How long to cook chicken liver for a child: cooking time, features, tips

Chicken liver is a popular food product. Despite its unappetizing appearance, the prepared dish turns out healthy and nutritious. The liver is boiled, stewed and fried. To improve the taste, vegetables, spices, and sauces are added. Chicken by-product is rich in vitamins, macro- and microelements that are good for health. Doctors recommend consuming the dish not only for men and women, but even for children. Excessive heat treatment of the offal destroys some of the beneficial properties. To prevent this from happening, you need to clearly know how long to cook chicken liver for a child. In the process of proper processing, the product turns out tender and tasty.

Rules for introducing offal into baby food

Doctors recommend introducing chicken products no earlier than 8-9 months. Before this period, the baby has already become familiar with meat; a new dish will not cause a negative reaction in him. If there are health problems or contraindications, the introduction of chicken liver into the diet is postponed until after a year.

For the first complementary feeding, experts suggest using puree. It is recommended to bring the consistency of the finished dish to a homogeneous state. In the absence of allergic reactions to the chicken product, parents can subsequently prepare pates, soufflés, casseroles, puree soups, and puddings from it. The recommended amount of offal is no more than once a week. You should start getting acquainted with a new dish with a teaspoon, gradually increasing the volume to the age norm. It is 50-60 grams per year.

Stewed rabbit liver: recipe

This dish goes very well with a side dish of potatoes or porridge. It turns out juicy and very delicate in taste. This delicacy will be a good second course for lunch or dinner. To complete this you will need the products listed in the following list:

rabbit liver (heart and lungs are also possible);
bulb onions;
raw carrots;
vegetable oil;
water;
salt pepper.

The preparation of rabbit liver begins with cleansing it of films and ducts. Next, cut the offal into small pieces, approximately 5x5 centimeters. There is no need to make very small and thin slices. During heat treatment they will shrink in size and may dry out. Then the dish will be tough.

Rabbit liver must be present in the diet of a small child. This product is rich in elements such as protein and iron, and they are very necessary for the full growth and development of a small organism. We will learn how to properly prepare this offal for the children's menu from the following recipe.

We will need clean boiled water, salt and, in fact, the liver itself. Do not cook large quantities of this offal at once. For one meal the baby will need 50 grams. Soak the liver in water for an hour. Next, put it in boiling water and add some salt.

How long should you cook rabbit liver so that it is completely ready for use? Since this product is delicate and porous, boiling for 30 minutes will be enough. You can check the readiness of the dish using a fork. We pierce the offal with it: if the teeth enter easily, and no ichor is released, then the liver is ready.

Rabbit liver prepared in this way, the recipe for which is presented above, will be eaten with great pleasure not only by children, but also by the rest of your family. This dish is good because it can be used for making sandwiches, stuffing eggs, and as a filling for pies. The liver mass can also be added to boiled pasta - this creates a “navy-style” version of the dish.

According to the advice of pediatricians and nutritionists, liver should be introduced into children’s diets no earlier than 7-8 months of age. By this time, the child is usually already familiar with the taste of meat, and the taste of liver will not cause a negative reaction in him. However, these terms are not strict for the first complementary feeding. Up to 1 year of age, the baby may not digest this product.

When including liver in the diet, it is important to follow all the rules for introducing a new product in order to protect the baby from unpleasant consequences:

Start with small volumes. After a small amount of the product eaten, you need to monitor the child’s reaction. If he does not have an allergic reaction, his stomach does not hurt and his stool is normal, then the volume of the product can be increased, gradually bringing it to a full portion.
Do not force feed. The baby must try the product, this may take more than one day. There is also no need to try to feed the entire portion. The baby will eat as much as he needs to be satisfied.
Properly prepared dishes. You should choose recipes according to the age of the baby. Liver is an ideal option, since you can use it to prepare a lot of dishes that can be easily eaten by a baby up to 1 year old. For example, soufflé, pudding, pate or soup (more details in the article: at what age can you give pea soup to a child?).

One-year-old children do not yet know how to fully chew, so they need to prepare food passed through a meat grinder. The main nuance of cooking is that chicken, beef or any other liver must first be boiled. The best options are:

Pate. A soft and tender dish. In addition to the liver, you will need onions and carrots, but you can add other vegetables or boiled chicken eggs. All ingredients together with butter are whipped into a homogeneous mass. The thickness of the pate depends on the amount of oil. Typically, 300 g of liver requires 150 g of oil.
Cream soup (see also: soup recipes for children). You will need: liver – 100 g, bread – 100 g, yolk – 1 piece, milk – half a glass. You need to pour milk over the bread, add a finely chopped egg and ground liver. Pour water or broth over everything and cook for 10 minutes. Salt and add a little oil. You can also use potatoes and carrots.
Souffle. Ingredients: cod liver, egg, potatoes – 200 g, milk – 50 ml. Boil the potatoes and beat with milk. Mash the liver, beat the egg whites separately. Mix everything and add salt. Place the mixture in a greased pan and sprinkled with breadcrumbs and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.

Liver soufflé

Contraindications to eating chicken liver

Chicken by-product is rich in vitamins, macro- and microelements. But doctors do not recommend that children consume the dish in large quantities. The liver is a kind of filter that passes through itself the additives and medications that the chicken received during nutrition. The accumulated harmful substances are stored in the product, only some of them manage to be released along with bile.

Growth stimulants and antibiotics enter the fragile children's body, cause additional stress on the digestive organs, and provoke the appearance of allergic reactions. To avoid possible complications, the chicken product should be consumed fresh, not industrially produced. Preference should be given to private owners. They regulate the nutrition of poultry and eliminate the possibility of consuming large amounts of dietary supplements and medications.

If there are contraindications, consuming chicken by-product is not recommended. Among the reasons for refusing chicken liver are:

Increased blood cholesterol levels.
Presence of individual intolerance to the product.
Cases of damage to the digestive system.
Kidney disease is also a limitation.

When cooked correctly, chicken liver does not cause any problems. How to cook it? Preference should be given to boiling or stewing offal. Frying in a frying pan with added oil can aggravate a number of contraindications.

Liver paste

For this recipe we need to have:

five hundred grams of liver;
about a liter of milk;
one onion;
100 grams sl. oils;
salt to taste.

Place the liver in a saucepan and rinse it thoroughly.
Fill with milk. Cook for 20 minutes.
After the time has passed, use a slotted spoon to catch the pieces.
Place the liver and pre-chopped onion in a frying pan greased with butter (50 grams). Simmer for several minutes.
Transfer the stewed ingredients into a bowl and puree them using a blender.
Add the remaining butter.
We continue to grind everything using a blender until it becomes homogeneous.
Cover the bowl with a lid and place the dish in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
The pate is ready.

Benefits for children's bodies

Chicken liver is considered a dietary product. It is more tender and softer than pork and beef, so it is suitable for a child’s body. The by-product has a beneficial effect on the development of children. It is rich in folic acid, magnesium, iron, phosphorus. The presence of protein in the composition affects the muscular system of a growing organism. Vitamin A strengthens children's vision, teeth and bones.

The organic compound choline promotes the development of thinking abilities and memory. Vitamin B9 has a positive effect on the formation of the child’s immune system. In order for these substances to be preserved in the prepared dish, you need not only to know how much to cook chicken liver for a child, but also how to choose it correctly.

Chemical composition

Any liver, including chicken, is very rich in iron. It is the liver that is primarily recommended for those who have a deficiency of this element in the body.

Scientific fact: Chicken liver contains 17 mg of iron per 100 g.

However, it would be wrong to assume that the beneficial substances in this product are limited only to iron. In addition to it, the liver contains:

folic acid – regulates digestion and normalizes metabolism;
Vitamin C – strengthens the immune system and fills with energy;
carotene – is a powerful antioxidant;
thiamine – strengthens muscles and improves brain function;
Niacin – lowers cholesterol levels.

In addition, the liver contains many minerals necessary for the normal functioning of the body:

phosphorus;
potassium;
sodium;
magnesium;
calcium.

Selection of fresh liver

If you prefer fresh chicken liver, it is worth remembering that the product is stored for only 48 hours. You need to learn to choose it.

There are a number of rules for this:

When purchasing, you should carefully examine the appearance of the product. First of all, pay attention to the color. The quality of the liver is indicated by a brown and burgundy tint.
Touch the product. It should be soft, pleasant and smooth to the touch.
Choose a product with a sweet smell.
Examine the offal for damage. The quality of chicken liver will be indicated by the absence of green spots, blood clots, mold and ice.

How to choose liver for baby food

An offal such as chicken liver attracts adults with its availability, since it is sold in many stores and is relatively inexpensive. To purchase a quality product, pay attention to its appearance and freshness. Buy liver with an even color and a shiny, smooth surface. Refuse to purchase if there is plaque or spots on the liver.

Before purchasing, make sure that the bird has not been given rasta hormones or injected with antibiotics. It is best to buy chicken liver from trusted suppliers.

How to determine the quality of frozen chicken liver?

If it is not possible to buy fresh chicken by-products at meat markets or from private traders, you can always resort to purchasing the product in a store. Most often, frozen offal is found on the shelves in retail outlets. In order not to harm the body, there are several useful tips for assessing the quality of a product:

Carefully examine a section of chicken liver. It should be smooth, with a thin layer of ice. When pressed, you should feel some thawing.
Pink ice crystals on chicken livers are a sign of re-freezing. No one can say with certainty how many times it has already been defrosted. It is better not to purchase a product of this quality.
When purchasing a by-product in trays or on a substrate, examine the packaging itself. There should be no pieces of ice in it. Most often they say that before freezing the manufacturer added excess water to the packaging to increase the weight of the product.

Cooking time in a saucepan

How many minutes should you cook chicken liver for a child to preserve its beneficial properties? This question often arises among parents in the process of preparing a dietary dish. The by-product is small in size, so long-term heat treatment is not required. Experienced parents check the readiness of the dish by eye or taste.

If you are going to cook liver for the first time and don’t know how long to cook chicken liver for a child, then remember that the optimal cooking time is 10-15 minutes. This is enough to make the dish tender.

Beef liver: recipes for children

The reasons why children refuse beef liver are the appearance of the product, its taste and smell.

Kids are gourmets and aesthetes by nature. In matters of nutrition, you cannot find more fastidious critics.

Whether a child accepts a dish and whether he wants to eat it depends on how he sees it when served.

Each mother will figure out how to put food on a plate herself, knowing the tastes and preferences of her child.

It is more difficult to cope with the taste of the dish and the specific smell of the product.

There are several secrets on how to cook beef liver:

thoroughly clean the offal from films, veins and blood clots;
rinse the liver thoroughly until the water runs clear;
Before cooking, soak the liver in milk for 2-3 hours.

These little tricks will help you prepare liver dishes and easily introduce them into your child’s diet. So:

Stewed beef liver with apples

The key to delicious food is fresh and high-quality products. To prepare this dish you will need a minimum of ingredients:

beef liver - 500 g;
small onion - 1 pc.;
sweet and sour apple - 1 pc.;
salt, sugar;
vegetable and butter.

Main stages of the cooking process:

Clean, rinse and soak the liver. If you cut it into small pieces before washing and soaking, then the preliminary stage of preparing the product will be reduced to an hour.
Heat a frying pan, pour a little vegetable oil, and start frying the liver. Fat and spices are used to a minimum in dishes for children. It is better to avoid the golden brown crust altogether.
As soon as the liver has changed color and lightened, add the onion, cut into short thin strips.
Stir the onions and liver to cook evenly until the onions begin to brown.
When the liver and onions are fried, add salt to them, mix well and leave in the pan for another couple of minutes.
The last to be introduced are apples, cut into strips, thin slices or small cubes. The apples are lightly fried, as are the onions.
When the apples begin to release juice, add a pinch of sugar and a small piece of butter, cover the pan with a lid.

Sugar will provide a beautiful color and harmoniously combine flavors. Butter will add tenderness and make the texture of the dish more uniform.

If the apple has released its juice well, then there should be enough liquid to steam the liver. If there is not enough liquid, add a little water and let it evaporate to bring the liver to full readiness.

When serving, the dish can be lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds. Apples can be easily replaced or combined with pears.

Liver pancakes

Liver pancakes are tender and juicy. When serving, garnish the dish with vegetables if they are included in the child’s diet.

To prepare you will need:

beef liver - 500 g;
small onion - 1 pc.;
chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
semolina or flour - 1⁄2 tbsp.;
salt;
vegetable oil.

The cooking process is as follows:

Peel, rinse, soak the offal.
Grind the liver and onion with a meat grinder or blender until mushy.
Add salt to the mixture and add semolina or flour, mix and leave to brew for half an hour.
Add flour gradually. If you add all the flour at once, it will form lumps. Semolina swells more evenly, providing a viscous consistency to the minced meat.
The crushed mass should settle in the refrigerator under film. The longer the minced meat sits with flour or cereal, the more gluten will be released: the mass for the pancakes will become more homogeneous and viscous.
Heat a frying pan, add vegetable oil and fry over medium heat. Use cookie cutters to create unique shapes for your pancakes.

A sign of readiness is a change in the color of the minced meat and the appearance of a golden hue.

Steam the fried pancakes in a frying pan. Add half a glass of water to the container and cover with a lid until the liquid boils away, or place the pancakes in the slow cooker to steam for 10–15 minutes.

How long to cook chicken liver for a child in a slow cooker

Liver is a rather specific product. For your baby to like it, you need to learn how to cook it. Therefore, avoid frying during the process. Experienced mothers recommend cooking chicken liver for their baby. This can be done either in a saucepan or in a slow cooker. With its help, you can monitor the cooking process and not have to time yourself. How long to cook chicken liver for a child using a slow cooker? The program itself will give the answer.

With vegetables

To prepare we will need:

one onion;
30 grams of green beans;
one small tomato;
a few basil leaves;
400 - 500 grams of chicken liver;
a bunch of parsley;
two tbsp. spoons of plant oils;
two tbsp. spoons of water;
a pinch of salt.

Pour two tablespoons of vegetable oil and the same amount of water into the frying pan.
Pour pre-chopped onions and green beans into the pan.
Mix everything well and lightly fry.
Pour the chopped tomato into the pan.
Add a few basil leaves.
Cover with a lid.
After a few minutes, lift the lid. Mix everything well.
Salt the dish and mix again.
Add pre-washed chicken liver to the stewed vegetables.
Mix everything thoroughly.
Cover with a lid. Simmer over low heat for several minutes.
Raise the lid and stir. We make sure that the liver does not burn. Cover with lid again.
When the liver is almost ready, add pre-chopped parsley.
Mix everything thoroughly. Continue simmering for another two minutes.
The dish is ready.

Steaming

The steaming mode is very close to the normal procedure. The main difference is only in the heat supply. When using a special mode, heat treatment occurs due to hot steam rather than boiling water. The taste of the finished dish is almost the same. But there are more useful microelements left.

How long should I cook chicken liver for a 1-year-old child using the “Steam” mode? This will take an average of 15-30 minutes. This figure is significantly higher than normal cooking. The final time will depend on the size of the liver pieces.

Cooking a dish in a steamer

A double boiler is another technical tool that makes cooking chicken liver easier. During treatment with hot steam, the product does not lose its beneficial properties. How to cook chicken liver for a one-year-old child using a double boiler? The following algorithm will help with this:

Prepare the offal in advance. Thaw it first and cut it into small pieces. The cooking time will depend on their size.
Drain off excess liquid.
Place the cooked pieces into the lower steamer container.
Cover the pan with a lid and pour water into a specially designated container.
Cook the dish for 30 minutes.

Whatever cooking method is chosen, consuming the product will benefit the child’s body.