Venison Stroganoff

Here’s how to use your wild game harvest to make a quick and easy family dinner. This comforting Venison Stroganoff recipe features tender venison steak in a tangy sour cream mushroom sauce accented with the rich flavour of Worcestershire Sauce. Serve this hearty dish over mashed potatoes, buttered egg noodles, or creamy polenta.

I personally love serving venison or beef stroganoff over homemade Spaetzle and my family loves it too! Add a simple mixed salad or easy Air Fryer Roasted Carrots to complete the meal. Roasting vegetables in an air fryer makes them extra delicious while freeing you to make the main dish.

Why You’ll Love this Venison Stroganoff

This Venison Stroganoff recipe is a great way to learn how to cook game meat. Venison is notoriously difficult to cook because it is so lean. Undercooking or overcooking can lead to chewy, unpalatable results. Additionally, it can sometimes have a ‘gamey’ or wild taste if not cooked properly.

This recipe solves both of those issues. Pounding the venison with a meat mallet both flattens it out for easy cooking and tenderizes it. Furthermore, the tangy mushroom sauce pairs perfectly with the wild taste of the meat.

However, this recipe is not just for beginners it also makes a great ‘go to’ or last-minute recipe for seasoned hunters. And if you don’t hunt at all or have no access to deer meat, you can use beef in this recipe!

Finally, you’re going to love the short ingredients list and prep time for this stroganoff recipe. This crowd-pleasing dish is incredibly easy to make and all you need is a stove. Although I love that this dish comes together in minutes, I’ve also included slow cooker recipe instructions for slow cooking this dish.

What is Stroganoff?

This recipe is similar to the stroganoff recipe I grew up with. However, there are a surprising amount of recipe variations historically and geographically. The original Russian mid 19th C Beef Stroganoff contains dry marinated beef cubes sautéed in butter. The sauce a roux-based mustard, broth, and sour cream sauce with no mushrooms or onions.

Current recipes often include tomato sauce, cream, paprika, white wine, or Worcestershire Sauce. The meat can be cut in different ways, either the original cubes, diced or cut into strips. I’ve also seen recipes for chicken, sausage, and ground beef stroganoff.

Other later additions to this classic Russian dish include mushrooms, onions, pickles, and other vegetables. North Americans love stroganoff served over buttered noodles but in Russia it is served with a side of pickles and crisp potato straws.

Ingredients for Venison Stroganoff

This is a basic, yet classic stroganoff recipe. Feel free to adjust the ingredients, sauce, and seasonings to customize it to your liking.

• Venison
• Mushrooms
• Onion
• Olive Oil
• Flour
• Beef Broth
• Sour Cream
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Garlic

The most tender venison steak cuts are the backstrap (including the loin), tenderloin, foreleg and shoulder, sirloin, and rump, however you can use less tender cuts in this recipe because of the tenderizing step.

This recipe calls for sliced brown or white cremini mushrooms, but you can use any combination of cultivated or wild mushrooms. Try using foraged morels, hedgehog, or oyster mushrooms to keep with the wild theme.

Besides mushrooms and onions, you can add small-diced carrots or peas for extra vegetables. I sometimes add a bit of paprika or Dijon mustard to the sauce. Feel free to replace the onions with wild ramps.

For best flavour results, use only full fat sour cream and high-quality beef stock in the sauce.

How to Make Venison Stroganoff

With a little bit of preparation, you’ll have a delicious stew with tender strips of venison swimming in tasty mushroom sauce. The key is to tenderize the meat before cooking it to perfection.

To begin, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions and sliced mushrooms for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a plate.

Next, place the venison pieces on a cutting board, cover with plastic wrap, and pound with a meat mallet until thin. Slice the meat into thin strips then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. In the same skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over high heat.

Stir fry the venison strips for 5–6 minutes, stirring constantly then add half of the beef broth, salt, and garlic to the skillet. Stir well, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the meat is simmering, combine the remaining beef broth with flour, 1/3 – 1/2 cup sour cream, and a pinch of pepper in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour the sour cream mixture into the skillet. Add the sautéed onions and mushrooms.

Stir well and simmer stroganoff for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve hot over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

To cook Venison Stroganoff in a slow cooker, sauté onions in olive oil (without the mushrooms) then add to the slow cooker. Stir fry the venison strips as directed then add them to the slow cooker. Add the sliced onions then mix up the sauce ingredients and pour over all. Cook on high setting for 4-5 hours or on low setting for 6-7 hours. Make a paste with cold water and flour, then stir it into the stroganoff. Cook for another hour longer.

Leftovers and Storage

Before storing, allow leftovers to reach room temperature. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat stovetop until the meat reaches 165 F. Freeze for up to 4 months.

Hi! I’m Bernice Hill and I am the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen. It is my pleasure to share easy to follow recipes that are delicious, nutritious, and approachable for the whole family.

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