Indulge in this delectable venison stew recipe cooked to perfection in a Dutch oven. This classic dish combines fall-apart tender venison shanks with an array of hearty vegetables, creating a satisfying meal bursting with rich flavor. If you're looking for a hearty comfort food, this recipe is it!
Recipe Highlights
Simple Ingredients: Stew is a classic venison recipe. You only need a few simple ingredients: venison, a few fresh vegetables, stock or broth, red wine, and a few other items. The most important ingredient in this recipe is time. The stew develops the most wonderful flavor during the slow cooking process.
Flavorful: Packed with flavorful ingredients like red wine, venison shanks, thyme, and homemade wild game stock, the flavor in this stew is unreal!
Hearty: This recipe is the ultimate comfort food and is the perfect way to prepare an under-used cut of meat - venison shanks! Shanks are the best cut of venison to use for stew because the connective tissue breaks down and gives the flavorful broth the most luxurious, silky texture. They're packed with collagen and will definitely stick to your ribs! If you're looking for a lighter soup, try this venison Italian wedding soup instead!
Ingredients
- Venison Shanks: As opposed to most venison stew recipes, this recipe does not use venison stew meat or chunks of meat. Instead, it uses shanks, which are ideal for slow cooking, which breaks down tougher cuts. You can sub any bone-in venison roast for the shanks or use another game meat like elk as well. Shanks are also great for tacos like in this venison shank taco recipe.
- Red Wine: The acidity of red wine helps to break down meat to make it fork-tender. To change the flavor of the stew, you can substitute stout beer or brown ale for wine.
- Vegetables: Typically, a variety of root vegetables are used in stew. This recipe uses a classic mix of carrots, celery, onions, and gold potatoes. You can get creative and add other vegetables like mushrooms, parsnips, peas, fennel, pearl onions, etc.
- Wild Game Stock: I like to use a rich venison stock for stew because it adds a delicious rich quality to the broth. You can use beef stock or beef broth instead.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Worcestershire sauce adds a boost of flavor to stew recipes. You can also add balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar for a different flavor boost.
- Pork Lard: Homemade pork lard is my go-to cooking fat for wild game. Using bacon fat will produce a similar result. Or you can use olive oil or your favorite cooking fat.
- Thyme: Fresh thyme is my herb of choice for stew. You can use other hearty fresh herbs like fresh rosemary instead.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
Recommended
Dutch Oven
The humble Dutch oven is the original slow cooker. There's something magical about slow cooking with low heat in a Dutch oven. You can make stew in a crockpot, but the broth may not reduce or thicken the same as it will in a Dutch oven.
How to Make Dutch Oven Venison Stew
The biggest difference between this stew recipe and others is the type of meat used. Because this stew uses venison shanks instead of stew meat, the cooking time is longer to break down the connective tissue. This leads to a thicker, more flavorful broth than other stews. Read below for how to make it!
- Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Pat the shanks dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt and black pepper. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add lard to the pan and let it melt. Sear shanks for 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. You might have to get creative depending on the size of the shanks. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Set the shanks aside.
- Step 2: Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add butter to the pan and let it melt. Add onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cook for 2 minutes or until the onions are softened.
- Step 3: Add tomato paste and flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Step 4: Add red wine and Worcestershire sauce to the pan. Bring to a simmer. Stir to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Step 5: Add the seared venison shanks back to the Dutch oven. Add in bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add enough stock to cover the shanks. Season with salt and pepper. The broth will reduce quite a bit so don't go too crazy with the seasoning. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Step 6: Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place in the oven for 3 hours. Turn the shanks a couple of times throughout the cooking process to make sure they are cooking evenly.
- Step 7: Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Remove the bones from the meat but keep the meat in larger pieces submerged in the broth.
- Step 8: Add carrots, celery, and potatoes to the Dutch oven. Stir to combine and make sure the vegetables are submerged in the broth.
- Step 9: Place the Dutch oven back in the oven for 1 ½ hours, or until the vegetables are softened and the meat is ready to shred.
- Step 10: Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Remove the meat and herbs from the pot. Remove the connective tissue from the meat. Then, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Step 11: Add the meat back to the Dutch oven.
- Step 12: Stir to combine. Serve with chopped parsley on top and crusty bread on the side for dipping, if desired. Enjoy!
Pro Tip
This recipe can be made up through step 5, then refrigerated overnight. The next morning, bring the shanks in liquid to a simmer on the stove, then proceed with step 6.
How to Store Venison Stew
I'm a firm believer that there's no such thing as a small batch of stew. So unless you're cooking for a crowd, you can plan on some leftovers! Leftover stew can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can also store stew in vacuum bags, freezer-safe bags, or freezer-safe containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. This is a great dish to have on hand in the freezer for an easy meal on cold winter nights! Or you can freeze individual portions for easy weekday lunches!
What to Serve with Venison Stew:
This Dutch oven venison stew is a meal on its own but is excellent with a side of Dutch oven sourdough bread. Or, if you want to add something fresh to the side, a simple green salad with homemade honey mustard dressing is lovely as well.
Recipe FAQs
Cuts of venison with connective tissue are great for stew. Not only does the slow cooking break down the tough muscles, but the connective tissue breaks down into collagen which gives the broth a silky texture. Neck roasts, shanks, and other roasts work great for stew.
Cooking venison for longer at a low temperature may help to tenderize the meat. If venison is cooked longer at a high temperature, it will likely dry out and not become tender.
Venison stew can be thickened with flour. But, using a cut of meat with a lot of connective tissue like shanks, will also help thicken the stew by adding some collagen to the broth. Additionally, cooking the stew in a Dutch oven will reduce the broth and thicken it.
Cooking too long or at too high of a temperature is the most common reason for stew venison meat to come out tough. Low and slow is the way to go in order to break down all the connective tissue and create juicy, flavorful meat.
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Annie
📖 Recipe
Dutch Oven Venison Stew with Veggies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 lb venison shanks (2 hind shanks or 1 hind shank +2 front shanks)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon pork lard (or other cooking fat)
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 6-8 cups stock (wild game, beef, etc.)
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 2 cups carrots, sliced at an angle
- 2 cups celery, sliced at an angle
- 1 ½ lb baby gold potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
- chopped parsley (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Pat the shanks dry with paper towels and season all over with salt and black pepper.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add lard to the pan and let it melt.
- Sear shanks for 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. You might have to get creative depending on the size of the shanks. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Set the shanks aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add butter to the pan and let it melt. Add onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cook for 2 minutes or until the onions are softened.
- Add tomato paste and flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Add red wine and Worcestershire sauce to the pan. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the shanks back to the Dutch oven. Add in bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add enough stock to cover the shanks. Season with salt and pepper. The broth will reduce quite a bit so don't go too crazy with the seasoning.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place in the oven for 3 hours. Turn the shanks a couple of times throughout the cooking process to make sure they are cooking evenly.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Remove the bones from the meat but keep the meat in larger pieces submerged in the broth.
- Add carrots, celery, and potatoes to the Dutch oven. Stir to combine and make sure the vegetables are submerged in the broth.
- Place the Dutch oven back in the oven for 1 ½ hours, or until the vegetables are softened and the meat is ready to shred.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Remove the meat and herbs from the pot. Remove the connective tissue from the meat, then shred it into bite-size pieces. Add the meat back to the Dutch oven and stir to combine.
- Serve with chopped parsley on top and crusty bread on the side for dipping, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- As opposed to most venison stew recipes, this recipe does not use venison stew meat or chunks of meat. Shanks are the perfect cut of venison meat to use for stew because they are destined for slow cooking. You can sub any bone-in venison roast for the shanks or use another game meat like elk as well.
- The acidity of red wine helps to break down meat to make it fork-tender. To change the flavor of the stew, you can substitute stout beer or brown ale for wine.
- Typically, a variety of root vegetables are used in stew. This recipe uses a classic mix of carrots, celery, onions, and gold potatoes. You can get creative and add other vegetables like mushrooms, parsnips, peas, fennel, pearl onions, etc.
- I like to use a rich venison stock for stew because it adds a delicious rich quality to the broth. You can use beef stock or beef broth instead.
- Worcestershire sauce adds a boost of flavor to stew recipes. You can also add balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar for a different flavor boost.
- Homemade pork lard is my go-to cooking fat for wild game. Using bacon fat will produce a similar result. Or you can use olive oil or your favorite cooking fat.
- Fresh thyme is my herb of choice for stew. You can use other hearty fresh herbs like fresh rosemary instead.
- You can make stew in a crockpot, but the broth may not reduce or thicken the same as it will in a Dutch oven.
- This recipe can be made up through step 8, then refrigerated overnight. The next morning, bring the shanks in liquid to a simmer on the stove, then proceed with step 9.
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