Many of the best cuts of wild game — breasts of birds, backstraps of wild boar or venison — are best simply seared, and served with a sauce. Many times I skip a sauce, but a good one can elevate a simple meal. And most don’t require a long time to prepare. Here are some of my favorites, along with the game I serve them with.
Chimichurri Sauce
A garlicky, herby sauce from Argentina, this version uses wild mint. You can use any mint you want, or substitute oregano. Serve this with venison, wild boar, duck or pheasant.
Prickly Pear BBQ Sauce
A spicy sweet take on barbecue sauce that features the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, tequila, chiles and lime. So damn good!
Ancho Sauce
An astonishingly deep and rich ancho chile-caramelized onion sauce that is easy to make. Goes great with most meats.
Salsa Negra
A versatile Mexican sauce with nuts, black garlic and chiles. Excellent on a whole lot more than tacos…
Salsa Morita
An easy to make Mexican salsa with little fiery chipotles, roasted tomatillos, onions and garlic.
Sorrel Sauce
A traditional French sorrel sauce with cream and a little white wine — it’s perfect with fish or poultry.
Chinese Plum Sauce
A rich, tangy, spicy-sweet sauce made from wild plums. This is like Chinese BBQ sauce, only better. Slather it on anything, but it goes really well with duck.
Cumberland Sauce
Probably the most classic wild game sauce there is, this tangy, rich sauce goes well with any dark meat, especially venison, duck, goose or bear.
Maple Bourbon Gravy
One of my favorite old-school gravies, I like this one best with duck or goose, but it’s pretty damn good on turkey and venison, too.
Homemade Hot Sauce
Hot sauce from wild chiles? Yes, please!
Saffron Aioli
I like this vivid yellow sauce with fried food. Fried seafood and fish, especially, although it’s good with quail and rabbit, too.
Ethiopian Berbere Paste
The backbone of Ethiopian cooking, this spicy chile paste adds a whole lot of oomph to whatever you put it in. Try a dollop in your chili next time…
Pontack, an Elderberry Sauce
Pontack is an ancient predecessor to Worcestershire sauce made with elderberries. It’s best when well aged.
Ancient Roman Mustard
My version of an ancient Roman recipe from Apicius, with ground pine nuts and almonds.
Basic Country Mustard
This is your baseline recipe for making mustard at home.
Alisha says
December 3, 2009 at 12:07 pmHi There- I recently made a rosehip and lavender syrup. I thought that it may be good with some duck. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Mazza says
November 26, 2015 at 1:44 pmIs it really supposed to suggest that Cumberland Sauce is good with BEAR? Surely it should be boar? LOL
Hank Shaw says
November 28, 2015 at 8:19 amMazza: Yes, good for both bear and boar.
SCooper says
December 16, 2015 at 10:51 amWhat can I pair with venison summer sausage?
Rusty says
January 8, 2016 at 5:40 pmOn a trip for work, we had dinner at a very nice restaurant. Had venison medallions served with spatzel (small egg noodle bits) and a little bit of wild blueberry sauce. Never would have thought of huckleberries and venison, but it was delicious!!