Mix organ meat with ground beef to boost nutrition and flavor in your meals

Men's Journal · Jul 21, 2026 20:18 · 2 min read

Mix Organ Meat with Ground Beef to Boost Nutrition and Flavor in Your Meals — over-the-shoulder-view-of-young-asian-woman-shopping-in-a-supermarket-she-is-choosing-meat-and-holding-a-packet-of-organic-beef-in-front-of-the-refrigerated-section

Learn how to best prepare it so you can easily make it a consistent staple in your diet.

Tinned fish has been having its moment, but if you don't have the taste for sardines, another protein-packed powerhouse is worth considering: organ meat. Now before you start cringing, hear us out. Organ meats, like liver, are some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, loaded with highly bioavailable protein, vitamins, and minerals. Still, despite their massive health benefits, most people have no idea how to cook them or make them taste good enough to eat regularly.

"The easiest way I recommend enjoying organ meat is as part of a ground beef blend," says Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, and lead nutritionist for ButcherBox. "This way you get all the goodness of organ meats in a format that looks, cooks, and tastes like the ground beef you already love. And a little goes a long way."

Organ meat refers to the internal organs and other parts of the animal besides muscle meat, including the liver, heart, kidneys, tongue, and more. The appeal with organ meats is that they're exceptionally rich in iron, vitamin B12, folate, copper, riboflavin, vitamin A, and CoQ10. Such nutrients play important roles in energy metabolism, oxygen transport, immune function, cardiovascular health, and post-workout recovery.

Specifically, iron and B12 help your body produce healthy red blood cells and carry oxygen to the muscles efficiently. Folate and riboflavin support the energy metabolism that keeps you going through the course of a demanding day. Copper plays a role in cardiovascular health, vitamin A supports immune function, and CoQ10 helps your cells produce the energy they need to function efficiently.

Not to mention, organ meats are a great source of high-quality protein. A 100-gram serving of beef liver has about 26 grams of protein, compared to roughly 25 grams of protein in the same serving of ground beef. Blend the two, and now you've massively boosted the nutrient density of your meal.

But how can you integrate organ meat into your diet more consistently? Failing to enjoy a food's taste certainly doesn't make it very convincing to spend your money on, which is why Shapiro says the ground beef blend is the most approachable starting point. Use the beef and organ meat blend anywhere you'd normally cook with solely ground beef, whether it's burgers, tacos, meatballs, chili, stuffed peppers, or a Bolognese.

"If you’re concerned about needing to get used to the taste, I assure you a blend helps ease your palate into the flavor," Shapiro says. "When in doubt, a host of your favorite spices will help bring this nutrient-dense option into your regular rotation."