This savory Venison Meatloaf recipe is delectably tender, perfectly seasoned, and lacquered in a rich and tangy sauce! This recipe will quickly become a favorite use of deer meat!
If my parents were to write a venison cookbook, it would contain two recipes: The first simply being a phone number for the butcher who will turn all of the trimmings into sausages, and the second recipe featuring heavily peppered cubed steaks in a cast iron skillet with onions... which for the first twenty years of my life I thought was the only way humans could eat deer meat.
Now don't get me wrong, both of those ways are exceptionally tasty ways to enjoy venison, but venison is as versatile as beef and even more flavorful. You are missing out if you don't explore the wide variety of dishes that are perfect for capturing venison's rich flavor. Prepare a Roasted Venison Loin with the backstraps, or a hearty venison chili with ground trimmings. The possibilities are really endless!
Venison Meatloaf
I must say, Venison Meatloaf is one of my favorite ways to enjoy deer meat. As with any classic meatloaf, you must use ground meat containing fat. Typical meatloaf recipes use 80/20 beef so it isn't excessively dry, and venison meatloaf is no different. Since venison is so lean, most butchers will blend pork or beef fat into your ground venison anyhow when they process your deer, which is a good thing.
When getting your deer processed I recommend requesting an 80/20 fat blend specifically as it is the most versatile. Some people enjoy the health benefits of leaner blends, but leaner fat blends make dry meatloaf and venison burgers. Personally, I prefer to just process my own meat, then you know exactly what it in it. Just pick up a good meat grinder and you will be saving money in no time!
How to Make Venison Meatloaf
Honestly, you can use most beef meatloaf recipes with ground venison, and they will taste great. However, the best venison meatloaf recipes are the ones specifically tailored to the rich flavor of venison. Personally, I find the herbal flavor of sage to be a great compliment to venison while a bit of sweetness and tang from tomato paste and brown mustard brightens the flavor.
The right flavors don't mean anything though if the meatloaf is tough as a brick. The secret to creating the most tender meatloaves is to not overwork the meat. I gently crumble the meat into small pieces, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and mix the remaining ingredients separately. The major benefit of making your venison meatloaf this way is all of the ingredients are already thoroughly combined before they are mixed with the meat. This requires you to mix the meat less.
How Long to Cook a 2 Pound Meatloaf
Most of my meatloaf recipes, like my insanely popular Brown Sugar Meatloaf, call for 1 ½ pounds of meat. However, I made this recipe a 2-pound meatloaf because most people freeze their venison in 1 or 2 pound packages. It didn't make much sense to make you waste a half pound of your hard-earned meat.
Cook a 2 pound meatloaf at 350 degrees for 75 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees. The cooking time will be shorter if you don't use a loaf pan and you flatten it in a 9x13 baking pan instead.
What to Serve with Meatloaf
When making any meatloaf, there isn't a more classic side dish than mash potatoes. I don't think any meatloaf dinner is complete without them. Mashed potatoes can be prepared on the stove top while the meatloaf bakes in the oven. Choose any of the following vegetables to round out the meal:
Venison Meatloaf
Ingredients
Meatloaf
- 2 lbs ground Venison (blended with fat)
- 1 cup Breadcrumbs
- 1 cup Beef broth
- 2 Eggs (beaten)
- ⅔ cup grated Onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped Parsley
- 2 tablespoons Tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Brown Mustard
- 1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon Table salt
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- ¼ rounded teaspoon ground sage
Meatloaf Glaze
- ½ cup Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Gently crumble venison into small pieces and place into a large bowl. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
- In separate bowl combine remaining meatloaf ingredients and stir to combine. *
- Pour seasoning and liquid mixture into bowl with venison. Gently mix to combine with fingers, being careful not to overwork the meat.
- Combine all ingredients for the glaze and paint a couple tablespoons onto the bottom of a loaf pan. Place the meatloaf into the loaf pan and pour remaining glaze over the top of the meatloaf.
- Place meatloaf in the oven for 75 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- Let meatloaf rest for 5 minutes and serve.
Notes
Nutritional Information
Don't forget to check out the rest of my mouthwatering venison recipes too!
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Leslie
I used Pho Beef Broth and cilantro instead of parsley and no sage it is RIDICULOUSLY delicious! Thank you, I will definitely make this again!
Mike R
Made this recipe tonight from venison that I ground from the first deer I’d shot in 15 years. It was great, although I made a couple changes: I didn’t use beef broth, I used dijon mustard instead of brown mustard, and instead of glazing the top I put the glaze on the bottom and sides of the pan, and topped the loaf with thin sliced bacon (for a little bit of fat).
Fox Valley Foodie
Congratulations on your deer! I know what those dry spells feel like.
Benjamin Bywater
Great recipe, But i have to say some of what you say is misleading, Being hunter a butcher and a chef i can tell you mixing this recipe with brute force would not hurt it. Tenderness comes from the cut of the meat used, How it was cut and processed and cooking it to proper temperature. Half mixing your meat will not make it more tender.If you want true flavor throughout the meatloaf mix it properly. Otherwise great flavor!! Also if you add a 1/2 tsp of ground mustard to the topping mix it will give it a little zest.
Fox Valley Foodie
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I think you are getting tenderness of a cut of meat confused with how gently/firmly held together a ground meat product can feel when eaten. If we were talking steaks you would be correct. You can easily test this out by making two freshly ground burgers. Make one as described in my homemade burger recipe with fresh ground meat pressed together just firmly enough to hold its shape, and make a second burger with heavily mixed and mashed ground beef. You will find heavily working the meat makes a much tougher and denser final product.
Stephanie
Made this recipe AGAIN 💕 used half ground venison and half venison sausage, no salt added.. amazing...
Matt S.
Did 1 lb venison and 1 lb boar. Came out awesome. Will definitely be making it again.
Stephanie
It’s a keeper!!
Best recipe!! Not dry, love the sage and onions. I will use a smidge less salt next time(which is today). Thank you for sharing.
Ralph
Looking to try this.can you freeze it and how long you think it would keep.
Fox Valley Foodie
Yes, you can freeze it. It should last for a couple months if it is well protected. If your venison is blended with pork fat, it won't last quite as long as beef fat though.
Summer
This is a great recipe! We used 1/2 ground venison and 1/2 ground local grass-fed/finished beef. Only because I’m a little picky with the flavor of venison. But in this recipe, I could not detect the “game” flavor from either meats. We also added a couple of tablespoons of leftover bacon grease because our venison and beef grounds were 90/10. The flavors were delicious. I really loved the addition of the sage as well as the grated onion. I’m not a fan of onion chunks in my meatloaf so this was perfect 🙂 thanks!!
Dave
I made this without the glaze and lined the pan with a single layer of bacon. By far the best meatloaf I've ever had.
Kelley
Can this be made ahead of time, put in the refrigerator and then baked the day after? Not sure if it will all hold up well together for a day... sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
Fox Valley Foodie
Absolutely!
Tatonka Kat
Forgive me for not following to the letter but I knew this was a great recipe and could survive substitutions from my pantry. I only had 1lb venison so I added 1lb ground turkey. Did not have bread crumbs so I used Pepperidge farm cornbread stuffing mix. Added some of the leftover tomato paste to ketchup sauce topping. This smelled like heaven and tasted like home. Due to turkey and stuffing mix I think I should’ve cut salt in half but still was amazing. Please don’t cringe at abuse if you are a recipe purist - just wanted to say thank you for posting and encourage those like me to go for it even if your pantry is a little short use what you have this is a wonderful family pleasing recipe easy on the budget.
Tatonka Kat
And I used milk instead of water because I was worried it would be dry since I was using lean venison hamburger (not sausage) and turkey. Turned out moist and flavorful. Thanks again
MaryBeth
I found your blog while searching for a venison meatloaf recipe. I truly look forward to trying your recipe tomm. Your blog is entertaining as well.
Tom
Simply perfection.
Leigh Segel
I made two venison meat loaves today. One with a Ketchup, Worcestershire & Brown Sugar topping (pictured) and another with a Stone Mustard, Wine Vinegar & Brown Sugar topping.
I think the mustard glaze was the winner.
The ketchup glaze sounded good, but was too sweet.
I didn't use the tomato paste, herbs and seasonings this recipe called for, aside from salt and pepper.
I used duck eggs (higher in fat & protein) french onion soup mix, minced onion, worcestershire, stone mustard and breadcrumbs to bind it together, but I used lots of whole milk to soften it.
Baked them both in a square baking dish for 45 minutes.
Bob
So an entire different recipe. Ha
Mandi
Agreed! 🙂
Only gave 4 stars and completely changed the recipe, makes zero sense.
Cindy
MY husband took one bite and asked “This is venison?” in disbelief. I answered “yes it is!”. He raved about it! This recipe is a keeper. Thanks!
Cody Wright
Today was my the start of my days off of work. So I thought I’d enjoy today with a bottle of bourbon to keep me warm. While I get caught back up splitting firewood. I thought I’d cook dinner tonight for the family “which is always a hit & miss deal”. I luckily came across your recipe for deer meatloaf. I decided just to cook it on the grill “seemed like a better idea since I have no clue what a meatloaf pan is”. It was very excellent!!!
Fox Valley Foodie
You sound like someone I could hang out with.
Jane Wilson
I made this for our gourmet club (4 couples, we’ve been doin gourmet club for 35 years) and comments were “best meat loaf ever”! On the advice of a friend I added 1/3 c heavy cream just for added fat with the lean venison.
Thanks so much!
Eva
I have venison mixed with sausage will that be ok with this receipe
Fox Valley Foodie
I bet that would taste fantastic!
Ron
Made this with a buck I shot two weeks ago and it turned out great! The sage was a great addition. Would definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing.
Fox Valley Foodie
Thanks for the feedback, I am glad you enjoyed it. Congrats on the buck!
Joyce
We made this with some venison we still had in the freezer and it was fantastic. My husband loved it.