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Home » Spanish » Grilled Doves a la Mancha

Grilled Doves a la Mancha

By Hank Shaw on August 31, 2014, Updated June 18, 2020 - 40 Comments

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5 from 25 votes
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A platter of grilled doves a la Mancha
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

If I have a signature dish, it’s grilled doves a la Mancha.

I’ve been making it for more than a decade, and it’s still my favorite dove recipe. Super simple, this lets you get all primal with your Labor Day bag of fat, juicy doves. Why? Because you pluck ’em, gut ’em and then grill and eat the birds whole.

Pluck a dove? Seriously. Doves are the easiest bird to pluck, and I can do one in about 90 seconds once I get my groove on. The feathers practically fall off, which is why your dog hates retrieving them. (Here’s a video we did on how to pluck a dove.)

Not only does plucking make the bird look nicer — like a little baby chicken — but you also get to eat the legs, which are fantastic, if a bit small. I normally leave one digit on the wings because it keeps the breast meat moister, but you don’t have to.

After that, this recipe is stupid easy: Oil ’em up, salt, stuff the little cavities with fresh herbs, grill and then paint the doves with bacon fat (or duck fat), and sprinkle with smoky Spanish paprika.

Give this one a go this dove season. But fair warning: If you do, you may never go back to breasting out your doves again…

No doves? This recipe works with pigeons or squab, teal, woodcock, rails, quail, or yes, even Cornish game hens.

doves la mancha recipe
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5 from 25 votes

Grilled Doves a la Mancha

This is a really easy dish to make, but you do need the bay leaves and fresh sage, and Spanish smoked paprika is important to this dish. Many good supermarkets offer it, and you can also buy it online. If you can't find smoked paprika, regular sweet paprika is OK. Figure on 2 doves per person for a light lunch or an appetizer, or 3 to 6 for a main course. If you don't have access to doves, squab is a great alternative. You could also do this with teal ducks, too.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time30 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Spanish
Servings: 6 people
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 12 doves, or 4 to 8 squab or teal
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 12 bay leaves
  • 12 to 24 sage leaves
  • About 1/4 cup melted bacon fat, butter or duck fat
  • Spanish smoked paprika
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Coat the doves with olive oil and salt them well. Stuff each cavity with sage and a bay leaf.
  • Get your grill hot and clean the grates. Set the doves breast side up and cook them over medium-high heat, with the grill cover closed, for 6 minutes. Open the grill cover and turn the doves over so the top of the breast is wedged between grill grates. Paint the birds with some bacon fat. Let them cook this way for a minute or two, just to get a little color. Turn the doves on their sides and grill for another minute or two — for each side. Paint with more bacon fat.
  • Dust with the smoked paprika and the black pepper and move the birds to a platter. Let them rest for 5 minutes. Eat with your fingers and serve with a Rioja red wine, a California Pinot Noir or an Italian Barbaresco — and a bowl to put the bones in. A simple tomato salad is a good accompaniment, as is a loaf of crusty bread.

Notes

Another grilled dove recipe I love is Grilled Doves with Blueberry BBQ Sauce.
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @HuntGatherCook or tag #HankShaw!

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Filed Under: Appetizers and Snacks, Featured, Recipe, Spanish, Wild Game

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for Robert JohnstonRobert Johnston says

    September 1, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    Labor Day dove dinners in Pennsylvania is a traditional treat. This recipe was easy and delicious and made “believers” of my friends that have never tasted dove.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for Julie GracieJulie Gracie says

    July 10, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    This is my go-to dove recipe. Addicted. I now pluck all my doves! We had an extra long dove season in Texas this past year. So I had some frozen back. Doing this again tonight because I have fresh sage in the garden!

    Reply
  3. Avatar for TomTom says

    April 12, 2017 at 7:54 am

    This has become my number one recipe for doves. September in Northern Nevada is usually a second summer for us. Nothing like inviting a few friends, grilling a dozen doves, and sharing the hunt.

    Reply
  4. Avatar for Nick BNick B says

    April 11, 2017 at 10:47 am

    This has become my go-to dove recipe. I want to try some others but this is so quick and delicious. It has so few ingredients, and has great complex flavors that don’t cover up the taste of the bird. It os rough to beat. I pluck my birds in the field while I wait for another to fly by.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Justin NelsonJustin Nelson says

    September 27, 2016 at 10:16 am

    Best dove recipe I have ever tried. Thank you.

    Reply
  6. Avatar for Darren GewantDarren Gewant says

    September 5, 2016 at 6:55 am

    yikes – found some dove in the freezer, some breasted, some plucked and put in ziplock freezer bags. what do you think the best method will be to cook old birds?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 5, 2016 at 8:22 am

      Darren: The tortellini recipe is good, or the chiles rellenos.

      Reply
  7. Avatar for Chad LowChad Low says

    September 3, 2016 at 2:35 pm

    Do they bay leaves need to be fresh?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 3, 2016 at 2:36 pm

      Chad: Nope. But they are better that way. No biggie, it’s just that here in California they are easy to get fresh.

      Reply
  8. Avatar for ThomasThomas says

    July 23, 2016 at 10:59 am

    Hank, think this would work with Sharp-tailed Grouse (adjusting grilling time, obviously? Heading to Colorado in September and looking for recipes I can use in the field as at least some of the birds will have to be eaten during the hunts.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      July 25, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Thomas: Yep. It should work with sharpies.

      Reply
  9. Avatar for J. G.J. G. says

    July 11, 2016 at 9:33 am

    The best way to get great tasting , tender dove is to wrap them in bacon, stuffed with herbs then smoke them for about an hour . I think at about 235° with your favorite wood chips. I’d suggest hickory after being soaked in water for 30 mins. If you cook them on a BBQ wrap them with bacon cook them and when the bacon is fully cooked then so are your dove. I hope this may have help some of you

    Reply
  10. Avatar for mark reinosomark reinoso says

    November 27, 2015 at 9:50 am

    Im having a wild game dinner tomorrow evening with a few friends. Dove, Quail, then duck. This will be the first course….Ive never done them this way, should be good!

    Reply
  11. Avatar for DaveDave says

    June 11, 2015 at 6:46 am

    Dove Quixote?

    Reply
  12. Avatar for Graham FordGraham Ford says

    May 17, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    Please continue to tell folks the importance of cooking their wild game to promote the natural wild flavor and quality of their kills. Plucking and gutting whole birds, using off cuts of big game in interesting dishes, and not simply wrapping everything in bacon. Keep on preaching the gospel, Hank.

    Reply
  13. Avatar for SMSM says

    January 7, 2015 at 10:38 am

    Interesting. I’ve been cooking my doves in a similar fashion for years but had never heard of “la mancha.” I stuff mine with 2 grapes, a bay leaf and 1/2 fresh thyme or oregano sprig (if the plants are producing). I’m not sure there is a finer game meat than grilled dove….maybe quail?

    Reply
  14. Avatar for Jonathan PhilpottJonathan Philpott says

    September 27, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    Great recipie and very easy. Followed it exactly with bacon grease rendered from some apple wood smoked bacon from fresh market. Kids helped pluck and clean the doves and as described it was easy and surprisingly enjoyable. Field to table experience something the entire family really enjoyed. This is now my go to dove recipie!!! Great site and many thankes for offering up something so much more enjoyable than the usual bacon wrapped diove breast–NORFOLK VA.

    Reply
  15. Avatar for Sean WallSean Wall says

    September 5, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    can’t wait to give “la Mancha” a try by the way, once dove season opens here in the lone star state that is!

    Reply
  16. Avatar for Sean WallSean Wall says

    September 5, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    I’ve been an occasional peruser of your site for several years now. I just wanted to say that I am impressed and more than a little thankful. A previous recipe for bbq’d dove with homemade sauce impressed more than a few of my friends and family (and I’m from Texas).

    Despite the stereotypes, few people here (or maybe just people in general) will give wild food a chance. Seeing a site like yours really is great because it can allow us to demystify the food that Mother Nature provides us to eat. Hopefully all of us who enjoy this space you’ve got here can use what we read and learn to encourage more people to give “honest” food a chance, for myself I think both us and our hom planet could benefit from the relationship….

    Reply
  17. Avatar for AaronAaron says

    September 5, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    Hank,
    Several of the doves we got Monday had lots of pin feathers, some almost completely embedded in the skin. They were a pain to pluck. Ever seen that before? Any tips for dealing with them?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 6, 2014 at 5:57 pm

      Oooh. Yeah, sometimes that happens. I typically just eat them. 😉

      Reply
  18. Avatar for AaronAaron says

    September 5, 2014 at 11:13 am

    I came home with 10 doves the other day and am hoping for more this weekend. While I like the usual recipe of bacon wrapped dove I really want to try la Mancha style. As far as other dove recipes, could dove breast meat be cured like duck? Yeah smaller portion and less fat but if a hunter has several good days in the field sounds like a good time to test new recipes?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 6, 2014 at 5:58 pm

      I suppose it would work, but watch your cure times. I bet a dove breast would cure in hours…

      Reply
  19. Avatar for GuyGuy says

    September 4, 2014 at 9:43 am

    Hank,

    I too shot a lot of Eurasians this opener. I didn’t find them any tougher, though, only bigger with more breast meat? Maybe George just got an old bird? Do note that this year in California they made the Eurasian Doves open all year with no bag limit. Music to my hunting ears, although you have to be careful not to mistake a Mourning dove for a Eurasian after Sept. 15 or you could be fined. They also raised the limit from 10 mourning doves to 15 and possession limit to 45, the first increase in over 60 years since they brought it down from 25 in the 1940s. Pretty sweet! Speaking of which I am going out today after work to bag some more. Good luck this year!

    Guy

    Reply
  20. Avatar for george gavallosgeorge gavallos says

    September 3, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Hank used your recipe last night. Substituted oregano and thyme for the herbs since this is what I had growing fresh in the garden. Turned out fantastic. I was able to shoot a limit of mourning doves and also got a few of the Eurasian Collared doves. In the past these have been rather tough when grilled. Have you prepared the Collared doves in any other manner?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 4, 2014 at 7:55 am

      Interesting. Never had a tough Eurasian. I guess you could stew them. Glad you liked the la Mancha recipe!

      Reply
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Hank Shaw holding a rod and reel in the American River

Hi, my name is Hank Shaw. I am a James Beard Award-winning author and chef and I focus my energies on wild foods: Foraging, fishing, hunting. I write cookbooks as well as this website, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild game, fish, or edible wild plants and mushrooms, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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