Everyone was fooled that this chili had no gamey taste whatsoever, but hey everyone, if you're not a venison lover, just substitute any ground meats the chili is fabulous!
I had to give my husband the credit of thinking this one up because he is a huge chili fan, and he said, try the ground venison in place of beef in a chili recipe!
If you have tried my old-fashioned chili or remember my Vegetarian Chili recipes then this ground venison chili will be another new favorite!
The results were fantastic and you would never know this wasn't beef!
Scroll down for this printable recipe!
Fresh is Best
Being this is a gourmet-style meal for us, I always use fresh ingredients.
I love using fresh tomatoes, fresh garlic, peppers and even dried beans cooked fresh.
All of that can be substituted for canned, no problem.
We aren't always fortunate to have a freezer full of deer meat.
But we have plenty of delicious recipes in this post for you to try if you have a freezer full and got lucky to have this delicious meat!
About Venison Meat
When it's Deer-hunting season there are so many great recipes you can choose to cook with this, it's the best red meat!
There are many things to keep in mind about venison's flavor, texture, and health benefits that surpass any other red meat.
Venison is lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in Vitamin B6, B12, and Omega 3 fatty acids.
The tender cuts like loins and tenderloin take well to high heat grilling, pan-searing.
Tougher muscles from the shoulder, shank or neck should be braised or stewed preferably in a slow cooker always slow and low heat!
Seasoning Venison Chili
When seasoning the venison, you should be cautious about how you usually prefer red meats.
Venison seasons very easily, be careful not to over-salt and taste as you go.
My recipe is adapted to our taste buds.
You may like more heat or less, adapt as you go and make sure you start with a little and add as you go to taste.
Ingredients You Will Need to Make Venison Chili
(Scroll down to the printable recipe card for exact measurements)
- ground venison hamburger or chunks of venison stew meat.
- fresh plum tomatoes crushed in a food processor or use 2 16 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
- tomato sauce or paste
- fresh whole garlic cloves, cleaned and minced
- bell pepper sliced up seeds removed
- granulated garlic
- ground cumin
- chili powder
- Merlot, Cabernet or Burgundy wine (you can substitute chicken broth
- light or red kidney beans drained (or 1/2 lb. freshly made beans as shown drained)
- fresh parsley
- granulated garlic powder, oregano, and Italian seasoning
- salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
- butter or pork fat
Slow Cooker Method
As I mentioned, Venison stew meat is much harder to soften, slow cooking is the best method of making anything with this selection of meat if you prefer a chunky chili.
The stew meat should be browned first, then added to the slow cooker, the longer you cook it the more tender it gets.
Always brown it first to get all the flavors in the meat.
Ground venison will be tender no matter which method you pick, slow cooker, stovetop or instant pot pressure cooking modes all will be fine.
Suggestions and Tips
- Any kind of white or red beans, pinto, kidney, freshly made or canned
- Slowly simmer the chili for best results
- For sweetness add some carrots to the sauce, remove at the end
- Always use some form of fat when making venison, it's very lean meat and needs fat you can also add ground pork fat for more flavor instead of butter
Hunting Season
Our hunting season is in November in Upstate New York where my husband hunts on family land.
If you don't have the opportunity to have ground venison or wild game meats, anything can be substituted.
This chili recipe is an easy basic recipe that you can use ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, any stew meats or even wild ground boar meat!
Leaner and Lower Fat
Our freezer is stocked with venison from autumn hunting expeditions.
As I stated earlier, venison is really a lower-fat and lower-calorie red meat to eat.
To reduce even more calories, use reduced-fat sour cream, and reduced-fat shredded cheddar.
Also, this chili is great reheated or as a topping on baked potatoes, in taco shells, over nacho chips and even as a Mexican-style topping on scrambled eggs!
Just get creative and if you have lots left over, freeze it in ziplock freezer bags!
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Don't Forget To Try These Other Great Venison Recipes
Venison Cacciatore
Venison Pot Pie
Venison Fried Rice
Leftover Venison Chili
Any leftover chili? Make nachos!
This chili is perfect for nachos, just add the same toppings in the suggestions on top of tortilla chips.
Top with venison chili, cheese and bake until bubbling.
Yield: 8
Venison Chili Recipe
This is Venison Chili made with either ground Venison meat or Venison Stew Meat depending on what you have available. Both come out great and you will never know it isn't from a cow! The
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 H & 10 M
ingredients:
- 2 pounds venison hamburger or chunks of venison stew meat.
- 2 lbs of fresh plum tomatoes crushed in a food processor or use 2 - 16-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
- 2 fresh whole garlic cloves, cleaned
- 1 bell pepper sliced up seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 cup of Merlot, Cabernet, or Burgundy wine (you can substitute chicken broth) or more
- 3 - 12-ounce size can of light or red kidney beans drained (or 1 lb. freshly made beans as shown drained)
- 2 sprigs of fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon each of granulated garlic powder, oregano, and Italian seasoning
- salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
- 1 stick of butter or use 1 cup of ground pork butt mixed with the venison with 3 tablespoons of oil to saute the meat.
instructions:
How to cook Venison Chili Recipe
- Melt the butter in a large 5-quart saucepan .
- Stir in the peppers, garlic, all seasonings, all spices, salt, pepper, cayenne if using,
- Add the meat you are using ground venison or stew meat and saute until all the pink is gone.
- Note:( If using the stew meat I prefer to only cook it in a pressure cooker, instant pot, slow cooker mode to make sure it's tender.) The ground venison can be used in any cooking mode.
- Pour in the tomatoes, wine or chicken broth, and canned or freshly cooked kidney beans.
- Simmer on low for around 1 hour on the stovetop.
- Note: If a thinner chili is preferred, add more broth or wine.
- If thicker chili is desired then add 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with cold water at the end or crushed tortilla chips around 1 cup to thicken.
- If using a slow cooker 6 to 8 hours on low, 4 to 6 hours on high.
- Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped jalapeno peppers, avocado, and tortilla chips.
Calories
245
245
Fat (grams)
15
15
Sat. Fat (grams)
8
8
Carbs (grams)
22
22
Net carbs
16
16
Sugar (grams)
22
22
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Check out these delicious recipe links below:
Venison Merlot Stew
Venison Cacciatore
Venison Stew Old Fashioned
Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2016. It was edited and re-published in 2020.