Venison Stew

This Venison Stew is so easy! It’s so much healthier than beef, and has just as much flavor. The venison is neither gamey, nor tough. It is melt in your mouth tender, in the slow cooker or on the stove!

So, cooking with venison is a learned skill. Because it is so lean, care has be taken when cooking. When venison is quickly cooked, it must be cooked medium rare. But…. if it is slow cooked, it can be cooked to well done. The slower the better.

Like I do for most of my soups and stews, I cool it down and refrigerate it overnight. This is optional but doing so will give the flavors a chance to meld and enhance each other.

I mean, when was the last time you ate leftover chili, or stew and didn’t think it was better the second day?

Then after a day, or two, heat the stew up on high, to take the chill off. When it is hot, reduce the heat to low and continue.

When I make a stew, or meaty soup, I usually just do the meat, mirepoix and spices the first day.

Then I add the vegetables I wish to use, on day two, in order of the time needed to cook them to the consistency we like them! In other words, vegetables that take longer to cook will get added first.

No beef stock needed!

This stew has no beef stock in it. I find that the beef flavor takes over the stew and it no longer tastes like venison.

I make venison stock from some of the bones left, after processing the meat. It then gets bagged and frozen and will last a very long time in the freezer.

In lieu of that, if I am out of stock, I just make sure I brown the meat very well, over high heat.

The “fond” (all of the brown stuff left in pan after the browning process), is the flavor you want to use for your stew!

What you need – day one

• Venison stew meat- back leg cuts work great.
• oil
• carrot
• celery
• onion
• venison stock or water
• red wine

What you need – day two

• butternut squash
• potato
• carrots
• celery
• parsley
• thyme
• sage
• mushrooms
• frozen pearl onions
• frozen peas
• cornstarch to thicken

How to make Venison Stew

Day One

You don’t have to take two day to make this stew. It is easily made in one day. It is just better the second day!!

1. Trim any fat or silver skin from meat. Cut into fairly uniform sized chunks of stew meat.
2. Add olive oil to cast pan and heat very hot (if using stove top, use a dutch oven). Place meat in a few at a time so that pan doesn’t lose it’s heat.
3. Get pieces as brown as you can on at least 2 sides.
4. Meanwhile, dice onion and a carrot.
5. Remove browned venison to slow cooker, if using, or a plate.
6. Reduce heat to medium low. Add onions and carrots to sweat for a few minutes.
7. Then add red wine and scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
8. Add vegetables and wine to crockpot (or Dutch oven) and then cover with water. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 4 hours, or longer. Cool and refrigerate over night, or up to 3 days.

Day Two

1. When you are ready to resume the stew, remove from refrigerator and start on high. Peel, then cut up butternut squash into samll chunks.

(I do this Butternut Squash Soup with the remainder of the butternut!)

1. Cut up potatoes, carrots and celery.
2. Add the butternut, potatoes, celery and carrot to the pot. Reduce heat and cook for about 2-3 hours, until butternut and carrots begin to soften.
3. Then add fresh sage, parsley and thyme. (can substitute dry, but reduce by at least half)
4. Add herbs.
5. Cut mushrooms on the vertical axis, for presentation reasons, only.
6. Add to stew. Cook at least 30 minutes. When all the veges are soft enough for your liking, add the pearl onions and green peas.
7. Make a slurry with cornstarch to thicken the stew. About 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with warm water. Stir or whisk until all of the chunks are removed.
8. Cook for another hour, or so. Stew will turn a nice dark brown and thicken up, when cornstarch is cooked through.

Other vegetables to add

You can pick whatever veges you like in your stews. Quantities are not critical with this recipe either. It’s all pretty subjective. Whatever you like, add to your stew! Just go for it and be adventurous!

• peppers
• corn
• green beans
• barley
• beans
• Brussels sprouts
• parsnips
• turnips
• rutabaga
• celeriac
• sweet potato
• squash

Pro tips to ensure your success

• Trim the meat well. Do not leave any fat or silver skin on the meat.
• Cut pieces about the same size.
• Use back leg cut of meat, such as the bottom round or rump.
• Brown meat on very high fire. Sear on at least 2 sides.
• Make sure to deglaze the browning pan with the wine or stock and scrap the browned bits off of the bottom.
• Stew can be made in one day, but flavors develop further if cooked for 2 days.
• Store leftovers in refrigerator for about 3 days. Freeze in portions for longer storage.
• Use venison stock or vegetable stock, try to avoid beef stock, if possible. It tends to overpower the subtle venison flavor.

Want to learn more about How to Cook Venison? Don’t miss our awesome, Ultimate Guide! Complete with 65 FREE Recipes from some of the top venison recipe developers in the world!

I hope you enjoyed the recipe today for venison stew! For more great venison recipes on Binky’s Culinary Carnival, click here.

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