Liver nugget soup - a quicker to prepare version of liver dumpling soup - is one of my favorite soups, and for sure my most nourishing one since it combines liver and broth which both have so many health benefits.
Liver is an organ meat loaded with nutrients, especially vitamin A, all kinds of B vitamins, and various minerals. Dr. Axe even calls liver the most nutrient-dense super food on the planet. Read or watch how he raves about liver here.
BTW, if you are looking for a recipe for chicken liver pate then click here.
One reason that liver is so highly valued is its especially high Vitamin A content. Vitamin A is one of the most important vitamins, protecting us from infections, and free radicals. It is responsible for nearly every process in the body to utilize minerals and water-soluble vitamins, including building strong bones, vision and reproduction.
This chart shows how nutrient dense liver is compared to muscle meat and plant super foods like broccoli and blueberries.
The other part of the soup - gelatin rich bone broth - is another super food. It is packed with highly absorbable minerals and amino acids which help to build our own strong bones and joints. One amino acid, glutamine, is especially healing to the gut, cuts sugar cravings and supports the liver and detoxification, just to name a few benefits of a good bone broth. One of my future posts will be about making broth, so stay tuned. Update: Here is the post about the bone broth.
But most of all - this is a very tasty soup! Even my 8 year old daughter really likes this soup while she is not a fan of other liver dishes. This liver soup freezes well and makes a quick to prepare school lunch. Just freeze portion wise, and then either take out of the freezer the night before and heat up the next morning (a few minutes), or put the frozen soup in a pot and thaw and warm over low heat (at least 20 minutes).
Guten Appetit!
Judith
The Nourishing Yogini
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Recipe Liver Nugget Soup
about 6 main-dish servings or 8 - 12 side-dish servings
2 tbsp butter
1 big onion, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
about 3 quart of bone broth, seasoned to taste
1 lb beef liver, skin removed, ideally grassfed
6 eggs, ideally pasture raised
1/2 cup (113g) butter, ideally grassfed, softened
1 1/3 cup (100g) bread crumbs
2 tbsp marjoram
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp lemon zest
Sauté chopped onion and half of parsley in about 2 tbsp butter. Let cool a bit.
Mince liver in food processor or Vitamix on high speed for a minute or so. Add eggs, butter, bread crumbs and spices and blend on medium speed. Add sautéed onions parsley mix and pulse a few times. Let sit for a couple of minutes to check consistency. Should be a runny as shown in the video below to make liver nugget soup. If too soft add more bread crumbs. If too firm add another egg.
Bring broth to a boil. Pour mixture slowly into broth and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Add other half of chopped parsley and stir. Serve. Enjoy!
A few notes:
Sauté chopped onion and half of parsley in about 2 tbsp butter. Let cool a bit.
Mince liver in food processor or Vitamix on high speed for a minute or so. Add eggs, butter, bread crumbs and spices and blend on medium speed. Add sautéed onions parsley mix and pulse a few times. Let sit for a couple of minutes to check consistency. Should be a runny as shown in the video below to make liver nugget soup. If too soft add more bread crumbs. If too firm add another egg.
Bring broth to a boil. Pour mixture slowly into broth and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Add other half of chopped parsley and stir. Serve. Enjoy!
A few notes:
(1) Once the batter is made you might want to just pour a little bit into the broth, and then taste and see whether more seasoning is needed.
(2) Sometimes I use a big serving spoon, fill it with batter and then pour it into the broth. By repeating this you will get a mixture of small fluffy dumplings (Nockerl, see below) and nuggets.
(3) This recipe is very forgiving regarding exact measures of the main ingredients. There are actually quite a few different traditional recipes with more or less butter resulting in Nockerl (in general smaller dumplings, fluffier, more butter) or Knödel (bigger dumplings, firmer, less butter and more bread crumbs). If you want to form dumplings, you have to add way more bread crumbs in this recipe so the batter is firm enough to hold its shape once formed.
Update on this post in 2019: The original post from 2015 listed coconut flour instead of bread crumbs. Back in 2015 I still suffered from gluten sensitivity and avoided any wheat. I am now able to eat wheat again and updated the recipe as I find the taste slightly better. If you are avoiding gluten then know that this recipe can be made with coconut flour as the amount is rather small. Only remember to use much less coconut flour then bread crumbs as coconut flour is able to absorb more liquid per volume due to its higher fiber content.
Update on this post in 2019: The original post from 2015 listed coconut flour instead of bread crumbs. Back in 2015 I still suffered from gluten sensitivity and avoided any wheat. I am now able to eat wheat again and updated the recipe as I find the taste slightly better. If you are avoiding gluten then know that this recipe can be made with coconut flour as the amount is rather small. Only remember to use much less coconut flour then bread crumbs as coconut flour is able to absorb more liquid per volume due to its higher fiber content.
Step by step:
1. Liver, eggs, butter ... can't get any more nourishing ...
2. Sauteing onions and parsley.
3. Everything mixed together in Vitamix.
4. Big pot of broth.
5. Pour the liver mixture into the broth ...
6. Let simmer for 5 -10 minutes, add remaining chopped parsley, and done!
7. Guten Appetit!
8. A nourishing school lunch kept warm in an insulated double wall jar.
9. This is how liver dumplings would look like.
