Chicken Gizzards with Gravy Recipe
Southern style Chicken Gizzards with Gravy, served over Rice.
I suppose chicken gizzards are just another food item that people have “acquired a taste” for. Much like our Fried Chicken Livers. You might want to check out that recipe as well.
When I shared the recipe for Fried Chicken Livers, I was a little unsure of how people would react.
I was aware that it wouldn’t be as bad as the Chitlins recipe I posted, but I figured it might at least elicit some strange responses. Unexpectedly, more people enjoy Fried Chicken Livers than I anticipated. Thus, I decided to proceed with the Chicken Gizzards.
If you’ve never tasted them, they have a flavor that is somewhat reminiscent of chicken livers or just about any other liver product. Some people just don’t care for it, while others seem to like it
Gizzards do have a tendency to be tough. No matter how long you cook them, the connective tissue on them never seems to become tender. Some people claim they prefer their “chew” characteristics. I guess they still have good teeth. Smile. Others compare it to chewing on a chicken leg while attempting to remove all of the meat from it.
If you prefer, you can take the time to cut this connective tissue off. It does require a decently sharp knife and some patience. It also reduces the amount of meat you have to tiny pieces, about the size of popcorn shrimp or chicken, but it does make it more enjoyable to chew and consume.
To make these as tender as possible, I’m going to boil them for a good hour while leaving that piece of tissue on. They will still have some chewiness, but not enough for you to have to spend the entire day attempting to eat them. Smile.
Cook until we reach that point if you’d prefer to only eat the fried chicken gizzards without the gravy. I decided to go ahead and prepare the gizzards with some gravy because I had already created a recipe for fried chicken livers. I hope you’ll enjoy them.
They are really pretty simple to make. Additionally, you’ll find them to be very affordable when you can buy meat for what little you’ll pay for livers or gizzards.
There was no need to waste an animal back then because people would use every part of it. Gizzards should be available in complete packages in the poultry section of your local grocery store.
So, let’s get into the kitchen and start cooking if you’re up for a new challenge or simply want to relive some nostalgic Southern comfort food memories.
Chicken Gizzards with Gravy. You’ll need these ingredients.
Place the gizzards in a colander and rinse them well, one at a time, under cold running water.
Gizzards will have this tough connective tissue on them. Some folks like to trim this away while cleaning them as they just never seem to get very tender, even after cooking.
Due to the fact that we intend to boil the gizzards, which will help, we are leaving them on in this recipe.
If desired, the tissue can be easily removed with the aid of a good, sharp knife and a cutting board.
Be sure to clean the gizzards well, looking for any dark or green spots that might still be on them.
If you look closely in the image above, you can see a thin layer of dark, slightly green skin that, when pulled, will immediately peel off. It should be removed because it is typically fastened to the side with the “wrinkles” on it.
It just wasn’t clean thoroughly before it was packaged.
You can see it a bit better here after I pulled it off. I only found two pieces like this in the package that I had and the other one was larger. I had just pulled it off before I thought about pointing it out to you.
This tiny piece is a piece of a bag that is connected to the gizzard. Because chickens lack teeth, they occasionally eat small rocks in addition to their food. The rocks in the bag aid in grinding the chickens’ food as they eat. The sack is taken off, but occasionally you can still see a portion of it attached to a gizzard. Given that it is as tough as connective tissue, it is simply best to peel it off and discard it.
After you get them all cleaned, place the gizzards in a large stock pot and cover them with several inches of water. I filled my pot about half full since they will boil for about an hour.
Put the pot on the stove and wait for it to reach a boil. Check the water about every 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t completely boil away and turn the heat down to a low boil for at least an hour.
Almost all of the water had boiled out of the pot after an hour. I just turned the heat off, let them set in the remaining hot water for about 30 more minutes to continue cooking a little more while they cooled.
Drain the remaining liquid off the gizzards and place them in a small bowl or container.
Pour enough buttermilk over them to cover them. Just let them sit in the milk mixture for about 15 minutes.
Now it’s time to prepare the flour to dredge them in for frying.
I use a large zip-top bag, but you could also use a paper bag or something similar.
Add the flour to the bag.
Place a teaspoon of salt in with the flour.
Then add the teaspoon of black pepper.
Close the bag and give it a few good shakes to mix the ingredients together.
Remove the gizzards from the buttermilk, gently shake off any excess liquid, and then place them in the bag with the flour mixture.
Close the bag up again, and shake and turn the bag until the gizzards are fully coated with the flour mixture.
I’m using just over a pound of gizzards. You might want to complete this section in batches if you have more.
As you remove them from the bag, place the flour coated gizzards on a foil lined sheet pan and let them rest for about 15 more minutes.
During the resting period, the flour can sort of adhere to the meat and prevent it from completely falling off when the meat is placed in the frying pan.
Place about 1/2 inch of oil in your skillet and carefully add the gizzards, one at a time, into the oil once it’s hot enough for frying. The oil needs to reach about 350F degrees before you add the meat.
Avoid letting the oil get too hot because burning the gizzards will happen very quickly. Test one or two before adding the rest to ensure that the temperature is appropriate for frying.
Watch for the bottom edges to start turning slightly brown, then turn the gizzards over in the skillet.
Naturally, the meat is already cooked from the time we boiled it; we are simply giving them a light browning in the skillet. Again, you do not want to let them burn. This process will only require a few minutes for each side.
Since you don’t want to overcrowd the pan, you’ll probably have to do this in batches.
Once they are browned on both sides, use a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the gizzards from the hot oil. Place them on a wire rack or on some paper towels to drain.
Crispy fried meats have a propensity to lose some of their crisp coating when they are wrapped in paper towels. Normally, I advise draining fried meats on a wire rack or something similar to a brown paper bag, but since we’re going to re-heat these, I’m just using paper towels.
Of course, you could just stop here and start eating. It’s kind of hard to not do so. You are now prepared to proceed if you prefer them fried and without gravy. Smile.
The pan and the oil will be hot, but carefully drain off all but about 2 Tablespoons of the oil. Leave any of the browned “bits” in the pan. It’s time to make some gravy.
Reduce the heat a bit on the pan also.
Add about one heaping Tablespoon of flour to the remaining oil in the skillet.
Quickly start stirring the flour into the oil and continue to stir it as you let the flour darken.
Your gravy will be darker the darker the flour you let it get. The issue is that if you let it get too dark, the flour will burn, so keep an eye on it. You added too much flour if it simply looks dried up. However, you can fix this by re-using some of the oil you strained out or by adding some butter to the pan to smooth things out. This will lessen the likelihood that your gravy will contain lumps.
Now, let’s begin to slow stir in some of the chicken broth.
Start by slowly introducing a small amount of the broth and quickly incorporating it into the browned flour. You have the opportunity to remove any lumps you may see by stirring now. Just keep stirring the soon-to-be gravy a little at a time until there are no lumps visible. Then, you can go ahead and incorporate the remaining broth, constantly stirring it as you do so.
Next, continue to stir the gravy as you add the cup of water.
Make sure not to add cold water to the pan if you’re using a cast iron skillet like mine. I prefer it to be at least slightly warm, and the fact that we recently added the can of chicken broth will help.
You don’t want your hot skillet to crack from having cold water poured into it. Smile.
Continue to stir the gravy as you gradually bring the heat back up. Let the gravy come up to a slight simmer before you add the gizzards back in.
Carefully add the gizzards back into the skillet and the gravy.
It’s not necessary to stir it any longer. Just let the gravy come to a slight simmer. There should be a few tiny bubbles in the middle and around the pan’s edges. You just don’t want it at a hot rolling boil.
Let the gizzards simmer, uncovered, for about 30 more minutes. This will enable them to continue to cook and become more tender, and it will allow the broth to reduce so that the gravy can be made.
Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil away. It’s time to eat when it has thickened to your preferred consistency.
Enjoy!
I like to serve these over a bed of rice.
Egg noodles or mashed potatoes would also work well. Cook up a batch of your own Chicken Gizzards with Gravy and enjoy!
Step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making Chicken Gizzards with Gravy.
These taste good when served over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice. Give it a try.
Keywords: Chicken Gizzards with Gravy, fried, southern, easy, old fashioned