This scratch-made venison stew recipe is easy to make and the deer meat is fall-apart tender. It’s packed with veggies and simple ingredients.
If you missed it, my husband and I welcomed our baby girl, Madi Jo, in July 2020. While my pregnancy was full of many blessings, I also experienced some pretty serious food aversions in my first trimester. The biggest one really being meat, which was weird for me! Once my aversions calmed down, I finally made this venison stew. I tried it, and it is still my favorite meal I ate while pregnant. That and this venison chili. Go figure!
It was really odd in the beginning to be totally turned off by the sight or smell of venison since we eat some much of it in our home.
(PSA: My cookbook Venison Every Day is now available for purchase!) When I was finally ready to try my hand at eating red meat again, I knew this would be the perfect dish.
The meat gets fall-apart tender and the stew is PACKED with nourishing veggies and a rich and flavorful broth. The recipe is identical to the insanely popular recipe I wrote a few years ago for Instant Pot Venison Stew. It’s just adapted for making on the stovetop, which sometimes I prefer. There’s something about stew simmering on the stove, you know? But, if you’re an Instant Pot lover and you’re short on time, make sure you check out that method, too.
How do you get venison to be tender in stew?
This is one of my most frequently asked questions. And for you, I have two tips.
- Remove all sinew.
- Sear and braise.
What is sinew, you ask?
Sinew is the silvery connective tissue that you see running through your venison. When it isn’t removed, it causes venison to curl up like a rubber band and get really tough.
I love stew because you can cut venison into small, bite-sized pieces and remove the sinew as you go. This helps each bite of venison to be ultra-tender.
Searing and braising are great for venison.
After you cut the venison into bite-sized pieces and remove the sinew, you’re going to want to sear it in a pan to add flavor. I also happen to think that searing the meat first and then cooking it low and slow helps to tenderize things.
Once you sear the venison, it gets removed from the pot until all of the veggies have been sauteed and the liquid has been added. When that happens, you add the seared venison back to the pan and it braises (cooks low and slow in liquid) in the broth with the veggies.
I promise you this results in the most tender stew you’ve ever had in your life. Now, the longer you can let this simmer the better. I like at least an hour, but two hours is better.
Seriously, if you love this recipe, go order my book for over 50 more like it. Or grab my FREE cooking tips & tricks.
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The Best Venison Stew You'll Ever Have
- Total Time: 25 minute
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
This scratch-made venison stew recipe is easy to make and the deer meat is fall-apart tender. It’s packed with veggies and simple ingredients. Gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Whole30 friendly.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. venison, diced with all sinew removed – I used leg meat*
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 and 1/2 cups diced potatoes, I left the skin on (about 3 medium potatoes)
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp. herbs de Provence*
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 15 0z. can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups unsalted beef stock or venison stock
- 3–4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Dice the venison into bite-sized chunks, being sure to remove any of the silvery sinew tissue. Leaving this on makes the meat tough.
- Add the olive oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, allow the venison to saute for 5-7 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove the venison from the pot and set aside.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Allow the vegetables to saute for about 8-10 minutes, or until they begin to soften.
- Then, add the garlic, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper and cook for an additional minute before adding the tomatoes, broth and Worcestershire sauce. Then, add the venison back to the pot. Stir well and bring the stew to a boil.
- Once a boil is reached, turn the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and allow the stew to simmer for 1-2 hours until the venison is tender.
- Serve hot (is amazing with crusty bread).
Notes
- beef would work well, too! You can use any cut of venison, backstrap would be lovely. Leg meat is tough, so this recipe helps it to be tender and delish!
- If you want to make this in the slow cooker, saute the venison in a pan and add it to the slow cooker with all of the other ingredients. Let it cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Head here for an Instant Pot version.
- herbs de Provence is a French spice blend. It’s lovely and Wal Mart actually has a great organic variety for under $3. If you have to substitute, use Italian seasoning.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
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My husband and I LOVE this recipe. He’s made it twice now and it’s just so good! It is our go-to and love that it can be made on the stovetop, slow cooker or Instant Pot. This is a must make!
Ashley recently posted…Life Lately: We’re Pregnant!
★★★★★
Ashley – you guys are THE BEST <3 THank you!
When do you add the venison back to the pot?
You can add it right after you add the tomatoes, broth, and Worcestershire!
Where can I find your cookbooks?
Venison Every Day is available on Amazon, and online bookstore retailers!
I made this tonight and it was just as you described. I will be making it again.
Made this recipe with the last of the venison from 2019.
Everyone loved it including my picky eater 10 year old who is on her third bowl.
I have already had to promise to make it again when the freezer is restocked with this fall’s harvest.
Thanks for a new family favorite.
★★★★★
Andrew- thanks SO much for your comment. This truly makes my day!
I just made this and it is ROCKING AWSOME!!! Can’t wait to share the recipe. Gonna let it season for a day and get a nice loaf of bread and sink into venison stew bliss.
★★★★★
Ah pure bliss! So glad you enjoyed it, Edwin!
I added a pack of liston onion soup to this. It was great!
yum! glad you liked it!
ha anyone tried substituting Rotel tomatoes for diced tomatoes?
I haven’t but I’m sure they’d work fine and alter the flavor slightly if you use the same quantity.
I love it!!! The only thing I did differently is we have sweet Italian sausage ground & mixed. I added that with the cubed. Then doubled the rest. You are right a loaf of fresh artisan bread with it would be wonderful. Now he’s got some frozen for this hunting season.
Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
I’ve made this twice now. Once for our dinner and I recently tripled the recipe to take meals to friends & family. My family raves about how tender the venison was. Melt in your mouth. Definitely making more this winter.
★★★★★
This was simple to make and absolutely declicous. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Hi,
Sorry if I missed it in the article, but how many does this standard recipe serve? I plan on doubling or tripling the ingredients just to be safe but don’t want to over do it.
Hey Vicki! This recipe serves 6-8 so you can plan around that!
I LOVE this stew! We cook with venison a lot and this is by far the most tender! I have eaten this 3 times in one week! If you’ve never made venison meatballs, you should! They are my next favorite and then venison meatloaf!!
★★★★★
Thank you SO much, Kate!
How many calories per serving ??
This is a fabulous recipe. What other vegetables do you think could be added? I always seem to have beets, turnips and parsnips as well as carrots and potatoes.
You can absolutely do turnips and parsnips! I think the beets may alter the recipe too much but the others would be lovely.
I absolutely love this recipe. Usually I tweak recipes a bit but this one is written perfectly. I usually make double- triple the recipe so we have plenty for leftovers.
It’s there an attach nutrition list? I’m trying to find a calorie count per serving.
★★★★★
I’ll add this right away for you! Thanks for the request 🙂
The world of venison is new to me – I started hunting this year and harvested my first buck on the second day of gun season! I have a wonderful mentor 😉 showing me the ropes with regards to preparing venison in a variety of recipes. He’s been hunting for over 30 years and said this venison stew was the BEST he’s ever had! Thank you for a great recipe!
★★★★★
WOW, congrats! And what an honor, thank you!
Making it as we speak! Taste testing and it’s amazing! One small note, I didn’t add the potatoes right away but waited until the last 25 minutes. I thought that they may over cook and fall apart if I were to let them cook that 1.5 hours.
I hope you enjoyed!
So good! I made this as is and everyone loved it. I’m a veggie gal so I might add green beans and mushrooms next time. But my oh my, this was SO delicious! Thanks for the tip about the sinew!
★★★★★
I’m with you!! Check out the new venison veggie soup, for veggie gals like us!
Thank you for this outstanding recipe! My family are not big fans of venison, but everyone loved this stew. It is even better the next day for lunch. I used some of the leftover in a pot pie ( I only thickened it a little) it came out amazing! My father in law asked me to make it again for his birthday dinner. You have come up with a real winner!
★★★★★
Oh wow! What a fantastic idea! We’ll have to try!
I thought this recipe was ok, but needed some jazzing up. First, it was a soup, not a stew–not thick at all. All those glorious veggies and venison in broth. So I made a slurry with 1/3 cup flour and 1/3 cup water, shook it well in a jar to eliminate any lumps, and added it after the soup had been simmering for 90 mins. This thickened it up to my liking but still—it was a bit boring. So, I mixed a box of jiffy corn muffin mix (you can use 1& 2/3 cups of jiffy mix or bisquick) with 1/3 cup of milk (I used almond milk) and 1 T melted butter. Then I dropped the corn muffin mixture onto the boiling stew and covered for 10 minutes. Voila, corn dumplings! Enjoyed it much more this way.
★★★
Glad you found a way to enjoy it!
A competent, solid, flavorful recipe. My only variation: I rolled the venison loin chunks in seasoned flour before browning for a little more body in the broth. And as I simmered this for two full hours covered, I added the potatoes and hour before the finish to keep them nice and firm. I”m having a second-day bowl now and yes, it’s even better a day later.
I made this in a Crockpot. Followed the recipe to a “T” and its just too bland. It turned out into more of a soup-like base and its not that flavorful. Very simple.
★★★
I’m sorry to hear that! We happen to find it very flavorful. However, when you make it on the stovetop, layers of flavor can develop that just doesn’t happen in the slow cooker.
Just bought venison fillet, can this be used in this recipe or would it be better treating it like fillet steak and frying it?
You can certainly use it, but I would advise cooking it in a cast-iron pan or on the grill to medium rare with salt, pepper, and your favorite steak seasoning. That’s such a beautiful cut of meat, this recipe is really for tougher cuts because it helps tenderize.
Lo guisos pueden resultar una buena combinación de distintos alimentos: en un mismo plato podés incluir legumbres, carnes y diferentes verduras y obtener un plato nutricionalmente muy completo. Además, es una buena manera de integrar verduras a la dieta de alguien que no suele comerlas.
When I make a stew I usually add dumplings made with suet, and I season the meat with Old Bay. Do you approve?
★★★★
That sounds great!
I tried it, and it was a delicious recipe. thnxs a lot for this particular recipe.
★★★★★
Absolutely! Thanks for trying!