Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 4-5 hours in the oven or 6-9 hours in a crock pot
Serves: 6-8 people
This is my “old reliable”, “my set it and forget it”, and my “go-to” for a hearty dinner on a cold day. Venison Pot Roast…this is also the way I introduce “non-venison eaters” to the new world of eating anything but beef. You can make this recipe with a plain old beef pot roast, you can use elk, moose, antelope, whatever you have. The only difference between your choice of meats is the amount of fat you are going to deal with. Beef on one side of the scale, will be super fatty…..venison on the other will have little to no fat.
So, what does fat matter anyway? Well, fat is flavor…..so there’s that. But if you cook this recipe right, the fat wont matter. We are going to use vegetables, wine, and broth to make up for the lack of fat in our venison pot roast…..and it’s going to turn out great, I promise.
Ok, get your venison roast and thaw it out overnight. I use a “ham” or hind quarter roast for this dish, but you can use anything you want. On occasion I use two or three small roasts in place of one large from time to time. Just think about how many people you want to feed and we can work from there. The key to this recipe is that you can’t add too many veggies, and as long as you have enough liquid in your pot to almost cover the roast….you will be 100% perfect!
What you need:
- One 2-3 lbs. venison roast/ham
- One Vidalia Onion chopped (any sweet/yellow onion will do)
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 2 ribs of celery chopped
- 4 cloves garlic smashed and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 pepperoncini peppers
- 1 package of brown gravy (gluten free if you would like)
- Kosher salt to taste
Ready to get started?
- Dice up all the veggies and garlic and put 3/4’s of them in your braising pot (crock pot works awesome here).
- Place your thawed-out roast on top and scatter the rest of your chopped veggies on top (place those two pepperoncini peppers on top too).
- Pour in your beef stock and red wine.
- Cover and put in oven at 300 degrees for about an hour per pound. Or you can set your crock pot to the high setting and leave covered for about 4 hours.
- Right around the 4-hour mark, I take the top off and cut the roast in quarters (top to bottom and left to right). Cover and let cook for another hour. You want the meat to start to pull apart and separate. Think “pulled pork”. Venison does not have that vast amount of fat like a beef roast….so you will need to cut it to smaller pieces and cook for some extra time to get that good “fall apart” texture. You will know it when you see it.
- When you feel the texture is right, take your package of gravy and mix really well in a cup of cold water (the cold water will keep the gravy mixture from clumping). Next, pour the gravy mixture into the pot and stir well. This will thicken up your sauce….pull that bay leaf out (and throw away)….and you are ready to serve.
I can’t tell you how many times I have passed on this venison pot roast recipe. I love this dish!! There are tons of possibilities with your left overs. We make a sort of Italian Beef/French Dip sandwich with the leftovers…or you can make enchiladas or tacos…Sheperd’s Pie…..or we add to eggs and toast for an awesome breakfast. The sauce is super rich, the venison will fall apart, and everyone will go to bed fat and happy. Don’t forget to serve with potatoes (of any kind…mashed is the best) and lots of red wine (Cabernet is perfect).
Thanks so much for reading, leave a comment, good luck!
Venison Roasts 
Getting the Crock Pot Ready 
Set It & Forget It 
Venison Pot Roast