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Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Finding the Forgotten Feast

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Venison Recipes

Smoked venison leg sliced on a cutting board
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Venison, a/k/a deer meat, may or may not be the most popular game meat, but it is definitely the most abused. This page aims to give you tried and tested venison recipes to help you get more out of your deer, elk, moose or pronghorn.

I can’t tell you how many people I have served venison to who have had to overcome some prior bad experience with it. “Ew, it’s so tough. It tastes like liver.” Yes, if you overcook it and handle the meat poorly when you kill the animal it will be poor fare at the table.

Venison is lean, clean meat. Higher in protein and lower in fat than beef, it is as free range and healthy as you get. If you’ve never tasted venison, it is close in flavor to grass-fed beef or bison. Rich, lean, but easy to overcook. A general rule is to cook the tender cuts a bit less than you think, and to cook the tougher cuts a bit more than you think.

I have found that while the taste of elk or moose or whitetail deer or mule deer may differ slightly, the cooking methods and recipes are all interchangeable. And if you are worried about it being “gamey,” here is what you need to know about gamey meat.

Below are some of my favorite venison recipes, grouped by style of cooking or cut of meat.

Basics

  • A primer on making deer meat sausages and curing whole cuts of venison
venison hind leg on a cutting board

Demystifying Deer Fat

Not all venison fat is bad. Here’s some of the science behind what’s in venison fat and why it behaves the way it does, so you can make your own decision about whether to trim or keep it.

Read More about Demystifying Deer Fat

A variety of venison marinades on a tabletop

Venison Marinades

A primer on how to make the best use of marinades for your venison, along with some sample recipes.

Read More about Venison Marinades

How to Cut a Flat Iron Steak

Instructions on how to cut one of my favorite steaks from an elk, moose or large deer.

Read More about How to Cut a Flat Iron Steak

Venison Recipes by Cut of Meat

venison steaks with caramelized onions and mushrooms

Venison Medallions, Backstraps, Tenderloins

Recipes for the tenderest part of the deer.

Read More about Venison Medallions, Backstraps, Tenderloins

A green chile elk burger

Sausages, Burgers and Meatballs

What to do with all that venison “burger” the butcher gave you.

Read More about Ground Venison Recipes

Slicing smoked venison on a cutting board.

Venison Roasts

These are usually from the back legs, and are good for long, slow cooking to make sure they’re tender.

Read More about Venison Roasts

two bowls of kentucky burgoo

Soups, Stews and Stock

Pretty self-explanatory, these are my wintertime dishes.

Read More about Venison Stews and Soups

Braised venison shank on a plate

Flanks and Shanks

This is the venison equivalent of beef shanks, flank steak and skirt steak.

Read More about Flanks and Shanks

finished grilled deer heart with peppers

Venison Wobbly Bits – Heart, Liver, Kidneys, Tongue

Offal. Innards. Variety Meats. In some cases, these are the best parts of the animal. Here’s how to cook them properly.

Read More about Venison Wobbly Bits – Heart, Liver, Kidneys, Tongue

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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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As seen on CNN, New York Times, Simply Recipes, Martha Stewart, Food and Wine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and The Splendid Table

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