- Brown Venison Roast Before Adding to Crock Pot - Photo by Genna Cockerham
Looking to disguise deer meat in a simple recipe? Vegetable Chowder is a meal that is easy to make and easy to customize to whatever venison, vegetables and dry goods are on hand. This meal feeds a crowd of at least eight and only the cook will know that it uses deer meat instead of hamburger or beef.
Vegetable Chowder
Ingredients:
- 1/2 to 1 pound of ground venison or venison roast, cut into bite size pieces
- 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 2 pounds of cabbage, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz each)
- 5-7 cups water
- 3 beef bouillon cubes
- 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Directions:
- Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil to a large Dutch oven or 6-quart pot. Over medium heat, brown ground venison or venison roast. Add additional oil, 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary, to keep venison from sticking.
- If making in crock pot, add all ingredients to a 6-quart or larger crock pot. Cook on high for one hour, and then reduce heat to low for 8-10 hours. Skip to final step. Otherwise, continue on the step 3.
- Add onions and diced pepper and stir frequently until onions are clear and peppers begin to release juices.
- Add remainder of ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Remove bay leaf before serving.
Tips for Cooking With Venison
When using ground venison or venison roast in this dinner recipe, it is not necessary to drain any fat. In fact, adding olive oil a little bit at a time works best to keep from drying out the deer meat. When using deer meat with beef fat added, it is necessary to take the additional step of draining the meat after cooking.
Customize Venison Recipe to Save Money
Since many people are choosing to eat venison to save money on groceries, it makes sense to use other items on hand for this recipe. Any type of canned tomato can be used, even tomato juice. A quart of homemade canned tomatoes add wonderful flavor as well.
If uncooked white rice isn’t available, uncooked brown rice or barley can be substituted. Barley and brown rice require more liquid so either add an additional cup of water, or reduce to 1/3 cup of brown rice or barley. Diced potatoes can be used instead of the other starches.
Even egg noodles or pasta can work to add bulk to the chowder when other items aren’t available. If using egg noodles or pasta, cook them separately. Place a cup of pasta in the bowl then ladle chowder on top. Egg noodles and pasta don’t hold up well when cooked as part of this recipe.
When onion and celery are scarce, garlic powder can be substituted. And frozen vegetable can replace fresh if cooking on the stove top. To switch to a vegetarian Vegetable Chowder, omit ground venison and substitute vegetable bouillon for beef bouillon.
Vegetable Chowder is a great way to use what is on hand to make a filling and inexpensive dinner. Cooking ground venison or venison roast in olive oil keeps the deer meat moist and helps to disguise its flavor. For more recipes that make venison taste better than beef, try Tex-Mex Barbecue Uses Deer Meat and Venison Recipes: How to Cook Deer Meat.
Genna Cockerham - Genna Cockerham has been writing online since November 2008. She served as Marriage Feature Writer from December 2008 to February ...
