What’s for dinner? It’s the dreaded question in my house that I ask my husband daily. We like to playfully bicker about dinner planning, with who chose last and whose turn it is today. One of the easiest things for any deer hunter is using a pound of ground from the freezer. Here are 15 ways to make sure that doesn’t get old. My kids appreciated me writing this article.
We harvest about six to seven deer a year and process them ourselves. Our family of four easily eats venison a couple of times a week. When we grind meat, we don’t add any fat to it. We like it pure venison. No fat to drain when you make tacos or anything else you would have to drain the fat off of!
Venison Egg Rolls
Do you have a crowd pleaser in your recipe box? Well, this recipe for venison egg rolls is my gold standard for family and friends. They are a little labor intensive, but you can also make it an assembly-line style group activity to help with that. Pro tip, I like to set the fryer up outside to keep the frying mess to a minimum in the kitchen.
Venison and Zucchini Egg Noodle Bake
Our own Megan Postol from New York shared this recipe for a venison and zucchini egg noodle bake with me. Let me tell you, it is pure comfort food. Don’t forget the parmesan cheese for serving because it totally makes the dish with a bit of fresh ground black pepper.
Venison Stroganoff
This one is a warm hug in a bowl. Who doesn’t like a warm, creamy noodle dish? Adapt your favorite beef stroganoff into venison stroganoff and you’ll be glad you did. I have tweaked this one a bit by subbing out heavy whipping cream for the same amount of sour cream and added a bit of garlic.
Cheeseburger Pasta
Did you know you can pick up any box of Hamburger Helper from the store and use a pound of ground venison? Well, you sure can! Venison cheeseburger pasta might be the quickest meal outside of tacos to make with a pound of ground. Or forget the box with all the processed ingredients and make your own Venison Helper from scratch which isn’t that difficult.
Venison Meatloaf Cupcakes
My husband is an absolute carnivore, and for his birthday one year I found a recipe for venison meatloaf cupcakes. We put a candle on it and sang him happy birthday, and these mashed potato topped delights became part of our rotation. I have subbed out instant mashed potatoes when pressed for time.
Smoked Venison Queso Dip
Football season is upon us, so don’t forget venison queso dip! Just brown a pound (another nice recipe to use straight ground venison with no added fat) and cut up a block of Velveeta and add 2 cans of Rotel to a crockpot and cook until melted. Or you can get fancy and go this route!
Venison Sloppy Joes
Take sloppy joes up a notch by making them with your own high-quality ground venison! This one is a tried and true recipe that my kids and their cousins really enjoy. We have eaten it on sandwich bread many a time, but it is better when you get the hamburger buns. We like to add pickles to ours, too. Just sub out the beef for venison in this recipe, and it is great for pure venison with no added fat. No draining necessary.
Hunter’s Casserole
This is one I like to riff on a bit. Hunter’s casserole is a little like a souped-up Shepherd’s Pie. This one is certainly a crowd feeder or one that you make and put half in the freezer. Even with half in the freezer, we will have this for two nights with my family of four. You can switch up cheeses a bit. I have left out the cottage cheese altogether and increased the ricotta and added some cheddar and mozzarella. I also always just use a whole bell pepper instead of measuring half a cup of chopped bell pepper. This makes a great one for elder care meal prep as a freezer meal too.
Venison Smash Burgers
“Smashburgers” have gained popularity in the last few years. You can make these fairly quickly in the time it takes to heat up a Blackstone or stove-top griddle. Evan Barrett, a professional chef and also a mentor in NDA’s Field to Fork program, gave us this great guide to how he makes smashburgers, including “Oklahoma style.”
Big Mac Venison Crunchwraps
If you haven’t looked at the recipe section on the Moultrie website, you are missing some great recipes. Big Mac venison crunchwraps looked so good, we had to try them. It’s as if Taco Bell and McDonalds needed to do a best of both worlds. It was fun to make and fun to eat.
Cheeseburger Casserole
We love a casserole in my house. They tend to last a couple of nights and make life easier in the busy weeks. The layer of baked potatoes in this cheeseburger casserole is what really makes it a winner. Meat and potatoes are hard to beat dressed up like this.
Cheesy Pull-Apart Venison Meatball Bombs
Another good recipe for a football party or any gathering are these cheesy venison pull-apart meatball bombs. This is a good use of a can of biscuits and not as hard as I thought it would be. They look really fancy too.
Venison Stuffed Mushrooms
I’m happy with anything stuffed into a mushroom, but when I saw this mixture of ground venison and spinach and cream cheese, we had to try it. Aim for medium mushrooms, since the little ones make it too much work and the large ones make it too big for two bites.
Loaded Venison Scrambled Eggs
It’s breakfast for dinner! Everyone has pulled a breakfast for dinner in a pinch when you are out of good dinner ideas. Well loaded venison scrambled eggs is one that you’ll really enjoy and use some of your harvest to take it up a notch.
Venison Tacos!
Our forever staple with ground venison will always be tacos. We have it once a week. It is the fastest meal I can cook, and it can go from start to on the table in 15 minutes. While meat is browning, I chop up lettuce and tomato and get out the cheese, sour cream, taco sauce, and salsa, add in your favorite taco seasoning packet to your venison with a little water, mix it up and then serve. Whether you like hard shell or soft shell, this is the easiest, most delicious and individually customizable meal (for picky eaters) you can make with ground venison.
