Make this easy roast venison recipe for any upcoming celebrations. It's perfect for celebratory occasions such as birthdays, festive feasts and more.
This 'cook to impress' gourmet roast venison recipe is simpler than it looks. We all know that roasting meat is a delicate matter and involves a lot of patience.
However, that's all there is to this roast venison. If you make a lovely venison marinade to go along, your roast venison will yield the most tender meat ever.
With heavier meats such as venison or other game, I recommend pairing them with a lighter side dish. Although, you can opt for a luscious sweet potato mash accompanied by a lovely full bodied red wine.
If you have any leftover venison, you can pair the remaining meat with a salad, too. Enjoy mastering this roast venison recipe and let it become the family favourite for the holidays!
easy venison roast recipe
For those of you who are still unsure what venison is, let me explain. Simply put, venison is the meat of a deer. It refers to any cut of meat that comes from the deer.
The roast cut is the best for this venison roast recipe. The roast cut of the deer is generally taken from the hindquarters. However, another popular cut for roasting is leg of venison. For this recipe, you will learn how to roast a haunch of venison.
If you are wondering what venison tastes like – it is rich. You might also detect earthy flavours as well as notes of sage and acorn. These are the herbs that the deer consumes throughout its life, so it is no surprise to find hints of them in the flavour of the meat.
Lastly, if this is your first time eating venison, don't expect it to be as juicy as a cut of beef. Because although venison is smoother and firmer, it is less juicy.
As a general rule, most cuts of different types of meat are excellent for slow-roasting. Just take a look at these and tempt yourself with other slow-roast recipes such as:
- 7 hour slow-roast shoulder of lamb - worth the wait!
- Indian roast leg of lamb - a different take on traditional winter roast recipes.
how to serve roast venison
First and foremost, before you cut a slice – you have to let the venison rest. The juices inside the meat must rest, otherwise the roast venison will lose all of its moisture.
Give it some time and let the juices incorporate into the meat. After a couple of minutes, cut the venison into thin, 1 cm slices. Continue this process as evenly as possible for all the slices.
A fair warning though. Don't slice up the entire roast meat. Just slice through a half or as needed, depending on the number of people you are serving.
If you do slice up the entire meat, the meat will cool down quicker and won't be as tender. Plus you lose a bit of the theatre and the overall wow effect of a winter roast recipe.
Once you are done slicing, cover the venison with aluminum foil so that no more heat escapes!
best side dishes for roast venison
Let's start with the traditional sides that one generally expects to see with heavier meats. You can choose from the following traditional sides for roast recipes:
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
- roasted sweet potato mash - sweet and creamy mash that's worthy of eating out of a serving bowl.
- rosemary roast potatoes - one of the classic side dishes that pair with everything!
- sweet potato gratin - a filling and cheesy side that's so sinful but delish!
- potato bacon and brie tartiflette - is so filling that you can also eat it alone as it is!
For lighter side dishes for this venison roast, you can consider the following:
- cumin roast carrots - feel free to leave out the cumin spice and substitute with rosemary or thyme.
- roasted pumpkin, red peppers and onion - a recipe which includes a sweet balsamic and mustard dressing.
- vegan cauliflower mash - is light as air and low on calories.
- carrot and turnip mash - a lighter alternative to those filling carb-heavy mashes!
So many to choose from and all equally delicious! Feel free to make more than one side dish for the venison roast. Your guests will be delighted to have a varied selection.
wine pairing for roast venison
To respect the integrity and full umami flavour of the meat, you should definitely pair the roast venison with a red wine. The red wine should have origins from a sunny country.
The more sun the better! I recommend going for a full-bodied Californian Cabernet Sauvignon. More specifically, something from Napa Valley, California will have loads of body as well as gorgeous vanilla and marmalade aromas.
Although the Californian wines might be too heavy for wine lovers, they pair perfectly with roast recipes. Besides, you can easily purchase red wines from Napa Valley, California.
If you'd rather have a different wine originating from elsewhere, then I recommend going for a red wine from the South of France. Try a red wine from the Languedoc region in France. They are well-balanced and hold bold full-bodied flavours which are very enjoyable.
Just don't pair this recipe with a white wine or a rose wine. It has to be a full-bodied, heavy dry red wine!
leftover roast venison
It wouldn't surprise me if you end up with some leftovers as venison cuts can be rather large. Another factor is that venison can be quite filling, especially when combined with heavy sides.
If you have some pieces of meat for the next day, you can easily reheat them in the microwave. Next, whip up a Cucumber Salad or a caramelised onion & potato salad.
In fact, if you are feeling slightly lazy, you won't even need to worry about heating up the pieces of roast venison. Although it might not be juicy, the meat will definitely not be chewy.
The choice is yours! How will you eat your leftover pieces of roast venison?
Print📖 Recipe
Roast Venison
- Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Master this easy roast venison recipe and learn how to roast a haunch of venison! Combine with herbs such as rosemary and pair with festive side dishes.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Remove the venison from the fridge and leave for 30 minutes to let the meat reach room temperature.
- Make small incisions evenly across the venison and insert a garlic piece or rosemary sprig in each hole.
- Preheat the oven to 230℃(450°F).
- Fry the onions in the butter until softened.
- Arrange the onions in the centre of a roasting dish.
- Place the venison on top of the onions and pour the oil over the meat, ensuring to cover all areas of the meat.
- Season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Roast the meat for 20 minutes in the oven, then remove from the heat.
- Lower the oven setting to 180℃(350°F) and wait for the oven to reach the correct temperature.
- Meanwhile, baste the venison with the oil and juices collected at the bottom of the pan.
- Roast the meat for 25 minutes and check the meat’s internal temperature with a meat thermometer. If you want rare you need 52℃(125°F). Closer to medium is 55℃(130°F). It’s better to go too raw than overcooked because you can simply return the meat to the oven in case of the former.
- When the meat has been cooked to desired doneness, let it rest for at least 20 minutes but preferably 30 minutes, before carving.
- While the meat is resting, pour the onions and cooking juices in a saucepan.
- Pour in the stock and preserve and let the mixture reach a bubbling point.
- Blend the contents in a food processor until smooth.
- Serve slices of venison with typical Sunday roast trimmings such as roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots, buttered sprouts and the sweet onion gravy.
Notes
- Venison stock isn’t readily available so you can use beef stock or red wine instead.
- Venison doesn’t fare well when cooked to well done. It’s a lean meat that will dry out and become stringy. So if it’s reached 63℃(145°F) you killed it.
- Add more stock if you’d like to thin the sauce.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Scottish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 511
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 23 mg
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.1 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 77.8 g
- Cholesterol: 8 mg
save the recipe to your pinterest board
LTMcG
Thanks for the recipe! Worked out great!
Sharon
Hey Michelle, we made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. We now know that every other recipe we have used for venison was dreadfully wrong as the meat was overcooked. Will only ever use this recipe to roast venison in the future.
The Sweet Onion Gravy is truly a winner.
I didn't have Blackcurrant Preserve, so I used my homemade Fig Preserve, it was a party in my mouth! Mmn, mmn.
Lyndsey Keohane
Absolutely devine way to cook deer. Twas sumptuous to say the least. Many Thanks!!!
Ed Menard
I’d never leave that much fat in a venison roast though. The fat is the “gamey-tasting” part, and venison fat doesn’t render down like beef fat. Trim it off beforehand and you’ll be much happier.
Mike
If "rare" is 125 deg F, then no, "medium" is NOT 130 deg F.
Jill
Followed the recipe to the letter and it was perfect!
Moist as hot and cold!
MmmmMmmm
Michelle Minnaar
So pleased you liked it, Jill!
alison Edwards
I would cook Jacob's ladders in a barbecue sauce - what a great piece of equipment
Pamela
Love me some venison for sure!