This simple fried chicken gizzards recipe is delicious and makes use of the lowly chicken gizzard allowing you to make the most of all chicken meat and eat nose-to-tail.

We strive to use as much of every animal we harvest as we can. That means using the whole chicken when we butcher, including all manner of organ meats and offal; the gizzard, liver, chicken feet, and even the heads are included in that effort.

Gizzards and chicken livers are some of my favorite parts of the chicken. While they do have a distinctive taste, I even enjoyed eating them as a child. I like them plain, while my kids like to dip them in ketchup.

What are chicken gizzards?

The gizzard is a digestive organ in chickens, turkeys, and other poultry. Unlike humans, chickens do not have teeth, so this part of the chicken helps them digest food by grinding up their food with small stones that chickens also consume. Yeah, I know, sounds gross. But, this muscular organ, once cleaned, is meaty, delicious, and full of essential nutrients like protein, iron, zinc, and b12.

Yes, like southern-fried chicken, it's just not the same if you're not frying them in lard in a cast iron pot or skillet.

And, contrary to popular belief, lard is good for you, even when you're deep-frying your food. Much healthier than seed oils and there's no other way to get that flavor and nice crisp exterior without frying.

What do chicken gizzards taste like?

If this is your first time enjoying gizzards it can make you curious what it would taste like. After all, it can be slightly off-putting that you're eating a digestive organ. But, great recipes make all the difference, and if you didn't know any better, you would enjoy them.

Gizzards are a bit chewy, though they can be made pretty tender with the right technique. The flavor is similar to dark chicken meat with a bit of a chewy texture (but not too bad).

How to clean gizzards

Meat counter chicken gizzards from the local butcher are usually already cleaned so you won't need to do much more than wash them in cold water. But, if you have fresh gizzards from a freshly butchered bird, the first thing you need to do is clean them.

First, look for the seam in the gizzard and slice it in half at the seam. Next, remove the tissue that runs along the outside edge of each half. Then, run them under some water and use your fingers to remove any debris from the grooves on the inside and outside of the organ.

Once you have it cleaned, you'll want to remove the grinder plate from each half. This is a piece of tissue that is approximately ¼". Slice it off with a sharp knife from each half of the gizzard. All that should remain is dark meat. Remove any silver skin and tough fibrous tissue from the gizzard halves. Wash gizzards in some cold water and you're finished.

Tips to make tender fried chicken gizzards

Gizzards do a lot of work and contain quite a bit of connective tissue, so the meat can be a bit tough. Some people swear by soaking in a buttermilk brine to tenderize the meat and that works, but the meat will still be on the chewier side. If you want nice, tender gizzards you need to either slow cook them for a long time or pressure cook them in some chicken broth to add the best flavor.

While slow cooking is great, it's also time-consuming. To get the gizzards tender, you need to simmer them at a low temperature for about 2-3 hours. The longer you cook them, the more tender they will become. Of course, you can put them in the crockpot on low for the day while you're at work if that's what you have time for.

I choose to pressure cook mine. Sometimes I use one of our small pressure cookers, sometimes I grab our instant pot. Useful little thing... Anyway, to pressure cook you'll want to place the raw meat in your instant pot and cook on low pressure, or put them in your cooker and bring it up to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Allow either appliance to reach 0 pressure naturally.

Then, place your meat in some buttermilk in the refrigerator and let it cool off a bit (about 10 minutes is really all you need). You wind up getting the best of both worlds and it really makes a nice, tender gizzard.

The best way to make fried chicken gizzards

After you've cleaned, pressure cooked, and cooled your gizzards it's time to get frying this southern favorite.

Step 1: Make your dredge and egg wash

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, parsley, and basil. Next, combine a couple of tablespoons of the buttermilk your gizzards are soaking in with two eggs in a bowl.

Step 2: Coat gizzards

Remove individual gizzards from the buttermilk, coat in the flour mixture, then dredge through the egg wash, and coat in flour again. Put them all on a plate until you've double-coated each organ.

Step 3: Fry gizzards

Preheat lard over high heat in a cast iron chicken fryer or deep fryer until it's 350°F. Carefully place coated gizzards in the hot lard and fry them until golden brown- about 5 minutes. Remove gizzards from the lard and drain. Enjoy hot.

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