It’s easy to cook a venison steak so that it’s juicy, you just need to follow a few rules. A good marinade, a hot grill or pan and not overcooking is key.
I remember the first time I had venison steak. Jared and I had just started dating and I invited him on a camping trip with my friends and I.
To be honest, the venison steak was probably the highlight of the trip seeing that I got the campground directions wrong, a raccoon ran off with our bananas when we arrived after midnight due to my directional challenges, and it poured rain our second day there. I’m sometimes not sure why J stuck around…
Anyway, after the rain cleared Jared took a venison steak he defrosted out of the cooler and cooked it over the open fire. Up until that point, I had only had deer jerky a time of two, and I was really excited to try venison.
We’re still not sure exactly what he did to that steak, but it was absolutely PHENOMENAL. I think our entire group salivated over the perfectly medium-rare cut of meat and it was gone in a flash.
When J and I moved in together sometime later and he harvested another buck, I was excited to make some steak! I’ll never forget unwrapping defrosted venison directly out of butcher paper and putting it right on the grill pan in our apartment. I overcooked and probably under-seasoned the meat…needless to say, it was probably a pizza night, for sure.
The meat I cooked was dry, tough, and way too gamey. So, why was the deer steak he cooked on that trip so much better than what I made?
Fast forward about 6 years and I’m sitting here releasing my very first cookbook that’s all about cooking venison. I’ve come a long way over the past few years and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned.
Venison isn’t like beef. You can’t overcook and under-season it and expect it to still be OK. That really alters the flavor, as well as the texture. Click here for venison cooking 101.
Cooking really good venison steaks isn’t really hard, you just need to keep a few things in mind:
- marinate and/or properly season the meat
- don’t overcook it
- rest before serving
Those 3 steps seem really simple, but they make a world of difference.
Marinate your venison steak
It’s important to choose an acidic marinade with plenty of bright flavors from vinegar or citrus. My all-purpose marinade has plenty of red wine vinegar, lemon, and salt. You certainly don’t have to marinate venison steak but it helps if you’re learning. Follow this recipe when cooking venison chops without marinade.
These 3 ingredients not only work with the “gamey” flavor and tone it down, but they also tenderize the meat and help break down some of the tissue so that it’s buttery soft after you cook it. If you’re newer to eating venison/deer meat, I do recommend using a marinade because the flavor is different than the beefy flavor you may be expecting.
With venison steaks, I marinate for at least 3 hours, but up to overnight. I know that seems long, but it works great for me!
A note: If you’re working with really beautiful steaks from the loin/backstrap, you may not need a marinade if your meat is cooked appropriately. Or, if you’re familiar with the taste of deer, go ahead and skip this step if you’d like.
Simple salt and pepper go a long way. I like to season liberally before cooking and then I finish a rested steak with a light squeeze of lemon and flakey salt.
Counter Rest/Pat Dry Before Cooking
Another great tip is to let your meat come to room temperature on the counter for 30-45 minutes before cooking. This will not make your food go bad, it simply ensures more even cooking because the center won’t be cold when you cook to medium-rare (more on this below).
You also want to pat your steaks entirely dry with a paper towel before cooking them. I NEVER rinse my proteins, but I do pat them dry, even if I marinade, to encourage a nice, brown crust on the meat. Liquid causes steam in the pan which shoots you in the foot if you’re trying to create a sear. This tip applies to cooking most proteins.
Don’t overcook it
Venison steak should be cooked to medium-rare or even rare plus if you like a rare steak. I pull my steaks from the grill or pan as soon as they reach 117-125F – I prefer 117F. They still cook a bit after you remove them and I always use a digital read thermometer to make sure I’m really precise.
You honestly can’t overlook this step. I’m all about making things easy on you and laid-back recipes, but if you overcook your meat…you’re going to be sorry. This is a HARD and fast rule in my book.
I understand that not everyone likes rare/medium-rare meat but I encourage you to try. My medium steak kind of guy has been converted.
Rest before serving
Also…don’t cut into your meat right after it comes off the heat. As much as it does look amazing, allow it to rest so the juices have a chance to creep back into the meat for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Get together your side dishes, set the table, etc. Just give that meat time to rest!
Follow these steps and you’ll be set to have a nice, juicy and flavorful piece of meat that’s the start of your plate!
Make sure you put my Juicy Venison Burgers on your next grill night menu!
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Venison Steak
It’s easy to cook a venison steak so that it’s juicy, you just need to follow a few rules. A good marinade, a hot grill or pan and not overcooking is key.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes + 4+ hour marinade
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 24 minutes + 3+ hour marinade
- Yield: about 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Grill/Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- about 1 and 1/2 lbs of venison steaks, at least 1 inch thick – here I’m using 4, 6oz. venison tenderloin medallions, you could also use medallions from the backstrap/loin (sometimes called chops)
- 1 batch All-Purpose Venison Marinade or acidic marinade of choice (you’ll need about 1/2 cup marinade – see below*)
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- optional – extra lemon for serving
Instructions
- Remove the steaks from their packaging and put them on a plate or in a bowl lined with a paper towel. This absorbs old blood while defrosting and creates a more palatable taste.
- If you’re marinating your steaks, add your venison to a zip-top bag or a bowl with a lid. Again, this recipe works best with steaks that are at least 1 inch thick, but you can use this method for a flank steak or a thinner cut, just alter the cooking time.
- Pour your marinade all over the steaks and make sure everything is coated. Marinate for at least 3 hours, but up to overnight for really tender/flavorful steaks. If you aren’t fond of the natural taste of venison, opt for a longer marinade time, the acid will develop the flavor so that it’s more pleasing to you.
- When you’re ready to cook, remove the steaks from the marinade and let them come to room temperature for 20-30 minutes before you cook (this is safe to do, it ensures even cooking).
- Pat the steaks dry, wiping off the marinade, but DO NOT rinse them off. If you haven’t used a marinade, pat them very dry and season them all over with salt and pepper.
- If you used my marinade recipe, there’s no need to add more oil for the grill. If you didn’t mariante, a drizzle of olive oil is nice for grilling. I like to pierce my steaks with a fork all over to further tenderize them (see the photo in the post), but this is optional.
- If you’re using a grill to cook, preheat it to medium-high, about 450-500F. If you’re cooking in a pan, preheat a well-seasoned cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it’s very very hot.
- Place the steaks on the grill or in the pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes per side (this will depend on steak thickness), but keep an eye on the internal temperature. You want to pull the steaks at 117-125F for a rare plus/medium-rare steak, it’s very important not to overcook venison.
- Once the steaks are cooked, remove them from the heat source at once and let them rest for at least 10 minutes before serving or slicing.
- Season with a bit more salt (flakey salt if you have it) and pepper if desired and a light squeeze of lemon. Enjoy!
Notes
My All-Purpose Marinade Recipe:
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
½ lemon, juiced
3 garlic cloves, minced and smashed
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz. serving w/ marinade
- Calories: 288
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 1247 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 51 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: venison, steak, deer, wild game, grill
This post was published in July 2020 and was updated in October 2023.
I was never a great cook. So I came here to this site to get some tips to work with my electric salt pepper shaker. Life is always easy with smart gadgets to add in the cooking world. WQhat do you think ?
Uh, kinda unhelpful by leaving out your marinade recipe ingredients and proportions. That makes this a guide…and not a recipe.
Mark – you’ll see that this is a “how to” post, so it is more of a guide. You can also click on my marinade recipe (which takes less time than leaving a rude comment!) or use a family favorite!
Except that you didn’t provide the link anywhere on this page (I’ve looked 4 times). That told me as a reader you weren’t planning to give it to us. It’s also why you probably don’t have more positive comments on the guide – because you don’t make it obvious for where the reader should get the recipe. Obvious => easy => higher likelihood of trying => positive results => more positive comments. I’m sure you’re a nice person, but this is a growth opportunity for you as a blogger and designer: don’t make things difficult for your reader, you have to make it as easy as possible. I found this page on Google because I was searching for a recipe, not a how-to guide, so not seeing any link to the recipe was frustrating and it wasted my time. I’ve since found it, but hopefully you understand now how we got here. Good luck.
Hi Mark – the recipe is actually linked twice in the post. Once in the card and once in the body text. While I certainly don’t appreciate the degrading comments and the assumptions you have made about myself and my business, I’m disappointed to hear that you had such a hard time locating the link and will make some changes to make this post more user friendly. Contrary to your assumptions, my readers are the driving force behind our small business. They’re why I continue to publish free content, answer questions, provide resources, reply to comments, messages and emails at all hours of the day – I absolutely adore them. I usually let negative comments go, but the reason “we got here” is because you decided it was OK to rip apart someone’s professional work (that actually has helped others) without having any context. MAK has continued to fight to survive this year like many small businesses and projects like expensive redesign have been put on the back burner so that we can provide for our team members. How would you feel if a stranger walked into your place of work and criticized you without knowing anything about you or the evolution of your business? This is not some kind of scheme. It’s a privilege for me to create this type of content and I don’t take that lightly. This is a simple how-to post that was published to help people create special meals and moments with loved ones. Unfortunately, your negativity will affect my business and if it will be impactful for others going forward. Before you leave your next negative comment online, I would challenge you to think about what you could be wrongfully assuming.
I am assuming that Mark’s a doofus
Great marinade and advice. I found the link in this post twice and found it in the notes section. Some people just don’t know how to internet. Please don’t blame others for your ignorance. Oh, I forgot, ignorant people don’t know their ignorant.
Haha! Thanks so much, Mark! Glad you were about to find this recipe!
You hit the nail right on the head. Without the ingredients for the marinade the recipe is worthless.
★★★
My daughter (9) and I both shot big bucks over the holidays. I’ve been looking for a great way to cook the butterfly steaks. Thanks for taking the time to try and help.
★★★★★
Wow! Thank you so much for this guide!
This is our first year hunting and my son got an 8 point buck. I had no idea how to prepare it.
I’m glad you posted this. The marinade is awesome. So tasty and your tips were great.
I didn’t know what Italian seasoning is so I used parsley instead in the marinade and it was awesome.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’m so so glad it was helpful, Sandra! Congrats to you both!
Always like to find new ways for preparing venison. We enjoyed the guide and the marinade recipe. The citrus was a nice change from our normal soy sauce base. The leftover even paired well with eggs for breakfast.
★★★★★
AH!! Breakfast leftover is my favorite. Glad you enjoyed it!
This was lovely, was a hit, Great marinade, subbed lime juice as I had no lemons. Happy from Switzerland 🇨🇭
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it!!
I have more of a question than a comment. I find that if I let my steaks rest it’s usually cold when we eat. I like my steak hot. Is there something I can do that will keep it hot but not over cook?
My steaks are usually still warm when I eat if they rest for 10 minutes! Unfortunately, keeping them in a heat source will overcook them.
Hi, appreciate your recipe and think the marinade stage might help me. I cook version steaks frequently but it’s a hit and a miss to be honest. Maybe a marinade will make the difference 😉. Can you tell me when you let the steaks rest, is it in the pan? And do you think 2 minutes each side would be right for a 1/2 inch steak? Thanks again and all the best.
Nope, to rest any meat you need to take it out of a hot pan or it will continue to cook. On a cutting board is best, or a plate. I’d say that sounds about right for cooking time, but I’d encourage you to get a digital read thermometer.
This may seem like a silly question, but this will be my first time cooking venison. So, do you flip the steaks? If so when?
Thanks so much! I’m excited to try this!
Yes! I usually check them after 3-5 minutes!
I made this tonight, with your marinade… My husband said he almost didn’t even know it was venison! I don’t eat venison, but he said it was really good!!
★★★★★
This makes me so happy! I’m glad he enjoyed!
I can honestly say without hesitation that your venison steak recipe is by far the best I’ve ever had. It’s easy to follow and the ingredients are simple. To Mark and Michael, sounds like y’all are a bunch of damn trolls.
★★★★★
Trolls for sure. I wonder if they look anything like the troll figures from the 90’s … haha
Not that it matters or is any of my business but I am super curious as to whether you are Jared that is mentioned in the post, or some other Jared.
Anyway, moody mark and miserable mike should get a life, maybe pick up a hobby or something. Marinade was awesome, and was not hard to locate at all!
★★★★★