Our easy Venison stroganoff without cream of mushroom soup recipe is great. Made with sliced deer meat in a thick gravy made from scratch, it’s like our Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff but with game meat.
If you are looking for an easy deer meat stroganoff we have one here. With thin slices of protein we transform this German Old Fashioned beef dish into something new. Made in a skillet on the stove it is a great way to cook this whether it was bought or you’re a hunter.
We will show you how to make this rich sauce and tender meat in a skillet. It is wonderful as is but typically served over rice or noodles. We find our favorite way is to boil egg noodles to al dente and fold those in at the end so everything is well coated like a Stroganoff Casserole of sorts. 😉
Alternatively you could add more vegetables into the mix if you wanted to make more of a Venison Stew. Small chunks of carrots and diced potatoes would work well, and/or some frozen peas are another favorite add in for more of a one pot meal.
I will explain the ingredients for stroganoff sauce we used below. Now if you needed an option for a Dairy Free Stroganoff I have made that as well as my husband has has needed lactose free meals at times. The only thing you’d need to swap out on this one is the sour cream which you can find without lactose in many stores nowadays and literally tastes the same. 😉
Venison Stroganoff Ingredients
You could easily double or triple this if you had a really big pan but for the other measurements we are going to use 1 pound of venison thinly sliced or cubed into bite size pieces. Smaller pieces means it will soak up the sauce nicely. You could make this as a Venison Sausage recipe too if you had links instead.
I like to add diced onions and garlic to add flavor to tone down the gamey flavor. Sauteed with some olive oil they will soften to begin with.
All purpose flour will coat it all to thicken the sauce since we are not using cream of mushroom soup. Sour cream will make it nice and creamy, some prefer cream cheese but that will make it even thicker.
Make as thin or thick as you want with beef broth or stock.
Can you use ground venison?
Yes you could use ground but still should brown as directed, or use leftover Venison Meatloaf? Just dice that up and use it with this same sauce! The base is super versatile once you get the hang of how it’s made. Then you can add just about any protein you like to mix it up week after week.
Can you add mushrooms?
Yes I always add some diced onions and garlic to add flavor nicely but sliced Mushrooms, or boiled mushrooms is a necessity to the old fashioned way of making this classic dish. Button will get softer while baby bellas halved will stay more firm.
If you in fact hunted this and have all the pieces you may also be interested in reading our how to cook organ meat post on how to prepare those other questionable pieces as well. You can make this with condensed soup as well if you’d like. You’d skip the flour in this case and only use enough broth to thin it out.
It is great if you can not let anything go to waste for sure and you may find that there is one you may not have thought you’d like, but do now. If prepared right, things like Deer Liver can be quite delicious and full of nutrients.
How to Make Venison Less Gamey
Especially if you think it isn’t a pleasurable flavor in of itself you will want to cook it with a rich sauce. Gravy is the best option as you can include onions and garlic if you like to tone down the taste this protein naturally has. Cooked low and slow is key to getting it tender too.
Do you have to soak venison?
That is up to you. Soaking deer meat, before cooking is a common practice used to help reduce the strong gamey flavor and/or to tenderize the meat. However, it isn’t a must and can be cooked without this step too. Whether you do depends on personal preference and the specific cut you’re using.
If yours is ground then for sure you do not want to do that, this technique is just for cubed. For something like Crockpot venison chili you would just brown, throw it in with other ingredients to cook.
How Long to Cook Venison Stroganoff
On the stove you are going to need 4 minutes or so to brown the meat in a skillet first. Then the mushrooms need a couple of minutes. Once you add the ingredients for the gravy it will take another 10 minutes or so. I would say in total I would set aside about 20 minutes to make it.
Slow Cooker Method
You could use directions for our Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff with this meat. I would still follow directions below as far as browning the meat and adding other ingredients.
If using ground meat use our Slow Cooker Ground Beef Stroganoff directions. Cook on low for 6 hours or so until tender. Fold in the sour cream at the end, 30 minutes before serving and enjoy that way too.
Venison Stroganoff Recipe
Equipment
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb venison, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour, omit if using cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 cup beef broth, or less if using condensed soup, just enough to thin it out
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
- 1/2 tsp coriander
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of oil and fry the venison for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Each piece should be covered with a crust. Then transfer the venison to a plate.
- In the remaining frying oil, fry the onions and mushrooms for 7 minutes, stirring. Add garlic, fry for another 1 minute.
- Add flour and stir, fry for another 2 minutes. Pour in the broth and stir until all the lumps of flour are broken up. Then add salt and spices. Stir and cook covered for another 3 minutes.
- Add sour cream, stir and bring to a boil, wait 3 minutes. Add venison, stir and cook for 5-7 minutes. Try the meat – it should be soft. If it is not soft enough, cook for another 10-15 minutes, adding water or broth if necessary if sauce gets too thick until the meat is as tender as you'd like.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
