
Recipe: Chicken heart anticuchos
This is a tasty way to get more offal in your diet. Heart is a great source of iron, vitamin B12, zinc, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is fundamental for the electron transport chain of mitochondria (the energy-producing cells in your body). Get chicken hearts from pastured chickens if possible (Feather and Bone is a great source) and fire up your grill for this twist on classic Peruvian street food (the original version uses cow’s heart). If you’re not keen on eating heart you can try this version with kangaroo.

Chicken heart anticuchos
This is a version of the traditional Peruvian skewers made with chicken hearts instead of beef heart.
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken hearts
Marinade
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp ají panca paste (Peruvian red chilli paste) (substitute with your favourite chilli paste)
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
To serve
- 1 large piece cassava (approximately 125g)
- ghee or butter
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Remove the thin membrane that surrounds the hearts and trim the upper fatty/vascular part. Slice them horizontally (you'll end up with donut-shaped slices).
- Mix the marinade ingredients pour over hearts in a ziplock bag and marinate for at least 6 hours.
- Boil cassava for 20-30 minutes until soft
- In the meantime, turn on your BBQ (you'll be using the flat part) or heat up a stovetop grill pan.
- Drain cassava, discard hard bit in the middle, cut in pieces and fry in ghee or butter. Season with salt.
- Cook marinated hearts (no need to drain the marinade) for ~10 minutes, flipping them occasionally. Season with salt.
- Serve with fried cassava, salad and your favourite condiment (I served it with Peruvian chilli mayo).
If you need nutrition advice, click here to check out our range of available services.


One Comment
Lorinda
Yum! The only time I’ve eaten chicken hearts before was recently at a Brazilian BBQ where they came on skewers. They were tasty morsels. Thanks for your recipe, it sounds delicious and I look forward to trying it soon. I will have to google what cassava looks like, I always get it confused with taro, yam etc.