Tender strips of venison, chewy udon noodles, and perfectly cooked vegetables all coated in a perfectly sweet and spicy sauce make this the best venison stir fry recipe. Discover some helpful tips and techniques below to elevate your stir fry game!
Why You'll Love This Recipe:
Tender Meat: This is one of my favorite venison recipes because it takes a roast that might otherwise be a little tough, and turns it into tender, flavorful deliciousness. Read below for how to make your venison tender for stir fry!
Flavorful: This venison stir fry is packed with flavor. From the tender venison to the spicy sauce to the perfectly cooked cabbage and mushrooms, this recipe has it all!
Meal Prep Friendly: My favorite way to speed up dinner time is to prep the ingredients in advance. Cutting all the vegetables and meat in the morning makes cooking this recipe a breeze in the evening!
Ingredients
- Venison Roast: I like to use venison roasts from the hind quarter with little connective tissue like top round for stir fry. You can use other wild game roasts (like in this Elk Pad Thai recipe or elk pad see ew) or even venison steaks instead. The key to making a good venison stir fry is to cut the meat into thin strips and against the grain to keep the meat tender and easy to bite into. Marinating the meat in a combination of soy sauce, peanut oil, and corn starch helps keep the meat tender as well.
- Vegetables: This recipe uses a combination of savoy cabbage and shiitake mushrooms. But you can add other fresh vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, bean sprouts, etc. or canned vegetables like baby corn and water chestnuts. Cooking stir fry is a great way to use your creativity and add more vegetables to your meal!
- Sauce: The spicy stir-fry sauce for this recipe uses soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes. You can make many additions or substitutions to the sauce according to your tastes. The chili garlic sauce and red pepper flakes can be omitted or reduced if you aren't a fan of spice. You can also add additions like fresh ginger, sesame seeds, etc. There are lots of ways to switch up your stir fry game and keep it interesting!
- Udon Noodles: Udon noodles are Japanese noodles made from wheat flour. They are often used in broth-based dishes but are also great as a base for stir fry. When you're looking for udon noodles, the best ones are in the refrigerated section. But if you don't have those available to you, try to find packaged noodles that are already hydrated. They cook up much faster than the dried noodles and have a better texture. These udon noodles are usually easy to find in grocery stores but you can also order them from Amazon. You can also use lo mein noodles, yakisoba noodles, or egg noodles. You can also skip the noodles and serve the meat and veggies over rice instead.
- Peanut Oil: Peanut oil is my oil of choice for stir fry recipes. But you can use olive oil, canola oil, or your preferred oil. If you choose to add sesame oil, add it only as a flavoring agent near the end of cooking.
Its purpose is to add flavor and isn't meant to be a cooking oil but it can be a great addition to stir fries!
How To Make Venison Stir Fry
Once you have the ingredients prepped, you'll be amazed at how quickly this stir fry cooks. Read below for how to make it!
Step 1: Slice venison against the grain for a more pleasant eating experience.
Step 2: Prep veggies, meat, and sauce ahead of time to make cooking a breeze!
Step 3: Combine soy sauce, peanut oil, cornstarch, and black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over sliced venison and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.
Step 4: Combine all sauce ingredients and set aside until ready to use.
Step 5: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mushrooms will release some liquid after a couple of minutes and the liquid reabsorbs into the mushrooms as they finish cooking. No oil is needed!
Step 6: Add 2 tablespoons green onions and 2 tablespoons sauce. Stir to combine and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from pan and set aside.
Step 7: Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Swirl to coat the pan and add cabbage.
Step 8: Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in 2 tablespoons of green onions and 2 tablespoons of sauce. Cook an additional 1 minute. Add cooked cabbage to mushrooms and set aside.
Step 9: Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Swirl to coat the pan. Add the coated meat to the pan in a single layer. Cook for 2 minutes then stir or flip the meat. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Step 10: Add in 2 tablespoons of green onions and 2 tablespoons of sauce. Stir to coat. Add in mushrooms, cabbage, and ½ cup basil. Stir to combine. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.
Step 11: Use the skillet to cook noodles according to package directions. Once the liquid has been absorbed, add in 3 tablespoons of green onions and the remaining sauce. Stir carefully to coat the noodles. Add in meat and vegetable mixture and stir carefully to combine. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes to reheat mixture.
Step 12: Divide noodles evenly among bowls and top with remaining green onions and basil. Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Short on time at dinner time? Prepare your ingredients up to 1 day in advance and store them in glass snapware containers. Having everything prepared ahead of time makes cooking a breeze!
- Slice venison roasts against the grain and into super thin strips (⅛" or less) to keep the meat tender and easy to bite through. Venison cut with the grain can be tough and stringy.
- Venison has very little fat content and can easily get dried out and tough when cooking it for stir fry. Marinating it in a mixture of soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch helps to tenderize the meat and lock in the moisture. It also helps if you cook most of the other ingredients first before cooking the meat. The closer you cook the meat to the time you want to serve it, the better.
- Cooking ingredients separately is essential to making a perfect stir fry. If you add too many ingredients to the pan at once, they'll get steamed or boiled instead of stir-fried. Also, different ingredients cook at different rates so it's important to cook them separately to avoid over or under-cooking an ingredient.
- Sauce is essential for a good stir fry, even if it's just soy sauce. But, don't add the sauce too soon or it can burn! Start by cooking the vegetables individually and add in a bit of sauce when they're almost done cooking.
How to Serve Venison Stir Fry
Venison stir fry is a meal on its own and doesn't need any side dishes! This recipe is best served hot from the pan and garnished with green onions and Thai basil to add some freshness. Break out your chopsticks and dig in!
Recipe FAQ's
Different cuts of venison need different preparation techniques to tenderize them. Some cuts like backstrap and tenderloin are naturally tender. To keep them tender, they should be cooked hot and fast to a medium-rare temperature. Other cuts of venison like roasts should either be cooked low and slow or cut into small pieces and marinated to tenderize them. Venison roasts can be used for things like stir-fry if they're cut into thin strips against the grain and marinated before cooking.
There are several things that make a good stir fry. First, the ingredients should be cooked separately to avoid crowding in the pan and to cook each ingredient for the proper amount of time. Second, keep it simple! You don't need a ton of different ingredients to make a good stir fry. Third, don't add the sauce until the ingredients are almost done cooking to keep it from burning.
The "gamey taste" in venison can be removed or reduced in a few ways. My favorite way to remove off-flavors is to let the meat thaw in a paper towel-lined bowl. The paper towels soak up the myoglobin (the red liquid that is released from the meat as it thaws) and often the off-flavors come out as well.
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Annie
📖 Recipe
Spicy Venison Stir Fry with Udon Noodles
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 5 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Meat:
- 1 lb venison roast, thinly sliced ⅛" thick (top round preferred)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Stir Fry:
- 3 packages udon noodles (7.1 oz each)
- 8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
- 3 cup savoy cabbage, shredded (about ½ small cabbage)
- ¾ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon Thai basil, cut into ribbons
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil
Instructions
Ingredient Prep:
- Slice venison roasts against the grain and into super thin strips (⅛" or less) to keep the meat tender and easy to bite through. Venison cut with the grain can be tough and stringy.
- Prep veggies, meat, and sauce ahead of time to make cooking a breeze!
Meat:
- Combine soy sauce, peanut oil, cornstarch, and black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over sliced venison and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.
Sauce:
- Combine all sauce ingredients and set aside until ready to use.
Stir Fry:
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mushrooms will release some liquid after a couple of minutes and the liquid reabsorbs into the mushrooms as they finish cooking. No oil is needed!
- Add 2 tablespoons green onions and 2 tablespoons sauce. Stir to combine and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Swirl to coat the pan and add cabbage.
- Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in 2 tablespoons of green onions and 2 tablespoons of sauce. Cook an additional 1 minute. Add cooked cabbage to mushrooms and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Swirl to coat the pan. Add the coated meat to the pan in a single layer. Cook for 2 minutes then stir or flip the meat. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add in 2 tablespoons of green onions and 2 tablespoons of sauce. Stir to coat. Add in mushrooms, cabbage, and ½ cup basil. Stir to combine. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.
- Use the skillet to cook noodles according to package directions. Once the liquid has been absorbed, add in 3 tablespoons of green onions and the remaining sauce. Stir carefully to coat the noodles. Add in meat and vegetable mixture and stir carefully to combine. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes to reheat mixture.
- Divide noodles evenly among bowls and top with remaining green onions and basil. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you like extra saucy noodles, double the sauce recipe.
- I like to use venison roasts from the hind quarter with little connective tissue like top round for stir fry. You can use other wild game roasts or even venison steaks instead. The key to making a good venison stir fry is to cut the meat into thin strips and against the grain to keep the meat tender and easy to bite into. Marinating the meat in a combination of soy sauce, peanut oil, and corn starch helps keep the meat tender as well.
- This recipe uses a combination of savoy cabbage and shiitake mushrooms. But you can add other fresh vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, bean sprouts, etc. or canned vegetables like baby corn and water chestnuts. Cooking stir fry is a great way to use your creativity and add more vegetables to your meal!
- The spicy stir-fry sauce for this recipe uses soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes. You can make many additions or substitutions to the sauce according to your tastes. The chili garlic sauce and red pepper flakes can be omitted or reduced if you aren't a fan of spice. You can also add additions like fresh ginger, sesame seeds, etc. There are lots of ways to switch up your stir fry game and keep it interesting!
- Udon noodles are Japanese noodles made from wheat flour. They are often used in broth-based dishes but are also great as a base for stir fry. When you're looking for udon noodles, the best ones are in the refrigerated section. But if you don't have those available to you, try to find packaged noodles that are already hydrated. They cook up much faster than the dried noodles and have a better texture. You can also use lo mein noodles, yakisoba noodles, or egg noodles. You can also skip the noodles and serve the meat and veggies over rice instead.
- Peanut oil is my oil of choice for stir fry recipes. But you can use olive oil, canola oil, or your preferred oil. If you choose to add sesame oil, add it only as a flavoring agent near the end of cooking.
Its purpose is to add flavor and isn't meant to be a cooking oil but it can be a great addition to stir fries! - Venison has very little fat content and can easily get dried out and tough when cooking it for stir fry. Marinating it in a mixture of soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch helps to tenderize the meat and lock in the moisture. It also helps if you cook most of the other ingredients first before cooking the meat. The closer you cook the meat to the time you want to serve it, the better.
- Cooking ingredients separately is essential to making a perfect stir fry. If you add too many ingredients to the pan at once, they'll get steamed or boiled instead of stir-fried. Also, different ingredients cook at different rates so it's important to cook them separately to avoid over or under-cooking an ingredient.
- Sauce is essential for a good stir fry, even if it's just soy sauce. But, don't add the sauce too soon or it can burn! Start by cooking the vegetables individually and add in a bit of sauce when they're almost done cooking.
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