If you have wild game meat in your freezer, you will LOVE my Tasty Ground Deer Meat Goulash (easy venison recipe).
This venison goulash recipe is a quick and easy comfort food recipe. It is a perfect dinner for these crisp fall nights or even Christmas eve! Most of the United States is in the prime deer hunting season and freezers are being filled daily with fresh deer meat. With a husband who is an avid hunter, we fall into that category.
As a quick 30 minutes dinner option, I love to whip this up for my family on our busy sports-filled evenings! The best part about this delicious recipe is that it tastes even better the next day when you reheat it in a pan with some butter. Mmmm-mmm-goooood!!
Why this recipe works
With simple ingredients that are readily available in most kitchens, this ground venison goulash is a spin off of a tradition beef goulash. It will quickly become a favorite hearty family meal of yours!
Sometimes instead of searching for a new recipe for dinner, I just want to go back to my childhood and make a family favorite that my grandma frequently made for us. There is something special about grandma's goulash (and her version was ground beef, not venison goulash). Because she used shell noodles instead of elbow macaroni, so do I. Traditions stick sometimes, you know?
If you love this ground venison goulash, you should check out some of my other wild game recipes such my Italian Wedding Soup with Venison Meatballs, Venison Hamburger Helper, or my simple Venison Bierocks.
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Ingredients
- Oil- You can use any sort of wild animal fat, lard, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil. I will use rendered bacon grease as a first choice and avocado oil if I do not have the first option available. Just remember a tablespoon of oil is all it takes for this recipe.
- Spice- Salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Italian Seasoning
- Pasta- As grandma always made it, we prefer our goulash is made with shell pasta, but you can use elbows or any other pasta that you prefer.
- Tomato - If you make and can your own stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce, you will need a 32 ounce quart jar of sauce, but if you buy it you will need 2 large 15 ounce cans. My first choice is a quart of stewed tomatoes, but I have to run it through the blender because my kids are picky about chunky tomato bits.
- Ground Deer Meat - You can substitute the meat with ground beef, ground turkey, ground elk, ground moose, or even ground bear. We prefer to use deer burger because it has the least gamey taste out of all wild game.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a enamel coated Dutch oven add your oil and venison. Cooking the burger until done.
- When the venison is done cooking, strain as much grease possible from the pan and add in the chili powder, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning. Stir until the the meat is well coated with the spices.
- Over low heat add the tomato sauce with the meat and the strained pasta. Stir until well combined! Then let it cook for 5-10 minutes until hot.
- I like to let it sit for about 5 mintues to give the pasta time to soak up the seasoned tomato sauce.
- Serve and Enjoy!
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. For more delicious recipes from scratch and homesteading tips, follow me on instagram @NinnescahHomestead
Recipe
Venison Goulash
Equipment
- skillet or dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil avocado oil, lard, bacon fat
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 quart stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 1 pound shell pasta
- 1 ½ pound ground venison elk, deer or substitute ground beef
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, in an enamel coated Dutch oven add your oil and venison. Cooking the burger until done.
- When the venison is done cooking, strain as much grease possible from the pan and add in the chili powder, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning. Stir until the the meat is well coated with the spices.
- Over low heat add the tomato sauce with the meat and the strained pasta. Stir until well combined! Then let it cook for 5-10 minutes until hot.
- Let it sit for about 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
TIPS AND TROUBLESHOOTING
- It is important to cook the past to el dente. The pasta will continue to cook more once it is added to the hot red sauce mixture.
- To decrease the prep time and cook time of this meal, I would recommend frying the ground meat and mixing the sauce together as the noodles are cooking.
- The benefit to using a Dutch oven is that it can go right into the oven. I know some people like to top their American goulash with shredded cheese. If you so choose, you can sprinkle the shredded cheese right onto the goulash in the Dutch oven and place the whole pan into the oven to melt the cheese. This is save you the hassle of having a casserole dish to wash also.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
- This American-style goulash pairs very well with a nice warm piece of bread. It goes well with both Sourdough Batard or Plain white bread!
- If your family does not mind chunks of vegetables in their food, you can use a ½ of white onion in place of the onion powder and two minced garlic cloves in place of the garlic powder.
- If you you have aged shredded parmesan cheese, try to sprinkle it on top when you make you plate! It adds some additional delicious flavor to it. You can also add cheddar cheese to the top and cook it in the oven until bubbly.
Nutrition
Helpful Equipment
- A large pot for making the pasta.
- An enamel-coated cast iron Dutch oven for frying the meat and mixing the whole dish together or a large cast-iron skillet.
- Measuring spoons
- Wooden spoon
Tips and Troubleshooting
- It is important to cook the past to al dente. The pasta will continue to cook more once it is added to the hot red sauce mixture.
- To decrease the prep time and cook time of this meal, I would recommend frying the ground meat and mixing the sauce together as the noodles are cooking.
- The benefit to using a Dutch oven is that it can go right into the oven. I know some people like to top their American goulash with shredded cheese. If you so choose, you can sprinkle the shredded cheese right onto the goulash in the Dutch oven and place the whole pan into the oven to melt the cheese. This is save you the hassle of having a casserole dish to wash also.
Serving Suggestions
- This American-style goulash pairs very well with a nice warm piece of bread. It goes well with both Sourdough Batard or Plain white bread!
- If your family does not mind chunks of vegetables in their food, you can use a ½ of white onion in place of the onion powder and two minced garlic cloves in place of the garlic powder.
- If you you have aged shredded parmesan cheese, try to sprinkle it on top when you make you plate! It adds some additional delicious flavor to it. You can also add cheddar cheese to the top and cook it in the oven until bubbly.
How to store/refrigerate/freeze/thaw
- Venison goulash will store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To reheat it, place a pan on the stove over medium-high heat and add some butter to it. Once the butter has melted add in your leftover goulash and stir. Reduce the medium heat, continuing to stir occasionally until warm. This will take about 10 minutes, depending on how much you are heating up.
- I don't think this recipe holds up well to freezing because the noodles break down.
FAQ
You can substitute any ground meat in place of the venison in this recipe. I recommend using another ground wild game or ground beef, but ground turkey or ground chicken will also work. You may need to strain the fat off of the meat if you use beef.
Ground venison, does not need to be tenderized or marinaded prior to cooking it. You treat venison burger the same way you do hamburger. Most people usually can not tell the difference between venison and beef.
This venison goulash is easy, fast and packed full of flavor! No gamey-tasting deer meat, here! I know you will love this recipe and I can't wait to hear all about it! If you make it, please leave a comment and rating!
Happy cooking!
-Meg
More venison recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
The perfect dessert
These are my favorite desserts to serve with venison goulash:
Pam
Hi Meg!
I just have to tell you that this recipe has become a go-to dinners on our busy weekday sport night! I have also used ground beef, ground chicken and ground turkey for it and they all turn out delicious!
Connie
I was looking for new recipes that would help me use some of the ground venison in our freeze. With my husband being an avid hunter we are overwhelmed with wild game meat. This recipe was perfect and took the gamey taste out of the meat.
Meg
Connie,
Yay! I'm so happy to hear it! If your family liked this venison goulash, I bet they would also love the Venison Hamburger Helper on this site. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
-Meg
Kelly
I followed the recipe to the T, only doubled it! Amazing! Had warm french bread with browned garlic butter! I’ll be making this again!
Meg
Hi Kelly! I'm so glad this recipe was a winner for you! I think it would be DELICIOUS with garlic bread and browned garlic butter. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
- Meg
Jackie
Tried it just now. Kids said I smelled good. Tasty! Added mushrooms. Thanks