Liver spread substitutes

The nearest ready-made product, sold in tubs or tins in most supermarket chiller cabinets. Whisk it with a little of the hot braising liquid in a bowl first so it disperses smoothly instead of seizing into lumps in the pot.

Best for

kaldereta, mechado, menudo, afritada with liver, beef pochero

Smoother, richer and less sweet than liver spread, and often made with butter and a splash of brandy or port, which adds a slightly boozy, more European note. It has no added starch, so the sauce will be about as flavorful but visibly looser; a teaspoon of cornstarch slurried in cold water fixes that in a minute.

Widely stocked at ordinary delis and grocery stores, and functionally very close since it is the same idea of pureed liver bound with fat. Mash it into a paste with warm broth before adding.

Best for

kaldereta, mechado, menudo, beef stews, hearty tomato braises

Coarser and often lightly smoked, so the finished sauce carries a distinct bacony smokiness that liver spread does not have. That reads as a plus in a beef kaldereta and as a distraction in a delicate chicken dish. It is also saltier than liver spread in most brands, so hold back on the salt and soy until you have tasted the sauce.

The best-tasting version and the traditional one, since liver spread was itself a convenience replacement for exactly this. Trim the livers, saute them in oil with a clove of garlic for four to five minutes until just cooked through, then blend with the broth until smooth.

Best for

kaldereta, mechado, menudo, any dish where you want the liver flavor forward, cooking from scratch

Cleaner, more strongly mineral and more obviously liver-flavored than the canned spread, which is diluted with fat and starch, so the sauce tastes deeper and less sweet. No thickening at all, so add a teaspoon of cornstarch slurry per cup of sauce. Do not overcook the livers, since past medium they turn grainy and the sauce goes chalky.

An upmarket version of the same thing, and it melts into a braise beautifully because it is already emulsified with a lot of fat. Use it if it happens to be what is in the fridge.

Best for

kaldereta, mechado, special occasion braises, rich beef stews

Much richer and often noticeably sweeter, since mousse recipes usually include cream and sometimes sweet wine, so the sauce comes out glossier and rounder with less of liver spread's savory bite. It is also expensive for what it is doing here, and its delicacy is wasted in a pot of tomato and peppers.

A closer reconstruction if you want to match the canned product exactly rather than just approximate it. The breadcrumbs stand in for the starch filler in commercial liver spread and restore the body it gives a sauce.

Best for

kaldereta, menudo, mechado, matching the original sauce consistency

This is the version that most closely reproduces the thick, clinging, slightly matte sauce people associate with a Reno-style kaldereta. The breadcrumbs are tasteless here but they do absorb liquid, so add a splash more broth. Blitz or whisk well, or you will get visible specks in the sauce.

The honest workaround for people who will not eat liver, and worth stating plainly: it is not a substitute for liver, it is a substitute for what liver spread does mechanically. The tomato paste concentrates and thickens, the peanut butter supplies fat and body, and the soy adds savory depth.

Best for

kaldereta for people who dislike liver, menudo, halal or offal-free versions, emergency substitution

Gives you a thick, glossy, satisfying sauce, and Filipino cooks genuinely use peanut butter in kaldereta, so it is not a strange idea. What it does not give you is the iron-rich mineral undertone that liver contributes, so the dish tastes rounder and sweeter and less complex. Do not add more peanut butter to compensate, or it starts tasting like satay.