These Slow Cooker Venison Tacos or Tostadas are among my family’s favorite venison recipes! The venison turns out juicy and tender every time!
Slow Cooker dishes are my all time favorite! So little effort, so much reward!
These can be made with beef, chicken or pork in the same manner if you don’t have venison readily available.
Honestly, doesn’t everyone love their slow cooker? What’s not to love? Put your food in it, turn it on and a while later, you have a perfectly cooked, delicious meal!
Your Slow Cooker is a great way to cook venison! It renders tougher leg roasts tender and juicy.
What you need
For the venison
- venison roast
- orange
- onion
- chili powder
- adobo seasoning
- garlic
- cumin
- coriander
- onion powder
For tacos
- pulled venison
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- cheese
- tortillas
How to Make Venison Carnitas
- Place meat in slow cooker.
- Add spices.
- Add onion and orange.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours, depending on the size of your roasts. I recommend cooking on low so the meat stays tender. Internal temperature of roast should be over 200°F.
Let venison cool in it’s own juices. Once cool, shred meat with two forks or with your hands.
To make the tacos, prepare your tortillas in your favorite manner. Add shredded meat and your favorite toppings.
How to heat tortillas
There are 3 ways to heat tortillas. They can be heated directly on the fire for just a few seconds on a gas stove. Heat them in the microwave between damp paper towels or buy a tortilla warmer. Heat them in hot oil for a few minutes until they are as crispy as you like.
Suggested toppings
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- cheese
- avocado
- black olives
- candied jalapenos
- pickled red onion
- sour cream or Mexican creme
- your favorite salsa
Other uses for the carnitas
How to store leftovers
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Leftovers can be frozen in sealed containers for up to 3 months.
- Thaw in refrigerator.
These Venison Carnitas Tacos literally take less than 5 minutes to put together, once the meat is cooked.
This pulled deer meat is not only good for Mexican dishes, though. How about this totally American BBQ Sandwich? All you have to do is add your favorite BBQ sauce to it, like my Cherry BBQ Sauce!
My theory is, unless you are vegan or vegetarian, and you like beef, there is absolutely no reason that you wouldn’t love this, deer meat.
If you try to cook with venison (or any game for that matter) and it is tough or has a gamey flavor, you didn’t cook it right.
You can not rush these less tough cuts of the deer, or elk, whatever you have. It is basically that simple!
The other added benefit of using venison, is that it is about half the calories of beef and five times less saturated fat, according to this article from Outdoor Life!
If you have never attempted to cook with deer meat and want to give it a try at some point, this is the perfect recipe to get you started! It is literally foolproof!
So go ahead and give it a try and let me know what you think!!
Tools I Use to Make Venison Tacos or Tostadas
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- Slow Cooker
- Bamboo Cutting Board
- Meat Thermometer, for testing doneness level of meat
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Enjoy! And have fun cooking!
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Slow Cooker Venison Carnitas Tacos or Tostadas
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 pounds boneless venison leg roast
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Chili powder
- 2 teaspoons dry adobo seasoning
- 1 Onion quartered
- 1 orange cut in half
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Corn or Flour Tortillas
- Lettuce diced tomatoes, grated cheese, salsa, etc. for garnish
Instructions
- Salt and pepper roast liberally. Place the roast in a slow cooker and top with the onion, orange and spices. Add about 2 cups water or stock to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high 4 hours. Reserve liquid.
- Once the meat is tender, remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly before pulling apart with a fork. After you shred the meat pour some of the pan juices on it so that the meat stays moist.
- Optional
- In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. Press the carnitas into the oil and fry until crusty on one side.
- Place about 1/2 inch olive oil in a small pan over high heat. Fry tortillas on one side for about 1 minute. Turn and fold in half. Fry on first side of folded tortilla then turn and fry on the other.
- Place meat in tortilla. Serve with your favorite toppings. Lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, etc..
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Nutrition
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Erika
I’ve never had venison before, but definitely want to try it out with these tacos!
Beth Neels
It is low calorie and quite delicious! Thanks Erika!
Dannii
We LOVE tacos, but I have never had a venison version before. This looks amazing.
Beth Neels
Thanks Dannii! Have a great weekend.
Emily Flint
I don’t cook with venison often but I’m going to give it another go in the slow cooker. This seems like the perfect recipe to add tons of flavor!!
Beth Neels
This is a great easy way to enjoy! Thanks Emily!
Emily
These venison tacos turned out delicious! What a great way to use venison, the whole family enjoyed it!
Beth Neels
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for letting me know Emily
Angela
I love roast recipes that can be done early. It makes meal prep so fast and easy. I love that you are using venison. Thanks for sharing!
Beth Neels
Thanks Angela! Glad you liked it!
Sarah K
I’m a novice at cooking wild game and was so excited to try this recipe! We were having friends over for dinner, so I doubled the recipe and am SO glad I did! I made a chicken option in case anyone had an aversion to eating venison, but everyone loved it and the chicken was barely touched! Thankfully I think I have enough leftover so I can try your enchiladas recipe as well! Thank you! 😀
Beth Neels
I’m so pleased to here that Sarah and I appreciate you taking the time to let me know! Coincidentally I made them yesterday and I’m making the enchiladas for dinner tonight! 🙂
Derek Halliwill
Do you peel the orange or leave the skin on?
Beth Neels
No leave the peel on Derek, it adds great flavor! Thanks for checking out the recipe! I hope you like it!
Jason K
Great recipe, I used the deer neck for it. Worked very well.
Binky
Oh, that’s great, Jason! I haven’t used this one for the neck, but it would certainly be a good cut for Carnitas! So glad you liked it!
Tim
This is a really good idea for a seemingly tough cut of venison! Giving this a try!
Binky
It really makes the venison tender and juicy! Let me know how you like it! Thanks, Tim!