These Venison Meatballs are the best ever. They’re tender and meaty, but not gamey at all. You can make a big batch of them to use up that ground deer meat.
I have to confess that ground venison is sometimes not my favorite thing. I really don’t love that iron like flavor it can sometimes add. I was raised always having turkey or ground beef, so it’s normally my goal to kind of try to hide the flavor a little bit.
My husband J just harvested a beautiful buck this year, and we believe in respecting your harvest. So, to the kitchen I go!
We had friends over for dinner the other week, and I spent the day testing recipes & hoped these venison meatballs would be a big hit. Just like these smoked venison meatballs, they always are. I made a double batch of the below so I could freeze half to reheat on a busy day. Just omit the meat in my weeknight bolognese recipe for an easy sauce!
Well, it’s safe to say that I’m not sure how many meatballs actually MADE it to the freezer, as soon as these came out of the oven J and I were munching on them all day like they were candy! I kid you not – these are amazing.
We are going to use a little bit of ground pork to add flavor and fat here. But, I think the big secret is the bit of red wine vinegar. I add it when I’m done sauteing the onions and garlic to add to the meat before baking them.
Always always saute your onions and garlic before adding them to things like meatballs and meatloaf. That raw flavor won’t bake out, if you ask me.
Then you roll them up.
And bake them off.
Don’t worry if the fat renders out. Just scoop the meatballs out around it, and let them cool and freeze them for later, or add them right into your favorite sauce before serving.
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Best Ever Venison Meatballs
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
These Venison Meatballs are the best ever. They’re tender and meaty, but not gamey at all. You can make a big batch of them to use up that ground deer meat.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 lb. ground venison
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond meal
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion. Saute for about 4 minutes and add the garlic, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook until lightly caramelized.
- Add the onion and garlic mixture to a large bowl with the venison, pork, egg and almond meal. Mix well (I like to use my hands).
- Scoop the meatball mixture out into even balls, I like to use a large cookie scoop with about 1 + 1/2 tablespoons in each ball.
- Place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove any fat that has rendered off the meatballs.
- Add them to your favorite sauce, or freeze them on a flat cookie sheet in the freezer and store in a large bag or container when frozen to use later.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 4-5 meatballs
- Calories: 314
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 481 mg
- Fat: 21 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 28 g
- Cholesterol: 311 mg
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We just made theses meatballs tonight for dinner and they are delicious! We’ve been cooking venison for years and this recipe has to be one of the best that we have come across! Thank you 😊
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Janis! You reminded me that I need to make a big batch and freeze for the cold months 🙂
Just made this for first time. I substituted almond meal for italian style breadcrumbs. They are absolutely delicious and were easy to make! So glad i stumbled on to your recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so glad, Brenda!
I eat a lot of venison and am always looking for new recipes. This one is top notch and going in the wild game cook book at our house. I’m making a batch this evening for thanksgiving. This is a must try recipe!
★★★★★
We’re having these the day after Thanksgiving! Great minds 🙂 Gald you enjoyed them!
I have a lot of venison sausage (not summer sausage) more like breakfast sausage. what kind of recipes are there for venison sausage?
Can I sub white whole wheat flour for the almond meal? Dear husband is allergic to almonds, but I’d love to try this!
I would sub breadcrumbs, not flour!
Is there anything you would substitute for red wine vinegar?
You could try balsamic vinegar white wine vinegar or lemon juice, but I really would reccomend sticking with red wine vin. It brings out a certain flavor profile.
White vinegar or apple cider vinegar will do the trick as well
Glad that worked for you!
What is the sauce you used for these meatballs?
Try our weeknight bolognese recipe on the blog and don’t use the meat!
Can you admit the pork and just use venison?
*Omit
You can. The flavor and texture will be different but still very good!
Amazing recipe! I made a few tweaks to work with what I’ve got. First, I only had ground sausage not regular ground pork so I used 1 lbs ground sausage and 1lbs ground venison. Secondly, I didn’t have red wine vinegar so I used a 1/2 tbsp of balsamic and a 1/2 tbsp Of white wine vinegar. Third, I don’t have an oven so I browned the meat balls in My instant pot in batches until well browned on all sides but not fully cooked through. Then I added All of the browned meatballs to my instant pot, added a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, a 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green peppers, and a 8 oz can of tomato paste with more Italian seasoning, garlic, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and about a tsp of maple syrup. Finally added about a cup of beef stock and Manual pressure cooked it for 20 minutes And not for 10 minutes. Omg they were the best meatballs and marinara I’ve ever made or had anywhere. Thank you for the inspiration!