Venison Stew – Beyond The Chicken Coop

A delicious slow cooked stew with carrots and potatoes makes a hearty and tasty meal. This venison stew is made with wild game and venison or elk works beautifully in this recipe.

Why make this recipe

We live in an area where hunting is prevalent. We have four hunters in our house and our freezers are stocked full of venison and elk meat. This delicious stew can be made with either venison or elk meat. If you don’t have access to wild game, you could use beef.

This is a rich tasting hearty stew that is perfect for dinner.

The key to this stew is searing or browning the meat and then slow cooking everything together in a heavy dutch oven with a lid in the oven for at 3 hours. The stew slowly cooks developing intense flavors and the meat tenderizes while it cooks.

Key Ingredients

• Venison meat cut into small cubes – can also use elk, moose or beef
• Carrots – whole carrots peeled, don’t use baby carrots that are precut
• Potatoes – Peeled and cubed red potatoes or yukon gold potatoes
• Broth – Beef broth or if you have it, venison broth
• Onion – large yellow onion diced
• Celery – diced

Step by step directions

• Brown your meat in the dutch oven on the stove top. Brown in small batches and remove browned meat to cook another batch. It usually takes me 3-4 batches to brown it all. Do not discard any of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan – this is flavor!

• Saute the onions and celery right in the same pan.
• Add wine (or broth) to pan along with sauteed onions and celery. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan and allow wine to cook down until almost entirely evaporated.
• Add remaining ingredients and stir together.

• Place lid on dutch oven and place in a preheated 300 degree oven.
• Let cook for 3 hours – don’t peek or remove lid!

recipe tips

• Trim your meat – Whether you meat is already cut or you cut up a roast, cut the meat into 2 inch pieces. Trim off any excess sinew. Game meat is very lean and there isn’t usually any fat, but if you are using beef, trim off any fat.
• Use a heavy cast iron dutch oven. I use one we use on a campfire, but you can use one that is enamel coated too. It should be heavy and have a lid.
• Don’t peek once the stew is in the oven! Let the oven do it’s magic.

Variations and substitutions

• Use venison, elk or beef
• Omit red wine and use beef broth or beer
• Add fresh rosemary along with thyme
• Add sautéed mushrooms

How to know when the stew is done

As the stew cooks, the broth will become slightly thicker and the flavors will all melt together. The stew is done when the potatoes and carrots are cooked through and are fork tender.

Wild game meat will not be fall apart tender like beef will, but if you taste a piece it will be soft and easy to chew. If the meat is tough, cook the stew for another 30 minutes.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop

Be sure to check out all my main dish recipes!

Venison Stew

Kathy

Hearty stew made with venison or elk meat, potatoes and carrots in a rich broth.

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 30 mins

Race main dish

Kitchen American

Servings 6 people

calories 464 calories

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Meat

• Place olive oil in a heavy cast iron dutch oven pot and heat over medium high heat.

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  2 tablespoons olive oil

• Sprinkle meat lightly with salt. Add a few pieces of meat to the hot pot and brown all sides

  2 pounds venison, ¼ teaspoon salt

• Remove meat and repeat until all meat has been browned

stew

• Preheat oven to 300°

• In same pot, sautee onions and celery until softened. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

  1 yellow onion, 2 celery stalks, 4 cloves garlic

• For in wine to deglaze pan. Stir removing all browned bits from bottom of pan. Cook until wine is reduced.

  ½ cup red wine

• Add flour and stir to coat. Add beef brother and stir

  ¼ cup flour, 4 cups beef broth

• Stir in tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce

  2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• Add potatoes, carrots, browned meat (and any juices from meat) into pot

  6 carrots, 6 medium red potatoes

• Stir in seasonings.

  1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 bay leaves, 3 fresh thyme sprigs

• Place lid on pot and place in preheated 300 degree oven for 3 hours. Do not open lid until 3 hours. Check to see if potatoes and carrots are fork tender. If broth is too thick, add a bit more beef broth or water. Add more salt, if needed.

• Remove bay leaves before serving. Top with freshly chopped parsley or thyme, if desired.

Ratings

Tips

• Trim your meat – Whether you meat is already cut or you cut up a roast, cut the meat into 2 inch pieces. Trim off any excess sinew. Game meat is very lean and there isn’t usually any fat, but if you are using beef, trim off any fat.
• Use a heavy cast iron dutch oven. I use one we use on a campfire, but you can use one that is enamel coated too. It should be heavy and have a lid.
• Brown your meat in the dutch oven on the stove top. Brown in small batches and remove browned meat to cook another batch. It usually takes me 3-4 batches to brown it all. Do not discard any of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan – this is flavor!
• Let cook for 3 hours – don’t peak or remove lid!

Nutrition Disclaimer:

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition

Serving: 2cupscalories: 464caloriesCarbohydrates: 49gprotein: 42gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 129mgSodium: 1320mgPotassium: 1903mgfiber: 6gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 10371UIVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 8mg

Keyword elk stew, oven roasted stew, venison stew