Barry and I are HUGE fans of venison. I was raised on ground venison…so it’s not unusual to me. I was blessed to marry a hunter…even more blessed that he doesn’t make me come along with him to hunt. *Snore fest*
Venison is really great for you! If you can get your hands on some, I would highly recommend it. Ask around. Do your friends hunt? If so, they might be willing to give you some of their plunder, only charging you for the processing. SCORE!
It can sometimes be a little tricky to serve venison – you have to get the seasonings right to mask some of the gamey flavor.
Today, my friend Dani from More Than Four Walls is going to share her recipe for Crock Pot Venison Roast…and some of her tips. Thanks Dani!!
Venison is an awesome red meat. With a family of avid hunters our freezer stays full from one hunting season to the next with whitetail steaks, roasts and burger.
Notes:
Butter is a must: Unlike a beef roast there will probably be very little fat on your venison roast. The butter gives your roast a wonderful flavor and helps keep it moist.
Onions: They say adding the onion early in the roast helps to reduce the gameness of the venison. We eat so much that I don’t even know what gameness is anymore.
Another variation to spices: Replace thyme and rosemary with Old Bay.
Other Veggies: I had some left over green beans from the day’s lunch so I added them right before we had dinner, long enough to heat them through. You could add canned tomatoes as well if you like.
Leftovers: Prepare some noodles in additional stock or water and add the leftovers to make a soup for the next few days.
Other game meats: This roast also works well for elk, mule deer or moose meat.
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Crock Pot Venison Roast
- 1 venison roast (fresh or frozen)
- 2 cups water or stock (venison stock, beef stock, chicken stock – whatever ya got!)
- 1 medium onion diced or 3 Tbsp dry onion
- 2 garlic cloves, diced or 2 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste (do use some salt even if it is just a pinch)
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 5-10 potatoes (depending on size) quartered
- 1 cup diced/chopped carrots
- Place roast in crock pot and add water or stock.
- Add butter by placing it on top of roast.
- Add remaining spices and onion.
- Potatoes and carrots may be added at this time if you’re headed out for the day or you can add them about two hours prior to serving time.
- Cook on low 10 hours or high 6 hours.
Danielle is passionate about feeding her family spiritually, emotionally and with real food. After she became with their son she soon found herself questioning everything conventional that she’s learned about nutrition and health and awakened spiritually to the Lord’s call for her life. In a strange paradox of blind faith in Jesus and wide-eye skepticism of what society says is normal she is learning to balance every day life and let go of the stuff that matters not. Visit her at More Than Four Walls.
Hi Stacy!
Do you recommend marinading the venison before cooking? If so, does it make much of a difference in flavor and tenderness? And what is the best marinade to use and how long should it sit?
Thank you!
Ya know, some people do. But I don’t marinade mine. I just cook it like a normal roast.
Hi Stacy!
What size roast is ideal (lbs)? I have two shoulder roasts, a neck roast, and plenty of steaks – not sure which to use.
Many thanks!
Lindsay
I usually use around 3-4 pounds for a roast in the crock pot.
How long to I cook apples that are frozen in the crockpot? Thank you in advance.
Hi Geri – wish I could help but I’ve never tried to cook frozen apples in the crock.
Can i replace water with beer? Also are there any other spices I can use to replace Thyme, Rosemary or Paprika?
Sure! Anything goes! 🙂
This recipe was a big win. I used the note about Old Bay and it was the best venison roast I’ve made.
Thank you!
Wonderful!!!!
It’s been a while since I’ve cooked venison roast. I had to think about how I use to do it every winter.I soaked the roast in buttermilk for about 2 hours. I used beef stock, red cooking wine and cream of mushroom soup, rosemary, garlc, onion powder, cumin and a spoonful of grape jelly…dash of salt and pepper
After soaking I rubbed it with dry onion soup and butter. Braised both sides and put it in the crock pot on low with mixed sauce, pearl onions, baby carrots, red potatoes….fingers crossed I didn’t forget anything.
Stacy, I just put this in the crock pot. It smells divine already. My husband is an avid hunter and most years, we have elk, deer, bear, and sometimes moose in our freezer. This is a very interesting take on the venison roast recipe. Can’t wait to taste it tonight.
Hope you loved it!
I have a venison roast that I pulled out of the freezer yesterday, hoping to cook it today. It isn’t thawed yet, so I’m planning on sticking it in the slow cooker in its frozen state. Do you have any recommendations for how long it will take to cook a frozen venison roast? I’m thinking I’ll cook on high 8-10 hours and check with a thermometer… Thanks for any help!
I don’t usually cook meats on high – I use low. Frozen is fine, but you might need an extra hour or two. It really depends on the thickness of the cut. 🙂
Thanks for the quick reply! I didn’t have an extra hour or two, so I decided to cook it on high at first, and then turn it down to low. I think I ended up cooking it 4 hours on high and 4 hours on low. Anyway, next time I will plan ahead better and cook it on low the entire time. But it turned out well – maybe a tiny bit more dry than I’d prefer – and with the sauce, it was great. No complaints!
Great to hear!
Hi Stacy,
Just found your site yesterday, looking for venison crock pot recipe. I used red wine instead of stock and I browned or seared the roast in a skillet first with some onions and butter. I just now put it all in the pot, can’t hardly wait to taste. My family had a dairy farm until I was about 27, we always plenty of good food, all liked to hunt but mom. She got tired of all the squirrels my brother and I were always bringing home. There wasn’t many deer around here until the 90’s, but now there’s plenty. Beef, pig meat, rabbits and squirrels that was our protein. Life seemed a lot slower then, but I know time is time, the older I get it just seems faster I guess. I also praise the Lord that you guys know and love Jesus, me too! Happy New Year and Peace and Joy to you and your family!
Md. Jesus freak friend, Marc.
I hope it turned out great and that you loved it!
what kind of potatoes are used in this? red? thanks
Any type will work – just remember consistency of size.
I am a California girl and the only “game” I was raised with was Volleyball and Basketball. Then I got me man from Minnesota whos favorite hobbies are hunting and fishing and “game” got a whole new meaning! I had no idea what to do with either. Thank you SO much for this recipe! Others that I have tried still tasted too “gamey,” but this one is so delicious and lean! Look out…this girl’s got game! 😉
Awesome! You go, girl! 🙂
I have made this recipe twice in the past 6 months and my family thinks it is great! Up until this year, when my husband and son started seriously hunting deer, I had never cooked venison. I am so glad I came across your site. On a side note, we do a lot of prep to our venison. We take great effort not to leave any silver skin on the meat. We also soak it in water, after it thaws in the frig, to draw any additional blood from the meat. We processed three deer this past season and I have yet to taste “gamey”. The flavor of your meat has a lot to do with how you process it!!
Agreed! You can’t beat a good venison burger. 🙂
I used this recipe about a month ago for my 1st ever venison roast and absolutely loved it! I cooked it overnight on low then added the veggies in the morning and let it simmer all day. It was so moist and not at all gamey! Now i have an Elk backstrap and im wondering if the backstrap can also be cooked this way? Any advise?
We don’t have elk in my part of the country, but I suspect it would work just the same. If you try it, let us all know how it turns out!
I am also an avid deer hunter. Bagged two huge does this year. I defrosted a venison sirloin tip roast yesterday, and just finished putting it in a crock pot, following your recipe. I’m always trying new recipes, so I can’t wait to try yours. I never added butter to the mix. Sounds like a good idea. I also raised my kids on venison ground, and my 25yr. old daughter is always anxious to take some off my hands. My son lives in New York now, I am in Illinois, so I mail him venison sausage.
Venison is the way to go! Making hamburgers with it tonight. 🙂 Also, butter is good added to anything. 😉
My hubby hunts 3X per year, almost always gets a deer. I have never had a “gamey” deer. I always soak it in vinegar and water for 2plus days before cooking and it is always great. Thanks for some great recipes!
Good tip!!!
Tastes great thank you for recipe, mine took a little longer on low, 12 hours to get it to peel without a fight. Used the turkey stock I saved from thanks giving. Well if it helps my crockpot was a 3 dollar yard sale dinosaur so that could be the issue (but it works its my garage crockpot for yummy snacks). Also deer had a lot of sinew? Thanks again, made all that dragging, gutting, processing worth it.
Hey Stacy, my friend gave me some venison that they shot a year ago. Do you think it is still good?
As long as it has been stored in the freezer properly, YES!
Hi Stacy, a hunter friend gave us a whole deer leg, bone-in. Will this recipe work with that also? This will be my first time cooking venison, although not my first time eating it 🙂
I would think it would do just fine…but I would make sure to measure the internal temp to make sure it’s at 180 when done – I find that meat on the bone cooks differently sometimes.
Making this today on Christmas! every year when i was growing up we always had a roast on xmas but this year im changing it up to deer roast 🙂 im so excited i cant wait to see how it turns out plus this is my first time getting to cook the main meal this year lol wish me luck!! 😉
I hope it was delish! We had ham. 🙂
I’m making this today with the addition of the beer (hubby’s homebrew) as suggested above (and elsewhere). Can’t wait!
I hope it was totally delicious! 🙂
Making this today! How funny…this posted on my birthday 🙂
Happy Birthday to YOU…..a long time ago.
Wine. Or beer works too 🙂 I was raised as a butchers daughter and he also taught me how to hunt. Always when he is cooking a meat that gets a little dry or so called “gamey”, put 2 splashes of wine or beer in. Helps keep it moist, if using red wine gives just a hint of flavor. And it never hurts to drink a little of it while you cook, right??
I have heard that beer makes a very tasty roast. And I’ve also read that some people use Dr. Pepper!
Nice one pot meal, thanks for sharing with Hearth and Soul blog hop.
Thanks for hosting! 🙂
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
If my Daughter In Law will share some Venison I am going to make this flavorful Roast, we would really enjoy it. Hope you have a very special week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Venison was meant to be shared! 🙂
That sounds really yummy, my husband would love this 🙂
Men and their meat are not soon parted. 🙂
We have used apples or apple juice before also. Works great. Another trick we’ve used to tenderize venison is tomato juice. Put it in the pot with the stock. It works great.
Ooooh, good one! I think tomato juice goes well with any meat! 🙂
Never had venison before! No access to it either. Except for maybe the occasional roadkill.
LOL That’s funny, Anne. 🙂
NEVER had venison before…Sounds interesting though I’m not 100% sure I know what it is…lol! Thanks for the recipe!
Jami, you’re cute. 🙂 It’s deer meat.
My husband is a big hunter so, until this year when we got grass fed beef, all of our meat was venison. It took me awhile to get used to it but I actually prefer it. Burgers can be a little on the dry side so I usually mix in a little beef. Onion soup mix is a great seasoning for it!
FYI-Most of the time (not all)the gamey taste comes from the deer’s musk glands. When processing the meat, you need to cut this gland out carefully. I have also heard that a clean kill shot will help in the taste of the meat because the animal is not pumping adrenaline through his system waiting to die while he runs away.
You’re totally right….so far, we’ve avoided the gamey taste. But, when we get our meat ground we always ask for them to add some beef fat to it – works like a charm.
We process our own deer and we add beef burger to ours to help with the dryness.
I’ve heard people complain that venison was oily and fatty and I have always found the complete opposite to be true.
Wow, really? I’ve never had that experience either….they hardly ever have fat. Maybe that deer got a hold of some Snickers. LOL
My favorite trick to taking the “gamey” out of wild game, I learned from my Dad who brought me everything from deer to bear, when he would come to visit…..Along with the onions, garlic, potatoes and a few spices he added apples. He would always quarter 2-3 apples and place them in his pot with the game meat. Worked for him and has worked for me too, many times.
Well, I have never heard that…and I always have apples around!
We love venison. My husband “still” hunts so we don’t have a problem with gamey tasting meat. But if you do have that problem, you can soak the meat overnight in buttermilk. It will take away the wild taste and also tenderize the meat(Bonus!).
Stephanie,
I have heard that before but I never tried it….thanks for the reminder!
Well, what an awesome tip! Thanks for sharing, Stephanie! I’ve been eating it for so long, I don’t notice a game taste either. 🙂
I’m going to try this!! We eat venison all the time sometimes we have it every meal breakfast sausage, bologna sandwiches, and some kind of venison for supper!!!!!
You sound like my kind of gal. 🙂