How to Cook Chicken Hearts

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When you know how to cook chicken hearts, you know how to prepare a super delicious and nutrient dense treat.

Chicken hearts are as traditional cooking as it gets! Those tiny flavor-packed treasures have found their way into many homestead kitchens.

If you’re like me, always on the lookout for hearty and wholesome recipes, you’ll love our Nourishing Traditions Sourdough Bread. It’s a mouthwatering loaf that pairs oh-so-well with chicken hearts, making for a satisfying and down-home meal that’ll have your whole family asking for seconds.

Once you know how to cook chicken hearts you’ll definitely want to explore more organ recipes. Another one of our favorite nutrient dense organ recipes is this healthy liver pate` recipe. It’s the most delicious pate recipe ever!

Cooking chicken hearts to perfection

Serving chicken hearts for dinner might be something that is a surprise to most families, but in my house, it’s one of the most popular meals. The only issue is that chicken hearts are so small, it’s hard to keep enough around!

One of the things I love about cooking hearts of all kinds is that they are organs, and have all the benefits that nutrient dense organs from healthy animals provide, without the strong “organ” taste that can come with other organ meats, like liver. This makes them the perfect introduction to organ meats, for anyone who is new to them!

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Health benefits of chicken hearts

I love cooking chicken hearts so much, that it might be my favorite protein to serve. It is so mild and nutritious and I honestly cannot think of a time when I served this recipe and everyone wasn’t thrilled with their meal. 

As if the taste of this meal isn’t enough, this chicken hearts recipe is also so simple. It’s just a few simple ingredients thrown into a cast iron and then left to cook for half an hour. For those busy nights when my kids have activities, I love that I can make this and then walk away. 

Rich in Essential Vitamins and Minerals

Whenever I am meal planning and know that I have an extra busy day, I add this chicken hearts recipe to the menu. Not only is it really easy to whip up, but this is some of the best protein that you can serve your family! 

In fact, chicken hearts are a nutritional powerhouse that is one of the best-kept secrets among the natural living community. Not only are they great for the budget, but chicken hearts are rich in several nutrients such as:

• Protein
• Zinc
• Iron
• B Vitamins

These nutrients are all essential to keep our bodies moving well and may boost our immune system during cold and flu season. As a mom, that is reason enough for me to serve this recipe as much as I can!  

How to make chicken hearts

Ingredients:

• 4-6 tbsps of grass-fed butter
• 1 white onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 lbs of chicken hearts
• Dry white wine (I prefer to use organic, if possible) 
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat up your cast iron skillet on medium-high heat on your stovetop. Add butter to melt then reduce heat to medium. 
2. Add in coarsely chopped onion. Cook until clear and starting to brown. 
3. Place your hearts on top of your onions and top with salt and pepper. 
4. Sprinkle a dash of organic dry white wine and cover.
5. Turn heat to medium-low and let your meal simmer for 30 minutes.

Optional: If there is additional liquid left over, cook for an additional 5 minutes without a lid to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.

Best practices for preparing chicken hearts

I have been making this chicken hearts recipe for years and is one of those meals that my kids never seem to get tired of. Here are a few tips and tricks that I have picked up along the way to help keep this recipe a hit at home: 

• This recipe is so flexible that it can be changed in almost any way. The protein, for example, can be a mix of chicken hearts, spleen, livers, gizzards – almost anything!

• To find the best chicken hearts, I recommend talking with your local butcher or farmer to find protein with the highest quality. While some specialty stores do carry chicken hearts, I have found that the tastiest meats are from a local source. 

• You will know when the chicken hearts are fully cooked when they are no longer pink in the middle, similar to when you are cooking other parts of a chicken. 

• To help this meal go further, add in more vegetables like roasted bell peppers or cauliflower.
  
• I love to cook this meal in a cast iron skillet, if possible. To me, the flavor is even better than a traditional skillet and the added iron from the pan doesn’t hurt either. 

Preparing Chicken Hearts for Cooking

For this recipe, I recommend that you take your raw chicken hearts and rinse them off before cooking with some cool water before adding them to your cast iron skillet. 

When you are done rinsing your chicken hearts, trim off any straggly bits that may still be on the tops (if the butcher hasn’t done this already) and pat them dry before adding them to the skillet. 

In terms of pre-seasoning your meat or letting it marinate, I do not recommend that you do either simply because this meat has so much flavor to it already. Hearts are very mild and taste like dark meat chicken, no organ taste at all!

Watch the step-by-step chicken heart cooking tutorial on YouTube!

Discover this mouthwatering nutrient-pack chicken hearts recipe and more on our Bumble Bee Apothecary YouTube channel by clicking the video below to dive into a world of delectable, nourishing, homemade dishes.

How to Cook Chicken Hearts YouTube Video

Related nutrient-rich homemade dishes you will love

Fresh Ham Roast with Maple Glaze

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Healthy Liver Pate` Recipe

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Dutch oven with lid

Cast iron skillet

Grass-fed butter

Salt

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GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

The information in this blog post is my personal experience and opinion. It is for general information purposes only, may not apply to you as an individual, and is not a substitute for your own physician’s medical care or advice. Always seek advice from your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding nutrition, medical conditions, and advice. Never disregard medical advice or delay seeking medical care because of something you have read on this blog.