Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers

It’s been a while since I’ve been in a tiki bar, but I used to find rumaki to be a fantastic treat back in the day.

It was a tasty appetizer - Water chestnuts and chicken livers wrapped in strips of bacon, usually involving some sort of brown sugar and soy sauce marinade or sauce.

I’ve seen them in a couple retro bars, and served them at a theme party or two, but - by and large - I know they’re definitely a “before my time” kind of thing.

Anyway, I was thinking about that chicken liver recipe recently, when I was hit with another - ahem - offal craving.

That stuff was GOLD. First sign of a problem, I’d made haggis and spinach bagel sandwiches for breakfast, and it would be deal with.

Tasty, too!

Anyway, during a recent downturn, I wanted to do something other than the quick liver pate I’ve been doing since going keto, and decided to do up a bacon-wrapped chicken livers recipe.

Same basic idea as that rumaki, just WAY pared down on the carbs and effort.

These were fantastic! They worked up in just a few minutes of effort, hit the spot, AND got me feeling better pretty quickly.

I kept the batch in the fridge, air frying a few at a time to reheat as necessary - it was great to have on hand as a quick snack.

It’ll definitely be a staple here, going forward!

Ingredients

This easy recipe uses really simple ingredients - 3 at minimum! - that should be easy to find in most grocery stores.

A few notes for you:

Chicken Livers

I use whatever chicken livers I can get my hands on, when I’m craving chicken liver. Some people prefer free range chicken livers - use what you like.

I wouldn’t recommend substituting beef liver in this recipe, though.

Yes, you could cut it into smaller pieces... but the taste is very different, you’d want to soak it in milk for a while, etc. It’s not a good 1:1 sub, here.

Bacon

You’ll need a fair amount of bacon strips - 1 strip does 2 chicken livers.

My favorite bacon to use for this is the very thin cut, hotel style bacon - the kind you buy in cases at warehouse stores.

Barring that - as pictured this time around - thin or regular slices bacon work well, especially with the way I partially pre-cook the bacon before wrapping.

I wouldn’t recommend using thick cut bacon, as you’ll WAY overcook the livers before the bacon reaches a good texture.

I’ve never tried this with turkey bacon or chicken bacon. If I were to, I would skip the pre-cooking step, as you don’t need to render bacon fat off in the same way you do with regular bacon.

Also, just know that you’d expect a very different final texture - because there’s not a bunch of fat to render off, poultry bacon won’t “shrink wrap” itself, the way pork bacon does.

Seasoning

At the very least, you’ll want some Ground Black Pepper to season your livers with.

I’ll generally skip salt, as I find you get enough salt from the bacon cooking around it. That said, if you’re using a low sodium bacon, you may want to sprinkle a little salt over the chicken livers.

Beyond that, you can season your chicken livers however you like.

Personally, I use some Garlic Powder and Onion Powder.

If I wasn’t having a problem with nightshades lately, I’d add some form of spicy pepper to kick up a bit of heat:

Chili Powder, Crushed Chilies, Hatch Chile Powder, Jalapeno Powder, Paprika, Smoked Paprika, andSmoked Serrano Powder are all great choices.

As far as dried herbs go, Dried Oregano, Dried Parsley, Dried Rosemary, Dried Sage, Dried Thyme, and Italian Seasoning are all good options, whether alone, mixed together, or added to the onion and garlic powder.

Toothpicks

Ok, it’s less of an ingredient and more of a supply / equipment thing, but you’ll need some toothpicks to secure the bacon.

Because they’re being cooked at high heat, you’ll want to go with just plain wooden / Bamboo Toothpicks. No frills, no plastic, etc.

How to Make Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

Preheat oven to 400 F, with an oven rack set to the middle of your oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Note: You can cook these on a broiler pan if you like, I just find it too much work to clean up!

Cut the slab of bacon in half. Separate the pieces, arrange bacon slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Rinse chicken livers with cold water, dry livers with a bit of paper towel.

Use a sharp knife to trim any veins or connective tissue remaining on the chicken livers. Large livers - too large to wrap with half a piece of bacon - can be cut in half.

Place chicken liver pieces in a medium mixing bowl, sprinkle livers with a bit of ground black pepper, stir gently to combine.

Place each bacon wrapped chicken liver back on the parchment lined cookie sheet - seam side down - as you assemble them.

Cook for another 15 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy.

Serve hot!

Leftovers can be cooled to room temperature, then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Best reheated for around 4 minutes in a 400F air fryer.

More Keto Finger Foods

Looking for more low carb finger foods to serve at your next party, or bring to a potluck? Here are a few great recipes for you!

Armadillo Eggs
Cucumber Shrimp Canapes
Mojito Fruit Dip with Berry Skewers
Greek Salad Skewers
Muffaletta Skewers
Pumpkin Fat Bombs
Mozzarella Sticks
Mushroom Turnovers
Pepperoni Chips
Potstickers
Sauerkraut Buns
Smoked Salmon Canapes
Stuffed Grape Leaves
Antipasto Skewers
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers

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