Wild venison (or elk) slow cooked with carrots and potatoes makes a hearty and tasty venison stew.
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.
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.
As a kid, stew was one of my least favorite meals. I was a picky eater. But now, stew is one I savor! Guess what, mom! I like stew!
Key Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and measurements can be found below. Just scroll to the bottom!
- Venison meat cut into small cubes
- 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
Tips for making stew
- 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!
- Sautee 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 peak or remove lid!
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 meld 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.
More recipes using wild game
We eat a lot of venison and elk in our household. I often substitute it for any meat calling for beef. Some of my favorites include
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
Equipment
Ingredients
Meat
- 2 pounds venison (cut into 2 inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Stew
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- 2 stalks celery (diced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ cup red wine
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 6 carrots (peeled and chopped)
- 6 medium red potatoes (peeled and quartered)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
Instructions
Meat
- Place olive oil in a heavy cast iron dutch oven pot and heat over medium high heat.
- Sprinkle meat lightly with salt. Add a few pieces of meat to the hot pot and brown all sides
- Remove meat and repeat until all meat has been browned
Stew
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees
- In same pot, sautee onions and celery until softened. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
- Pour in wine to deglaze pan. Stir removing all browned bits from bottom of pan. Cook until wine is reduced.
- Add flour and stir to coat. Add beef broth and stir
- Stir in tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce
- Add potatoes, carrots, browned meat (and any juices from meat) into pot
- Stir in seasonings.
- 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.
Notes
- 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!
Lisa says
I bought a Dutch oven just so I could try this recipe. The flavors were incredible. They brought out the nutty, herbal, naturally good flavors of the venison. It's a keeper and one I will share with friends and family. So pleased I discovered your site. Thank you!!!
Kathy says
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much! The slow cooking really brings all the wonderful flavors together.
So glad you enjoyed and thanks for leaving such a lovely comment!
Kathy 🙂
Valentina says
What a comforting stew. I love all of the hearty root vegetables combined with the meat. There's a restaurant near us (The Saddle Peak Lodge) that serves many venison dishes and it's always a treat to go there. Hopefully post Covid, we'll go again! This looks wonderful. 🙂 ~Valentina
David @ Spiced says
This sounds like the perfect comfort food meal for a snowy day! (And we just got 2+ feet dumped on us last night...) We don't have much venison around here, but I always had a freezer full when I lived down South. I'll be making this version with beef, and I'll definitely keep it mind if I do get lucky and find venison. Thanks for sharing!
Kathy says
Stay warm and cozy with all that snow!