There are many perks to having hunters in the family, this is one of them. I often have the chance to cook venison, moose, hog, and rabbit. This venison roast recipe is every bit as good as the best comfort food.
With the cold and the snow, I am craving lots more comfort foods lately. Any slow braised meat on creamy mashed potatoes is comfort in my book. There are many venison roast recipes that work really well and it all comes down to what ingredients you have and want to use.
Ingredients
For this deer roast recipe you will need these ingredients:
- Venison shoulder, neck, or another piece
- The holy grail of vegetables aka mirepoix aka carrots, onions, and celery
- Leeks
- Lots of garlic
- Butter since venison is pretty lean by itself
- Dry red wine, one that you would also enjoy with the meal
- Parsnip, more onions, and carrots for the roast itself
- Beef or vegetable stock
- Salt, pepper, and any other spices you wish to use
For the potatoes
- Boiled potatoes
- Heavy cream
- Butter
- Salt, pepper, and chives
While it may seem that there are a lot of ingredients, most of them are chopped veggies or spices. This is a pretty easy recipe because the secret lies in the simplicity of the slow-cooked venison that falls apart with the touch of the fork.
Instructions
This is basically a slow cooker venison roast recipe. While you can use a crock pot, slow cooker, or as I have here a multi-cooker, it is possible to recreate this recipe on the stovetop.
How to cook a venison roast?
The key is to sear the meat first to lock in the flavor and cause the Maillard reaction. This is what will give it the final flavor. After searing on high heat, it is crucial to cooking it low and slow so the deer roast doesn’t come out tough.
After searing the meat, the mirepoix is cooked in a lot of butter until the veggies are soft and translucent. Then the wine is added and the whole thing is blended after some braising. At this point, you can choose to either loosely blend the sauce so there are larger pieces and chunks left, or blend it and pass it through a sieve for extra silky and smooth sauce with no bits.
Now it is time to start on the venison roast, which will be the seared pieces of meat, the sauce, stock, spices, and additional veggies.
How long should I roast venison?
For perfectly cooked and fall-apart tender venison meat, it should be cooked on low and for a long time. Depending on your method, anything between 2-6 hours would work.
This is why we cut the meat into large chunks instead of cooking it whole so that the cooking time doesn’t reach more than 6 hours.
Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite comforting side dishes. These are pretty straightforward, made with heavy cream, butter, and chives. I like to have some lumps in mine, but if you don’t, feel free to mash them thoroughly.
Substitutions
Red wine – add more stock and 100-150ml of sherry or vermouth and skip the wine
Root vegetables – you can add any root vegetables to the roast itself, anything you have in your fridge or is in season
Variations
Heartier – add some guanciale or bacon to the pot before searing the meat for that extra fat, since the venison itself is lean
Side dishes – try serving with other root vegetable mash, gratin, polenta, or even pasta
Top tips
Cooking venison roast is not too hard if you follow the simple steps of any roast recipe.
For extra flavor, you can add tomato paste, tallow, or clarified butter.
I like to have variety in my diet and eat various different types of meat. Oftentimes people are afraid of cooking things like venison pot roast or slow-cooked deer, but it all comes down to technique.
RECIPE CARD
Venison roast in red wine
Equipment
- Slow cooker, crock pot or multi cooker
Ingredients
- 1 kg venison shoulder neck, or another piece
For mirepoix
- 2 large carrots
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 small yellow onion
- A handful of chopped leek
- 100 g butter
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 500 ml dry red wine
- Oil for searing
For the pot roast
- 1 parsnip
- 1 large white onion
- 1 large carrot
- 500 ml beef or vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dark brown sugar
- A couple of bay leaves
Creamy mashed potatoes
- 500 g potatoes
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 100 g butter
- ½ tsp salt
- 50 g chopped chives
Instructions
- Cut the venison into large chunks and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- In a dutch oven or heavy pot add some oil and sear the venison meat pieces, 4-5 minutes per each side, remove and place in a slow cooker/crock pot
- In the same dutch oven add the butter and the mirepoix, and sautee for 8-10 minutes
- Add the red wine and cook for 10 minutes
- Add to a blender or use an immersion blender
- Either leave some chunks or blend and pass through a sieve for an extra smooth finish, depending on your taste
- Add the blended mirepoix to the multi cooker with the venison, stock, and the spices
- Now, depending on what kind of machine you are using, either set it for low 4-6 hours or set the temperature at 100 degrees C and cook for at least 2 hours
- After the time has passed, remove the meat and the bay leaves from the pot, shred the meat and place it back in the pot
- To make the creamy mashed potatoes, boil the potatoes until falling apart
- Add the heavy cream, butter, salt, and chives, and mash until smooth
- Serve with a nice glass of red wine
Notes
FAQ about cooking venison roast
How do you cook venison so it’s tender?
To get tender venison meat, it should be seared first to lock in any flavor and then cooked on low heat for several hours. This way you can avoid getting tough meat.
Storage Tips
Once the meat is shredded and put back into the sauce it is easy to freeze it in an airtight container and eat at another time. As for leftovers, like any dish, it is safe to keep in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat by portion.
If you are a fan of game meat, I highly suggest you also try these recipes: