Some dog treat recipes are so cute and so fun to make and to photograph…with the little dog-shaped cookie cutters and all…
And then there are recipes like today’s that, well, are just plain ugly. Like dehydrated chicken liver dog treats!
A while back, I purchased a dehydrator at the thrift store for $4. (Surprisingly, this seems to be the kind of thing you can find quite often at a thrift store; since I bought mine, I’ve seen three others for sale! I guess people just don’t want give up that much room to store the dehydrator because it is fairly large.)
I’ve made dehydrated sweet potatoes and bananas for the dogs in the dehydrator but I’d never tried chicken livers until this week. I’m not sure why I waited so long to try to make them because it’s super, super simple and the dogs absolutely loved them!
How to Make Dehydrated Chicken Liver Dog Treats
To make these treats in the dehydrator, first spray the trays with no-stick spray or apply cooking oil to prevent sticking.
Space the livers at least an inch apart so there will be good air circulation throughout the trays…
If any chicken livers are too thick, use a fork to flatten the liver slightly.
The one-pound tub of chicken livers was divided between three trays. I put the trays in the dehydrator and cooked them for nearly four hours. Halfway through the cooking process, I switched the tray order. (Your own cooking time will vary with your dehydrator.)
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can make these in the oven on its lowest temperature setting, baking on a lightly greased cookie sheet, flipping the chicken livers halfway through the cooking.
Once done, allow the chicken livers to cool completely then pop them in the refrigerator. They’ll last up to two weeks (although they didn’t last anywhere near that long here….the dogs loved them!)
Cooks: Don’t miss our My Dog Says I’m a Great Cook™ cookbook with over 100 dog treat recipes from the publishers, readers and fans of DogTipper! This paperback book is available in our PawZaar gift store!
Susan Jeffay
Thursday 7th of April 2022
Perfect! I always cook chicken livers for my dog as they are always marked down at the grocers and had seen some liver treats there too. My dehydrator is from the thrift store too, no temp control. Am going to try right now! Thanks
Kathleen
Sunday 20th of March 2022
What temp should your dehydrator be set at, and just to clarify, you do not need to pre-cook the chicken liver or hearts?
Nicole
Thursday 14th of January 2021
Hello! Can you freeze the liver jerky? And for how long? Thank you!
Dashie07 E.
Sunday 8th of November 2020
My oven starts at 170 so that's a good setting for dehydrated!
RavRob
Saturday 31st of October 2020
You are talking about the cooking time but not the temp. What temp setting are you using?
Paris Permenter & John Bigley
Tuesday 3rd of November 2020
Use the lowest temperature setting if you are dehydrating them in your oven. My dehydrator doesn't have temperature settings; if yours does, I'd set it about 160 degrees F.