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Meatloaf was not something I looked forward to as a kid; back then, I hated it in all its forms. That all changed years ago, when I tried my first Italian-style meatloaf, and this venison meatloaf recipe replicates that first revelation very closely.
It’s funny that it took me until I was in my 20s to realize that a meatloaf is simply a gigantic meatball. In fact, it’s called albondigón in Spanish, which literally means “giant meatball.” Once you realize this, meatloaf’s image as a dowdy relic of 1950s suburban American, er, “cuisine” starts to fade.
So this venison meatloaf recipe started with my tried-and-true venison meatballs recipe, which is a classic Italian-American style meatball: ground venison, bread or breadcrumbs, sautéed onion and garlic, eggs, herbs, spices and a little cheese.
How to Make Venison Meatloaf
It really is as easy as making a big batch of meatballs, only you pack the mix into a loaf pan, or, if you want to be oh-so-fancy, individual ramekins.
That said, my venison meatloaf has a system, one that makes a very tender and juicy meatloaf loaded with flavor. It is very similar to the recipe I published in my cookbook Buck, Buck, Moose, but this version has been improved a little.
You start by tearing up a roll or some bread, ideally one without a really sturdy crust. Soak this in milk while you chop onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and maybe a small fennel bulb.
All those vegetables get blitzed in a food processor, much the same way you do in my recipe for venison ragu. These then get sautéed in olive oil until they’re soft, along with a bit of tomato sauce. This cools before you put it in the mix.
Why do this? Because all those cooked vegetables add a ton of moisture to your venison meatloaf, and cooking them prevents that odd “raw onion crunch” you’d get if you did not sauté first.
The Meat
Venison meatloaf needs fat. Or at least this one does. I grind most of my venison with 15 to 20 percent pork or beef fat. If you have fatless ground venison, you can use it as half your venison meatloaf mixture, then add fatty ground pork or beef to the mix.
Or, if you don’t want to go that route, double the amount of bread in the recipe. It’ll get you close, but fat still makes a better meatloaf.
Oh, and the “venison” in venison meatloaf can literally be any ground meat. I normally use deer meat, but I’ve used elk, pronghorn, nilgai, moose, bison and sheep. And I see no reason why the ground meat of your choice, so long as there’s some fat, wouldn’t work.
Other Venison Meatloaf Styles to Try
Once again, meatloaf is a giant meatball. Given that, you can use my recipe for teriyaki meatballs, Norwegian meatballs, Mexican albondigas with chipotle, maple-glazed meatballs, made with turkey or whatever, or even Thai meatballs.
The caveat is that you might need to adjust these other recipes to work with 2 pounds of venison, which I find fills a regular Pyrex 1 1/2-quart pan that is 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. This is a standard size.
Final Tips
Finely ground venison makes a better venison meatloaf. Period. If you are grinding your own venison, choose a die about 4.5 millimeters, which on things like the Kitchenaid grinder is the small die. The reason is because coarsely ground venison can be chewy and it doesn’t slice as easily, and it won’t hold together as well.
The more you work the meat mix, the easier it will be to cut slices of your venison meatloaf… but it will also get a bit tougher. I have never found this to be a problem, and I don’t like meatloaf that falls to pieces when you try to cut it. That’s a sloppy joe. I generally mix everything about 2 or 3 minutes.
Pack the meat mix into the greased pan. Do this with about a third of the mix, pressing it into the sides and bottom so there are no air pockets — this is why I like to use a glass Pyrex pan, so I can see if there are any in there. Then pack the rest on top.
Finally, let the meatloaf rest a bit before serving. It will be easier to get out of the pan.
Venison Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups bread, torn to pieces (see recipe headnotes)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped roughly
- 1 small fennel bulb, chopped roughly (optional)
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds ground venison
- 1 cup grated Italian cheese, parmesan or pecorino
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce (or ketchup)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 eggs
- Marinara sauce for painting the top and serving
Instructions
- Soak the bread cubes in a bowl with the milk while you chop the vegetables and get everything else ready. Put the roughly chopped vegetables into a food processor and blitz them until it begins to form something of a paste. This will keep the meatloaf super moist.
- Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté the vegetables from the food processor until soft. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Cook this another couple minutes, then remove the mixture to a plate and spread it out: This helps it cool quickly.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. When the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess milk and chop and mash the soaked bread on a cutting board until it too forms something of a paste. Toss it and the cooled vegetable mixture into a large bowl. Add the ground venison, cheese, parsley, eggs, salt and oregano and combine. I like to actually work the meatloaf mix well because the bread and vegetable mix will keep it moist and tender -- normally you don't want to over work meatball mixes, but this is an exception. It will help the meatloaf bind together better.
- Grease a loaf pan; I use butter. The pan I use is a Pyrex 1 1/2-quart pan that is 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. Something more ore less this size will be fine. Or, you can set the mixture on a greased baking sheet and mold it into a loaf. Pack the meat mixture into the pan and bake it until the center reads about 155°F, which will take roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes. I put the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet to catch any overflow of fat or tomato sauce.
- About 30 minutes before the meatloaf is ready (shoot for the 45-minute mark), paint the top of the loaf with marinara sauce. Have some more sauce warming in a small pot to serve with the finished meatloaf.
- Once the loaf is ready, sit it on the countertop for 5 minutes to rest before popping out of the loaf pan. Do this carefully. Slice and serve with sauce.
Notes
Keys to Success
- Use finely ground venison with some fat in it, beef or pork. Or mix fatless ground venison with fatty ground pork or beef or veal. Or double the bread.
- You can cook the vegetable mix up to a day or two ahead. Keep it in the fridge.
- If you want things a little zippy, add 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
- I like to serve this with mashed potatoes or polenta, and I really like it as sandwiches the next day.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is so good. I’ve made it with venison twice. Added about 1 tablespoon of Calabrian chili paste for a zip, but otherwise as written. I almost skipped the fennel the second time because I didn’t have any, but then I thought about how much it added and stopped at the store!
Great! I had my Sons version of your recipe as he’s made it a number of times at our Elk camp. Very good !!
Does the 2 lbs of venison called for include the 15-20% fat, or should fat be added on top of that?
Dave: It assumes that there is fat ground into the venison.
This. Was. Terrific.
Very moist but still held together well. We don’t normally have bread in the house so I used 1/2 a cup of Panko instead of the bread and it worked fine. We also skimped a bit on the oregano and garlic because we really like the taste of wild game (when butchered properly). My wife hates fennel so I used a little green union for balance. Got a dinner for two, a lunch, and, today, we’ll have a couple meatloaf sandwiched.
Thanks for sharing!
Amazing recipe, and easy. Did not add fat and forgot to pick up fennel, but still fantastic!
Recipe made 1 large loaf pan and 1 smaller loaf pan.
My secret ingredient in my venison meatloaf is Maggi seasoning. Try it!
Delicious! The finely processed and sautéed veggies added a LOT of flavour and the “moose”loaf held together really well, even with the coarse ground I had in freezer. My spouse came in and said kitchen / meal smelled wonderful. We are looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
Final product was salty enough to be noticeably salty – maybe I mis-measured or my Canadian Windsor kosher salt tablespoon is a larger amount of salt than HS’s kosher salt?
Tasty, tasty! Best meatloaf I have ever made! Made it with ground moose.
Hi Hank. I’m making some Moose Mushroom Meatloaf for our annual wild game supper next week. Any advice on how to incorporate dried mushrooms and/or cremini mushrooms into your recipe?
Took to heart the vegetable suggestions, chopping , cooking, and integrating them into the meat. Smelled so good while it was cooking, and tasted equally delicious. Hubby said:” put a star by this one”! Used ground venison.
One of my favorite recipes to use from Hank. It never disappoints. My wife wouldn’t eat meatloaf until I made it using this recipe and she loves it.
So very good!!
this was awesome! it is a keeper!
Just delicious, who would have thought meatloaf would be a treat? Next time we’ll make double so there’ll be leftovers for sandwiches!
I received this cook book as a gift and by far the most often made recipe is this meatloaf! We love it, venison or beef it is a great solid recipe. My go to and better than my MIL or my G’ma’s. Go ahead and give it a try. Sidenote the Barbacoa recipe is also wonderful.
Made the recipe last week for the first time – outstanding! Even better, fried slices later in the week!
Is there any reason ground wild turkey wouldn’t work for this recipe as well?
Ben: Nope, go for it!
The recipe is great – does not dry out, great taste, and keeps well – great thing to make if you need dinner for a few nights.
Out. Standing.
I will rate this at a 5. I ended up using green onion in place of the fennel. My two sons have always not liked meatloaf since the days of ketchup. Best recipe I have found and both sons had nothing but accolades for this recipe!
Hi Hank
Making this tonight. Your note says to add 15-25% fat. Then says a bit under a quarter pound. For the two pounds of venison do I add 25% per pound or 4oz total?
Thanks
Bud: That sounds about right, yes.