Hello, my deer! This hearty, easy ground venison recipe for stew makes a nourishing dinner loaded with herbs, vegetables, and a splash of red wine for tons of flavor. (Originally published December 2024.)
Meet This Ground Venison Stew Recipe
Tough, lean venison can be tricky to cook without drying out. This ground venison stew recipe solves that problem: tender ground venison simmers with vegetables, fresh herbs, and a splash of red wine for a hearty, flavorful dinner. It’s simple enough for a weeknight, yet rich enough to satisfy. If you’re looking for a go-to ground venison recipe, this stew is the perfect place to start.
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Venison is comparatively lean, so that eliminates burgers. But a nice ground venison stew? With its long cook time and layers of flavor to tone down any overly-gamey notes, stew is just the thing.
Why This Ground Venison Recipe Works
Ground venison is lean, which means it can easily dry out. Turning it into a stew keeps the meat tender while allowing it to absorb the flavors of aromatics and herbs. This recipe is:
- Hearty but not heavy
- One-pot and easy to prep
- Freezer-friendly for meal prep
Hungry for more cozy one-pot dinners? See my New England Fish Chowder or Classic Vegetarian Chili recipes.
How to Cook Venison to Make It Tender and Flavorful
A common complaint about venison is stringy, tough, and strong-flavored meat. This makes sense. Deer a very lean, wild animal with minimal body fat. But when handled correctly, venison can taste great.
Using ground meat in the venison stew already helps eliminate the stringy, too-tough quality. The key here is to 1) salt the venison in advance, 2) brown it, and 3) break it up a lot when cooking. This will make your venison tender.
- Salting the meat helps tenderize it. Do this up to (but no more than) 24 hours in advance.
- Browning the ground venison adds flavor, just like you get in a nice chargrilled steak.
- Breaking up the meat into small pieces helps with the overall tenderness and texture of the finished stew.
Ingredients for Ground Venison Stew
This recipe uses simple, wholesome ingredients. You likely already keep most of these ingredients in your refrigerator and pantry. You will need:
- 1 pound ground venison
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 stalks celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into ½-inch chunks
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cup red wine
- 1 quart chicken or beef stock
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 12 turns freshly ground black pepper
These ingredients come together to create a comforting ground venison dinner full of flavor.
For more hearty soups, check out this roundup of 7 Warming Bean Soup Recipes. And one of my favorite recipes using red wine is this Red Wine Spaghetti Carbonara.
Step-by-Step Ground Venison Stew Recipe Directions:
- Brown the meat. Salt the meat well. Heat a 3-quart pot with oil over medium heat. Add the venison. Break it into large chunks and let it brown on both sides. Remove to a plate.
- Cook the vegetables. Add the carrots, celery, onion and herbs to the pot and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are slightly softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste. While that’s happening, break the venison meat into small pieces.
- Deglaze with wine. Add the red wine to deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping all the good brown bits. Add the meat back in, plus the stock, salt, pepper, and potatoes.
- Simmer and serve. Cook the stew for about 45 minutes to an hour, until thickened into a stew. Taste for seasoning.
Serving Suggestions
Food: Crusty baguette, tender buttermilk cornbread, or buttery homemade buttermilk biscuits are perfect accompaniments to a hearty stew like this. This delicious seasonal kale salad offers a fresh balance to the meaty texture of the stew.
Wine: For a hearty, warming venison stew, choose a with medium- to full-bodied red wine with high-ish tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, versatile Merlot, and Syrah are good choices. Pinot Noir or rustic Barbera will work for those who prefer a more light-bodied red with lower tannins. Want a white wine? Try a white Burgundy; the oak notes will support the stew’s meatiness.
Enjoy your hearty and deeply flavorful bowl of venison stew. This will be even better the next day.
Venison Stew F.A.Q.s
Venison tastes somewhat like beef — if that beef was a wild animal constantly on the move. In other words, it’s red meat, but with an earthier flavor and lean texture. You can minimize venison’s potential gamey flavor and chewy texture. Here, instead of eating plain venison, the deer meat is cooked for a good amount of time with vegetables, herbs, broth, and red wine. This leads to a tender stew with layers of different flavors that all come together.
Yes. Venison is generally considered very healthy and more sustainable with a lower carbon footprint than beef.
According to WebMD’s article on deer meat: “Venison’s health benefits are many. For starters, it’s one of the leanest, heart-healthiest meats available — low in fat, high in protein and packed with zinc, [heme] iron, and vitamin B.”
Yes! Because it has enough similarities, you can substitute ground venison with lean ground beef (choose 90 percent lean).
Other substitutions for this ground venison stew recipe: Feel free to swap out red wine for white, or eliminate it entirely (though it’s better with wine). You can use beef stock instead of chicken stock.
Love a good, meaty stew? You’ll also love these warming dinner recipes:
Hearty Ground Venison Stew (Ground Venison Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground venison
- 5 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 stalks celery, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 large sprig rosemary, leaves minced (discard the stem)
- 1 large sprig thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1 quart unsalted chicken or beef stock (I use Swanson's)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal), or to taste
- 12 turns fresh-ground black pepper
Instructions
- Generously salt the ground venison on both sides and let stand for at least 15 minutes, or refrigerate up to 24 hours. PRO TIP: Salting the venison helps tenderize the meat, and adds flavor.
- Heat a 3-quart pot with olive oil over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the venison to the pot. Break the meat into chunks, covering the entire surface of the pot. Let the meat brown for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. The venison does not have to cook all the way through. PRO TIP: Do not stir the venison as it cooks on each side or it will not brown. TIP: Once the meat browns, you can break the chunks into smaller pieces if you'd like, though I like a fairly chunky texture.
- Remove the meat with a large spoon and set aside on a plate. Add the carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, and herbs (rosemary, thyme, and bay).
- Add red wine to deglaze the pot, scraping and stirring up all those good browned bits. Add the meat back in, along with the potatoes, stock, and about 2 teaspoons of Kosher salt and the black pepper. Stir. PRO TIP: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, but if you use Morton's, dial the salt back. Morton's has a very high sodium content.
- Bring the stew to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer and let cook, partially covered, for about an hour. Stir occasionally.
- Fish the thyme sprigs and bay leaves from the pot and give everything a final stir. Taste for seasoning and serve hot, maybe with some good crusty bread and the rest of the red wine.
Notes
- Ground beef, bison, or turkey can be used as a substitute for venison if needed
- Potatoes can be swapped for beans or additional root vegetables
- You can swap white wine for red, and chicken stock for beef stock
- The stew will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. In fact, it tastes even better the next day.
- This also freezes well in an airtight container for up to 3 month
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
27 comments
Aline
Made this last night and it is delicious! I used 2 cups of chicken bone broth, 4 tbs tomato paste and added 1 tbs balsamic, 1 tsp brown sugar and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes. I usually sprinkle Tnuva feta cheese on stews, which is salty, so I only added a 1/4 tsp of salt. I seem incapable of following recipes exactly LOL.
Lisa Ruland
Hi, Aline! I’m so glad you liked it. I love the addition of the balsamic–great call. And making the recipe your own is part of the fun; thanks for sharing your chef secrets!
Jennifer
This is delicious! I not only made this for the first time, this was the first time I’ve ever cooked venison and I was nervous the entire time, but it is SO savory and good. I didn’t have red wine so I did sub beef broth and added a splash of red wine vinegar. I also added a cinnamon stick half-way through (removed before serving) and a tsp of brown sugar, and it’s just sooooo good! Thank you for this!
Lisa Ruland
Hi, Jennifer! Thank you so much for the great review, and I am so glad you enjoyed it! Ground venison is nice because the result is a little more tender than if you had chunks of venison meat. I appreciate the note and thanks again!
Kayla
Hello! This recipe looks amazing. I’m curious – can I also make this in a slow cooker?
Lisa Ruland
Hi, Kayla! You definitely can. It will probably be even more tender than if you do it as a regular stovetop recipe
Deerdan
Made this several times and really enjoy it. It’s simple to make and taste great. I good way to use up my ground venison. I usually do 1 and a half pounds of meat as I like extra meat, sometimes I’ll make the extra 1/2 pound ground pork instead of venison. I’ll also add some crushed red pepper flakes or something for a little heat and substitute the olive oil with toasted sesame oil instead. The recipe can be adjusted to whatever you like.
Lisa Ruland
So glad you enjoy the recipe and thank you for the review! Great adjustments.
Danielle
What do you mean salt both sides of the venison? If it’s ground it doesn’t have sides because it’s ground up. Is this not actually a recipe for ground venison? LOL
Lisa Ruland
Hi, Danielle! I totally see your point. Salting both sides means to salt the top and bottom of the block or pack of ground venison, as you would, say, individual burger patties. Hope this helps and enjoy!
Joe W.
Really good. Doubled the recipe and froze half for later. No changes, great as is.
Allison
Delicious and easy to make. Perfectly cozy and comforting and yummy on a chilly night! I threw in some fresh sage that I had on hand as well.
Allison
This is so delicious and easy to follow! I threw in some fresh sage that I had on hand. So perfectly cozy and comforting and yummy on a chilly night.
Unpeeled
Fantastic! I am so glad you enjoyed it. I love the idea of adding sage. Perfect herb for something like this.
Donna P.
Very flavorful and easy to make.
Me
You mention potatoes in ingredient section but not in recipe
Unpeeled
Hi, there! Thanks for writing in. If you look at step 4 of the recipe card (starting with the sentence “Add red wine to deglaze the pot…,” you should see that you add the potatoes along with the stock and seasoning. Hope this helps, and enjoy!