I have been doing the raw liver pills at night right before bed. Do you think this shot would be “wasted” at night and is best for the am? If so, do you think it would be ok to make it the night before and drink it in the am or would the consistency change? My whole family is asleep by the time I leave for the gym and the blender would be out of the question too loud.
    thanks so much! Love listening to you and Diane on BB!

    1. Hey Pam! I think you should make this straight from the freezer, and not let it go un-frozen overnight. Just a hunch of mine to ensure that the raw liver goes straight from frozen to blended to digested :/ You are a good “candidate” for the liver pills since the blender is too loud – if I were you, I’d just take my raw liver pills in the morning! You could also blend the liver, then use a pizza cutter to slice the blended stuff into smaller “pills.” These would digest much more quickly than hunks of un-blended liver in the morning.

  32. I’ve been doing these shots for about two weeks now, and I’m completely amazed at how well the strawberry (and raspberries I sometimes throw in) flavor covers the liver. Almost entirely! I can’t tell if I’m getting any energy boost (it’s been a stressful two weeks, plus I also cut waaay back on coffee at the same time) but I’m so excited to be consuming good liver on a regular basis after over a YEAR of trying a gazillion different things! Also, my boyfriend REQUESTS them. Utter shock. And it takes like 3 minutes to make! Thanks gal 🙂

  33. I did the whole process, and then when I went to make them, all I had was some frozen mangos. I have to admit, it still tasted like liver using the mangos. I am going to get some raspberries and try that. Knowing that it was only that one “shot” of it made it bearable. I’ll keep you posted on the energy.

    1. Mango sounds good, Jill! I have been using chicken liver this last time around, since we had a TON, and it’s very mild. You might try that sometime!

      1. It is so weird how it works. It might be the fact that I’m getting quite a few vitamins but I like the feeling I get when I have one. The taste is still awful, blueberries and cherries were my favorite mixers!!

  34. Nice idea to get in liver! Quick Q’s though: I’ve read that fruit interfere with the digestion of meat. Thoughts?

    1. Cindy, I think that’s probably conjecture based on holistic theories that I likely wouldn’t agree with if I heard the reasoning behind them (and I’m pretty darn holistically-oriented!). That said, I tend to NOT like to eat whole cuts of meat with fruit – just personal preference. But in the case of the smoothie, all elements seem to me to be equally digestible, given the liver is pureed, so the combination suits me just fine 🙂

  35. Hi Liz, I finally bit the bullet and made liver smoothies twice this week with 20g of thawed liver, a few cherries, and a bit of kefir. I could smell the liver alright but the taste was fine 🙂 Excuse me if this has been answered before (or if it’s in “Eat the Yolks” and I haven’t got to that chapter yet!) but how often can one drink this? I know that vitamin A is tied in with vitamin D, so it’s hard to look at in isolation, but do you have a rough guideline for liver consumption. Thanks!

    1. Hey Helen! I think up to 4 oz of liver each week and even beyond that is perfectly fine. (I am not sure what the conversion to g would be – I’ve kept loose track on quantity with oz.) Sometimes I add an egg yolk or two to the smoothie for extra vitamin D 🙂

  36. Liz, I made this with blueberries and probably way too much liver. It ended up being a full 8 oz which I chugged. When I finally let myself breathe through my nose I almost vomited. Whew! I’ll have to try again with my rolled out pureed liver and a more controlled quantity ~ not to mention strawberries are much more flavorful than blueberries. Big mistake today 😉 But I’m keeping it down today by thinking about my gratitude for healing food. Thanks for the recipe and the balanced bites podcast. I have such a blast listening to you ladies.

    1. Yikes! That doesn’t sound fun. I hope you at least got some good energy from your bravery 🙂 Thank you for being here!

  37. Thanks for posting this! It’s really the only way I’ve been able to consume liver so far 🙂 Today I didn’t have any defrosted strawberries lying around so I used Trader Joe’s freeze-dried unsweetned cranberries instead – just a handful with some water seemed to do the trick! I wonder if I’d be able to keep this up during the 21-day sugar detox I’ll be starting next week since the cranberries are low in sugar and super-tart. hmmm…

  38. I’m going to have liver shots this week! Honestly, I’m nervous as I’ve never had liver but I never ate salmon until the last few years either! This weekend, I’m running a half marathon and I’m expecting to run speedily!!

  39. Hi Liz! I was at a local grocery store and saw local organic beef liver, I then looked up the farms website to see what the beef are fed before proceeding to buy it for making liver pills. The website says this: The certified organic beef has outside access at all times. They are on organic green pasture during the spring, summer and fall and are fed organic hay and organic haylage during the winter months. The organic heifers and steers are supplemented with organic mixed grain and organic corn silage.
    Safe or not safe to consume frequently? I’m only 18 if that helps,
    Thanks.

    1. Hi Megan! If it were me, I’d probably be a-ok with this. We feed all our animals a bit of organic grain (it keeps them bonded to us, and it’s a great “treat” on occasion), and hay and silage are musts during the winters. If the liver is a deep, beautiful purply-red color, that’s a great sign too.

  40. I have liver in my fridge now…it was frozen…i dethawed on fridge. So you say to puree it then smooth it out on sheet and re freeze? cut it up before it gets too frozen. Then 2 weeks later add to frozen berries?

  41. I bought my liver from Whole Foods and it has been frozen for over a month. After thawing it out, blending it up and refreezing it, do you think it is necessary to wait two weeks?

  42. Ok, so I finally cooked the grass fed liver we got with our half cow. I had been afraid. Very afraid. I recently started listening to your podcasts. I got brave. The hippy in me came out. I cooked it. I hated it. As in almost vomited. I was so upset. I really really wAnted to like it. So, I found this recipe and I did it with a tablespoon of cooked liver, and I got it down!!!! Yay!!! So, first thank you for posting this and second, do you think I’ll get the same benefit with it being cooked? I have more left in fridge and I’m thinking I may do it again.

    1. Hooray! You did good Peri. I don’t know if I’ve said this on the blog before, but the first time I ate cooked liver I’m pretty sure I ACTUALLY vomited. I think it’s part mental, part not having been conditioned to eat liver from youth like so many others who DO love it. I’ll say that I honestly think you lose a little of the nutritive value (particularly vitamin B6, which is heat-sensitive) so if you’re ever up for comparing the two you might try it raw to see if there’s a difference 😉

  43. I will definetly try it raw! I have plenty in the deep freeze. I just didn’t want to waste what I had cooked. My liver experiments are far from over. Lol. It’s SO funny bc I was raised by my grandparents and they ate liver all the time. My grandmother would just make me Kraft Mac n cheese instead!!! Lol! Love love love the podcasts and all that you do. Thanks!

  44. I’m making the liver slab right now! I started reading your book last week after coming across the balanced bites podcast. I’m currently trying to fix my hypothalmic amenorrhea and am finding the info you have to share really helpful in changing my relationship with food

  45. Hi Liz:
    I’m doing the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol to work on Psoriatic Arthritis (like Rheumatoid Arthritis) Migraines and Endometriosis. (Just a couple things, right?). I am determined to up my organ meet intake. I do liver “smoothies,” an idea I got from you. I too puree raw, grassfed beef liver. I the liver freeze in ice cube trays–that way I can also drop them in chili, pasta sauce, etc., when my husband isn’t looking. My smoothis is 1 liver cube, scant 1/4 cup blueberries, 2 strawberries, scant 1/4 cup kale, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 T real maple syrup and 3 ice cubes. Blend in a blender that is up to the task and enjoy. I rather like it. And yes, the energy is awesome.

  46. Hi Liz – this has been on my radar for awhile now but finally tried it today. I used blueberries (what I had) and added an egg yolk (leftover from dinner last night). I’m also using grassfed chicken livers (again, what I have). I only used 2 liver squares. Not bad going down but I definitely have a mild liver taste in my mouth. Even so – I’m hooked. Not doing well eating liver by itself so this is AWESOME! Love listening to you and Diane. THANKS for all you do! Linda

  47. Liz, can you do this with a blend of offal, or is straight liver the best way to go? I grew up eating lambs liver and always loved it, but when I came to the States I couldn’t find it ANYwhere and was told by a butcher they weren’t allowed to sell it (not sure that was accurate). But I recently tried again at my local organic butcher and the have it! yippeeeee…..

  48. I am definately going to try this! I’m having difficulty getting used to the taste of liver and have been spending a small fortune on dessicated liver tablets from which I feel no effect. Plus my husband won’t touch it so there’s really no point to me making liver for a meal unless I’m eating alone which is rare. However I did recently get some grass fed cow liver from my CSA farmer (they include organ meats, bones, etc free with the meat share which is awesome if you ask for it) thinking I would try the homemade “pills” thing. Glad I came accross this post because this smoothie shot seems like a much better idea. I’m new to your blog and Paleo (although I’ve followed WAPF for a while), love your perspective!

  49. Hey Liz
    This sounds awesome but I just have a little question. I thought it was dangerous to defrost and refreeze food? Could you please explain a little bit about this? Ta! xxx

  50. Hi Liz,
    I finally worked up the nerve to try this today and am hopeful for what it can do for my energy and (I think) anemia. But I had a hang-up. It was hard to blend in my Vitamix and twice it completely shut it down. I discovered very tough fibers or membranes or something wrapped around the blades. Have you run into this and should do something to it before blending it? Chopping it up or trying to remove something? Any thoughts or ideas?

    1. I haven’t run into this! Seems a Vitamix (of all blenders) should be able to handle it! Maybe your liver wasn’t trimmed of membranes before you bought it? You can buy liver that has been trimmed already.

  51. I blended and froze some beef livers yesterday, and cut it up into small pieces today.. tried a couple as ‘pills’ but they had already started melting and after the third little cube trying to be ‘mind over matter’, the taste finally took over and I threw them all up, along with part of my breakfast (yuck!). Anyways, some further internet searching has enlightened me that the 2-week freezing period is necessary to kill any pathogens that might be in the meat (I hadn’t even thought of that), so I will for sure be holding off on trying again for that waiting period… I don’t know if a smoothie will be strong enough to mask the taste that gives me a gag reflex (really, I don’t mind eating stuff I don’t like the taste of, but matter wins over mind if you’re barfing…)… so… anyways, if you’re trying this, however you’re trying it, make sure to freeze it for long enough! this isn’t an episode of fear factor! Thanks Liz I’m a huge fan.

    1. WHOA, Leanne! I’m sorry that happened! Yikes! I actually had a similar experience when I ate undercooked liver once! Yuck!

  52. Hey! So I’m still gathering the courage to try raw liver. I have pastured chicken livers that were frozen for well over 14 days. I thawed them, puréed tgem, and now they’re back in the freezer. Think it’s necessary to freeze again for the 14 days or are they good to go?

  53. Hey Lovelies,
    I just joined you all… You all have inspired me to make the the raw deer liver cacao smoothie, two days running! I went big and put in 2oz of liver in a 20oz smoothie… I first made a sunflower seed milk, then added the raw cacao, then 2 frozen bananas, and finally the deer liver. I could barely tell there was liver in there. I dont have the best sense of smell I confess… but I felt high for five hours each day, as promised! Many thanks!!

  54. Hi Liz –
    I don’t THINK I see it specifically anywhere in the comments above, but is there a “max” amount of liver you should eat per week? You wrote 4 oz above, but I’ve seen maybe up to a pound per week – on other sites on the internet.
    Basically, I’d like to make this into a regular “breakfast” meal, but not 100% sure how much liver to put in each serving to create a smoothie, per se; I’d add some of the other ingredients you showed above.

    1. Hi Becky! Without knowing someone’s vitamin A status, I would probably stick with 6 oz. per week max. I wouldn’t do this every day, though, or every day for an extended period of time, since iron is a highly competitive nutrient. It’s good to vary your exposure, even to nourishing foods! 2-3 times per week max would be my recommendation at this point.

  55. I made a raw liver smoothie. I used beef liver, I have a bunch because I don’t like the taste or texture of cooked liver, and every time we butcher a cow, I get liver. I’m wondering about venison and elk. My husband hunts but we haven’t kept the organ meats. I used mixed berries and kale with a little water (my fruit was frozen). My six year old tried it and liked it as well.

  56. Hi Liz! So I know it’s been a few years since you’ve posted this but I’m new to the Paleo lifestyle and I really want to incorporate liver, “preferably raw” into my diet. I just bought pasteurized chicken liver from my local farmer. I wanted to know if you have to re-freeze the liver for 2 weeks after you purée. Is it okay to freeze it for a day or so, or should I really wait the two weeks? Don’t want to get sick, thanks!

    1. I used to refreeze after pureeing, but I don’t any more. I think there’s some inherent risk to eating in general, and I feel like this is a low risk 🙂 I hope that helps! I can never make guarantees, but I just think about the fact that people have gotten listeria from canteloupe and spinach …

  57. Anyone tried producing liver juice with one of those slow juicers designed for fruits and vegetables? To me it seems the least destructive and easiest to swallow. I used to have such machine but it broke on a big carrot and got tossed. Then I went keto, raw, paleo etc. and I wonder if a liver can be juiced this way. If so, I will get myself a new juicer. Anyone?

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