This outrageously tender venison pot roast is smothered in a luxurious herb-infused gravy and piles of hearty mushrooms.
This delicious meal is best served over fluffy mashed potatoes to soak up every mouthwatering morsel, a perfect way to celebrate a successful deer season! One bite and this may likely be your new favorite venison comfort food, just be sure to thank the hunter for the harvest.
What is it?
The best way to make my venison pot roast recipe is in a Dutch Oven where the meat can be first seared for extra flavor. It is then braised in the oven with mushrooms and onions in a flavorful liquid that thickens into an incredibly delicious gravy!
Some pot roast recipes include celery, baby carrots, and potatoes to make it a one-pot meal. However, when simmered in a large amount of liquid that more closely resembles a beef stew, than a true pot roast. Still, it is delicious, so you are welcome to add them to the pot if desired.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Boneless venison roast - You can use just about any cut of venison for this recipe. However, this is particularly good with shanks (the connective tissue and sinew will melt away while cooking). You can even use a venison neck roast. However, I personally used leg meat.
- Cooking oil - Olive oil, canola oil, or your favorite vegetable oil will all work well.
- Medium onion - A yellow onion or sweet onion is best.
- Mushrooms - Button mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, or wild mushrooms all work well.
- Garlic cloves - You can also substitute a teaspoon of garlic powder.
- All purpose flour - Flour is added to thicken the braising liquid into a gravy. Corn starch can also be used, but I find the results to be a little more unpredictable.
- Tomato paste
- Unsalted beef stock - You want to use unsalted stock because the liquid will reduce while cooking, which could result in it being overly salty when condensed.
- A.1. Steak Sauce
- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Brown sugar - Adds just a touch of sweetness, but this can be omitted, or replaced with a splash of balsamic vinegar.
- Butter - Like a lot of wild game, venison is a very lean meat, so there isn't much fat to add moisture to the pot roast. Butter is added to the braising liquid for extra moisture and flavor.
- Fresh sage - This recipe will work equally well with fresh rosemary or fresh thyme.
- Bay leaf
How to make it
This Dutch oven venison pot roast recipe begins by seasoning the venison with kosher salt on all sides, then searing it on the stovetop in cooking oil over medium-high heat. The venison doesn't need to be cooked through, just browned on the exterior. Once it has been seared, remove it from your pot and set it aside.
Add the mushrooms and onions to your pot and reduce the heat to medium. Saute the onions until tender, then add garlic and cook for an additional two minutes.
Next, the flour and tomato paste are added. Stir this around to evenly disperse it then add beef stock, A.1. sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. The venison is added back into your pot at this time.
Place the lid on your Dutch oven and set it in a 300 degree oven to braise for three hours. After three hours the fresh sage, bay leaf, and butter should be added. Then let the flavorful venison roast braise for an additional hour uncovered.
At this point, your deer roast will be tender and easily shredded and your braising liquid will have thickened into a gravy to serve on top of the meat. Shred the larger pieces of meat and serve this over mashed potatoes or egg noodles, along with crusty bread or dinner rolls.
Can this also be a slow cooker venison pot roast?
The idea of a slow cooker venison pot roast may be tempting enough to make you want to cut corners and reach for your crock pot, but don't do it. There are a few issues with this idea.
First of all, you won't get a good sear on the deer meat in the slow cooker, which will result in less flavor. But the bigger issue is that your braising liquid isn't going to thicken into a rich gravy in the slow cooker like it will when properly cooked in the oven. If you are really wanting to use your crockpot, use my slow cooker venison stew recipe instead.
Storing Leftovers
Leftover pot roast should be stored in an airtight container, or a covered pot, in the refrigerator and eaten within five days. It can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop. If the gravy thickens too much while sitting in the fridge, add a splash of beef broth or stock to thin it out slightly.
Venison Pot Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 pound venison roast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 sweet onion chopped
- 16 ounces mushrooms whole or sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 cups unsalted beef stock
- 2 teaspoons A.1. Steak Sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 sprig fresh sage can also use rosemary or thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Pat the venison roast with paper towels to dry it and liberally salt all sides with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
- Set your large Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium high heat and add cooking oil. Once the oil is shimmering add the venison roast and sear on all sides.
- Remove the seared venison and set aside, then reduce the heat to medium.
- Add chopped onion and mushrooms to the pot, along with another drizzle of cooking oil if needed. Saute until onions are tender, then add minced garlic and cook for an additional two minutes.
- Stir in flour and tomato paste, along with beef stock, A.1. steak sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any burnt on bits.
- Add venison back into your Dutch oven and cover with the lid. Place in your oven for 3 hours.
- After three hours remove the lid of your Dutch oven, add a sprig of sage, bay leaf, and two tablespoons of butter, then let the meat braise for an additional hour.
- Remove the pot roast from the oven, discard bay leaf and the sprig of sage. Shred the meat if desired, or slice the venison roast across the grain into slices and serve with mushrooms and the braising liquid as gravy over mashed potatoes.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published January 6, 2022.
Jerilea
I hosted for Christmas this year but my oven died before Christmas. Despite the words of warning not to make this in the crockpot, I did. My sauce wasn't as dark and rich colored as pictured, but it still tasted great. I thickened the sauce on the stovetop before serving to make a gravy. It was in the crockpot for 5 hours on high, but I think I would have cooked it longer, but I just ran out of time. But it was still tender. Next time I'll make this in the oven. I am looking forward to sandwiches today.
Robert Peck
Hi Ben… BOB here from Massachusetts age 90 Vietnam veteran newbie cook for two years love to cook venison spending time in the woods and I with my bow looking for meat for the freezer. I’m optimist.. Love your recipes specially anything to cook with a slow cooker.. I just started a bottle of fish sauce.. It’s supposed to be excellent added to a venison stew let alone other foods specially fish like to know your opinion on this addition.. I have a friend who resides in Vermont. He and I both hunt very well together we came up with a mixture of venison and prime rib, fat ratio of 11 ounces of venison 5 ounces of prime rib, fat for making hamburgers, meat sauce, etc. the fat gives the meat a beautiful flavor I am a professional photographer, and I appreciate your photographs, they are excellent after all a photo is an extension of you being and it represents you quite well thank you
Donna
This recipe turned out great! The venison and the sauce turned out delicious. I followed the suggestion of breaking apart the meat towards the end of the cook time so the meat absorbed the sauce. I also added some extra water and a couple extra tablespoons of butter when I added the bay leaf, sage and butter after the 3rd hour so the meat was mostly covered in sauce while cooking the last hour. My family loved this recipe and we will definitely be making it again. FYI this recipe can sit in a warm oven for awhile and the meat will just get more tender if you have a busy family like mine and don't always get to eat at the time planned.
Bruce
Turn out good I didn't have any beef stock so I use red wine instead, and added liquid smoke Chipotle to it as well, and put bacon around it as well.
Sheila
Thank you for this recipe. My husband got a deer this year and I’m experimenting with the meat. It was very good. The only thing I would do differently is double the sauce. We had the leftovers the next day shredded on a toasted bun and could have used more sauce. Looking forward to other recipes from you.
Pamela
The sauce was stunning - my husband (literally) licked the plate. I just found the meat rather dry. I realise venison has little fat. Perhaps I should have cut it into smaller pieces? I had one 3 lb piece as in the instructions, but I see smaller pieces in the photos. My larger piece was not submerged during the braising and, whilst I did turn it over after the first three hours, it just remained dry.
On another note, I served with home made butter noodles cut thick like papardelle and that was also delicious with the sauce.
Fox Valley Foodie
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Venison is very lean, as you know, so the larger pieces will taste drier because it doesn't have the fat to make it naturally moist. However, the more you shred the meat, this is less of an issue because the moisture from the sauce will soak up in between the shreds. When well-shredded the dryness isn't an issue at all (It actually makes amazing sandwiches on hoagie rolls too!).