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Now you can easily make tender chicken or turkey gizzards with your electric pressure cooker.
Some people consider offals like chicken gizzards and hearts as nasty bits 🙂 They are usually the “Unwanted”. All these nasty bits including kidney, beef tripe, livers are popular in Asia. My mom cooked them often when we were kids. That’s probably how I got used to this.
WHAT ARE GIZZARDS?
Gizzards are like the second stomach in many birds. They are pretty muscular and it helps to breakdown seeds and other tough foods. It’s like a grinder for the birds.
WHY I LIKE GIZZARDS
1. INEXPENSIVE
One pound of the mixture of chicken gizzards and hearts (mostly gizzards) only cost me less than $2.50.
2. NUTRITIOUS
They are low in calories, high in protein, low in fat, and zero carbs
3.5 oz of gizzards has about 95 calories, 5 grams of protein, 0.6 grams of fat, 0 carbs,
3. TASTY (really?) Really!
They don’t really taste like chicken. It’s like meat with a firm texture. When you properly cook them they are not tough or chewy. When they are tough and chewy, they aren’t cooked long enough yet
HOW TO CLEAN GIZZARDS
There isn’t much you need to do to clean chicken gizzards. Here’s how:
1. For large size gizzards like turkey, cut the gizzards in half
2. Rinse with water to get rid of any sediments or tough seeds you may see
3. If you see any yellowish membrane on the outside, simply cut or peel it off and remove it
4. Trim off any excess lining (whitish in color) or fat if you see any with kitchen shears
BOILING VS PRESSURE COOKING GIZZARDS
Boiling chicken gizzards on the stove takes a long time, 45 minutes or 1 hour (sometimes longer). Using an electric pressure cooker like Instant Pot makes the gizzards tender in 25 minutes (cooking time), about 15 minutes total (to pressurize and depressurize). It may not necessarily shorter in time, but it’s way convenient and I can set and forget.
HOW TO COOK GIZZARDS IN INSTANT POT PRESSURE COOKER
1. After cleaning the gizzards, place them in the inner pot of Instant Pot
2. Pour in 1 cup of water or chicken stock (or use more if you plan to make a soup). Season with a bit of salt or spices/herbs of your choice if you like
3. Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to “sealing”
4. Press “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on high pressure and set the timer to 25 minutes
5. When it’s done, let it depressurized naturally, about 10 minutes
6. The gizzards are fully cooked and ready to be used in your other recipes
RECIPE IDEAS
My mom used to make Indonesian Potato Sambal with Liver and Gizzards
You can also use them in noodle soup like this Duck Noodle Soup (Ak Bihun)
You can also include them in a braised pork recipe like this braised pork in soy sauce recipe
You can also use this crispy batter recipe to coat the pre-cooked gizzards
How To Pressure Cook Chicken Gizzards
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken gizzards sometimes come with hearts too
- 1 cup water or chicken broth more if you want to make it into soup
Seasonings:
- Salt to taste
Optional herbs:
- Bay leaves
- 1 inch ginger slices
Instructions
- After cleaning the gizzards, place them in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Pour in 1 cup of water or chicken stock (or more if you want to make it into soup). Season with a bit of salt or spices/herbs of your choice if you like
- Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to “sealing”. Press “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on high pressure and set the timer to 25 minutes. When it’s done, let it depressurized naturally, about 10 minutes. The gizzards are fully cooked and ready to be used in your other recipes
23 comments
My mom’s Thanksgiving dressing recipe uses gizzards and that’s how I make it too. She used to cook them in a stovetop pressure cooker and it was a pain. This is crazy easy
I know right? pressure cooker comes to the rescue!
I grew up eating gizzards and dumplings and that is what I’m fixing for supper tonight.
Sounds great Arnold. I personally love gizzards too!
A great idea to drop some biscuits when the gizzards are done in the pressure cooker. Can’t wait to try this!
Sounds like a great plan to me! 🙂 I hope they turn out great for you !