Organ Meats: Your Guide to Buying and Prepping These Nutrient-Packed Proteins

In the mood for a big, juicy…heart? How about a perfectly cooked liver or kidney?

Organ meats might not be on your culinary radar quite yet if you don’t come from a culture that routinely eats them. But that could soon change. They’ve gotten more popular at farm-to-table restaurants in recent years, and some experts predict that more of us might be cooking these unconventional cuts at home in the near future.

Here’s why, plus everything to know to get started with organ meats, including their pros and cons, a buying guide and how to cook with them.

Organ meats, sometimes called offal, are the edible internal organs of animals. They’re typically eaten from animals like cows, chickens, ducks, pigs and rabbits.

Offal can include organs like the liver, heart, brain, tongue and kidneys. This group also includes an animal’s intestines, blood, bones or bone marrow (which can be boiled to make bone broth) and even skin (which can be fried to make products like pork rinds), according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Organ meats have been showing up on more restaurant menus over the last decade or so. “There’s a trend going on to eat less typical parts of the animal,” says Jonathan Reisman, MD, a Philadelphia-based physician and founder of the Anatomy Eats dinner series, which explores dishes from around the world that include offal.

And now, more people are looking for ways to incorporate organ meats into their diets at home, according to some trend forecasters.

So, why dig into a juicy liver or heart in lieu of a steak or drumstick? Proponents say it’s because organ meats are:

Organ meats are generally high in key nutrients like protein, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, choline and zinc, says New Orleans-based dietitian Amy Davis, RDN. In some cases, they pack a bigger nutritional punch than standard cuts of meat. Four ounces of chicken liver serves up around 10 milligrams of iron, according to the USDA. Compare that to beef tenderloin, which has around 2.6 milligrams for the same serving size.

And while you’re getting all these valuable nutrients, you’re likely paying less than you would for more typical cuts of meat, Davis says.

Organ meats typically get thrown out in the U.S. because most shoppers aren’t buying them, according to Boston University. By choosing offal, you’re diverting food from the landfill.

“People should eat [organ meats] so they’re not wasted,” Dr. Reisman says. “It’s more sustainable.”

You could even be curbing your meal’s carbon footprint. In fact, one April 2019 ‌Environmental Science & Technology‌ paper estimated eating organ meat instead of conventional meat just twice per week could help significantly slash carbon emissions because fewer animals would need to be raised for meat overall.

On the whole, organ meats have a richer, more assertive flavor than their conventional counterparts. “Liver can be very rich, pungent and earthy. Intestines, tripe and brain can be quite chewy. Heart is known to be lean with a slightly gamey taste,” Davis says.

Offal can generally be part of a healthy diet for most, but there are a couple things you may want to consider.

Many organ meats have more cholesterol compared to proteins like skirt steak or chicken breast, according to the Cleveland Clinic. A 3-ounce serving of cooked beef brain contains 2,640 milligrams of cholesterol, per the USDA, but nutrition guidelines recommend keeping dietary cholesterol as low as possible. (Previous guidelines used to recommend getting fewer than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day, according to the Cleveland Clinic.)

Keep in mind: Eating foods high in cholesterol may not raise blood levels of cholesterol like we once thought, suggests August 2015 research in ‌The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition‌. But to play it safe, “those with heart issues or high cholesterol should consume these in moderation to avoid any potential health risks,” Davis advises.

It’s a good idea to reduce your meat intake in general if you have gout, a type of arthritis. That’s because meat, including organ meats, contain purines — compounds that could make your gout worse, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Offal sometimes has the stigma of being processed or handled in unsafe r unsanitary conditions, because it’s the “leftovers” that some shoppers don’t want. But that’s simply not the case for products sold by reputable retailers in the U.S. (like butchers and grocery stores). Organ meats are subject to the same safety standards as more conventional types of meats, Dr. Reisman says.

That said, if you have any questions or concerns, you can ask a supplier about their handling and storage processes to confirm they’re following food safety protocols, Davis says.

Finally, you should take the same precautions with organ meats as you would with a steak or chicken breast. Namely, cook it to the correct internal temperature (measured with a food thermometer): At least 160 degrees Fahrenheit for organs from red meats, and at least 165 for organs from poultry, recommends the USDA.

You’re unlikely to find rabbit hearts or duck liver at your local supermarket. Instead, Dr. Reisman recommends stopping into your local butcher shop. “The butcher can get you almost anything you want. They may not have it on hand, but they can get it for you,” he says.

Multicultural markets or grocery stores may be another good bet, because many traditional cuisines incorporate offal into their cooking. “H-Mart has an incredible variety, and I’ve gotten brains from an Arabic grocery store,” Dr. Reisman says.

Or try looking online. Suppliers like US Wellness Meats and Seven Sons Farm are two good places to start that offer organic, pasture-raised organ meats.

If you’re new to cooking organ meats, consider starting with a traditional recipe from a cuisine you’re excited about.

“See what people have done with this part in the past,” Dr. Reisman says. Offal is common in many cuisines from days when resources weren’t as abundant as they are for many American shoppers today, he adds.

Davis recommends starting with something milder-flavored like tongue or chicken hearts and combining them with other proteins and aromatic vegetables like onions and garlic.

“A chili made with beef heart or ‘dirty rice’ made with liver are popular ways to enjoy organ meats,” she suggests.

Again, just make sure you’re cooking all meats to the correct internal temperature to avoid any safety issues.