This simple, delicious, and healthy venison burger recipe is one that everyone loves. This venison burger is seasoned with steak seasonings and you can make your burger on the grill or in a skillet.
We love venison around here. I use it for any recipe that calls for beef. Sometimes it requires a little bit more handling to cook with venison since it’s very lean meat and it can be tough. You might need to pre-cook it in the pressure cooker or use some cuts in a stew that cooks for many hours…
These venison burgers are simple, the only extra handling here is grinding the meat if you butcher your deer yourself. If you take your deer to the butcher, make sure that you ask them to mix some beef fat with the ground meat. Some butchers will also shape the patties for you.
Simple Venison Burger Recipe…
Around here, we like to butcher the deer ourselves so we do need to go through the extra work of processing the meat but it’s so worth it because these venison burgers are an amazing meal that the whole family loves!
Ingredients…
- Venison
- Beef fat
- Salt and pepper
- Montreal steak seasoning
Kitchen Tools…
- Cutting board and knife
- Meat grinder – you’ll see me using a meat grinder similar to this one, however, if you are grinding a lot of meat I strongly suggest that you get a proper meat grinder like this one. The manual meat grinder is very hard to work with.
- Mixing bowl
- Plate or tray
- Cast iron skillet (or you can grill the burgers)
- Spatula
How to Make a Venison Burger at Home…
Step one – grind the meat. Start with whatever cut of venison you can get your hands on. Here, I used ham but you can also use the front legs or backstraps (neck won’t work well here). Next, take the meat off the bone, I usually cube it and can some of the meat. Then, I use the bone to make bone broth which I also can. Leave about 2.5 pounds of cubed meat for the hamburgers.
Deer meat has virtually no fat in it. And when you butcher the animal you want to remove any fat you come across because it doesn’t taste good at all. But when I grind the meat I like adding some fat. It improves the texture and it tastes really good. So here I added a little bit of beef fat. I get it at a local butcher shop for $0.99 a pound. You can add as much as you want. I usually add about 10% fat.
Use your grinder and alternate between the cubed venison and the beef fat, this way they will be mixed by the time that you are done grinding the meat.
Step two – seasoning and shaping. Add salt and pepper to your ground venison meat and use your hands to mix the meat but be careful not to overwork it. Then, grab some of the meat and shape it into a hamburger. Remember that hamburgers shrink as they are fried or grilled so make them a bit larger than your bun.
Lay your burgers on a tray and sprinkle them with the Montreal seasoning mix. This is the secret ingredient here… You can leave it out if you’d like but if you ask me, when it comes to red meat, everything is better with this seasoning on top!
Step three – frying the burgers. You can grill or fry these burgers. I choose to fry these. To do that, set your pan on the stovetop and add a couple of tablespoons of oil or butter, turn the heat to medium-high and let the pan get really hot before adding the burgers.
Once the pan is hot, add the burgers and turn the heat down just a bit. I like my burgers well done so I cover the pan but you don’t have to do that. After 4-5 minutes, I flip the burgers and cook them on the other side for an additional few minutes before removing them from the pan.
Note – cook these venison burgers exactly how you like to cook any other burger. If you like them on the grill, cook them on the grill, if you like them raw or medium-well then don’t cook them long, and don’t cover the pan… Make them your own and cook them however you like.
How to Build a Venison Burger…
I make hamburger buns at home (using this recipe), but of course, you can use any hamburger bun that you’d like. Here is my favorite way of building my venison burger…
- On one part of the bun, spread mustard…
- On the other side of the bun, spread mayo…
- Place a venison burger on the bun…
- And add fresh lettuce and a thick slice of tomato on top before closing the bun.
What to Serve With a Venison Burger…
- Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Sweet Potato Chips
- Homemade French Fries
- Dehydrated Kale Chips
- Red Cabbage Salad
- Roasted Purple Sweet Potatoes
- Quick Green Beans With Butter and Garlic
How to Store Leftovers…
- In the fridge – you can place the ready venison burgers in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container and store them in the fridge for a few days. Reheat them in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- In the freezer – if you want to keep some of the venison burgers for later, you can freeze them. One way is to freeze them before you season them and fry them (don’t refreeze meat. Only do this if the meat wasn’t already frozen before). Wrap each hamburger individually in plastic wrap, stack the hamburgers in a container, and freeze. When you are ready to use the burgers, let them thaw and then fry or grill them.
Do the same when freezing the hamburgers that you already fried. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, stack them in a container, and freeze them. Before serving, let the hamburger thaw on the countertop and then reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop.
Frequently Asked Questions…
Definitely! It will be a delicious hamburger as well.
You can add lamb fat if you can come by it. You can also leave the fat out completely but your burger is going to be a bit tough. A way to fix it is to add wet bread. Take 2-3 slices of bread, wet them, and break them into pieces over the meat. Then, mix the bread with the meat and the seasonings.
Yes! Try roasted poblanos or roasted red peppers. Try to spread your bun with carrot top pesto, basil pesto, or cilantro pesto, or red pepper paste. Or top your venison burger with balsamic onion jam or these delicious candied jalapenos!
I get that a lot… I grew up in Israel. In the Jewish culture, we don’t mix meat and cheese. I am not religious, and I love my salad with chicken AND Gorgonzola, but for the most part, I keep meat and cheese separate (it doesn’t do well in my stomach… I guess I’m just not used to it). Of course, you go ahead and add any kind of cheese that you’d like!
I really hope that you can get your hands on some venison and make these burgers! They are so delicious and such a healthy meal. I hope that you liked this recipe!
More Meat Recipes…
- BBQ Venison Neck Recipe
- Pulled Venison Wrap
- Deer Jerky in the Oven
- Middle Eastern Chicken and Rice
- Southwest Chicken Chili
- Chicken Liver and Onions Recipe
- Chicken Gizzard Recipe
Venison Burgers Recipe
Simple, delicious, and healthy venison burgers.
Ingredients
- 2.5lb cubed venison meat
- 5 oz cubed beef fat (or more, you can go up to 20% fat which is 8 oz)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2-4 tablespoons of Montreal Steak Seasoning (depending on taste)
- 3 tablespoons of oil for frying
- Hamburger buns, dressing, cheese, and vegetables of your choice
Instructions
- Use your grinder and alternate between the cubed venison and the beef fat, this way they will be mixed by the time that you are done grinding the meat. Place the ground meat in a mixing bowl.
- Add salt and pepper to your ground venison meat and use your hands to mix the meat but be careful not to overwork it. Then, grab some of the meat and shape it into a hamburger. Remember that hamburgers shrink as they are fried or grilled so make them a bit larger than your bun. Lay your burgers on a tray and sprinkle them with the Montreal seasoning mix.
- You can grill or fry these burgers. I choose to fry these. To do that, set your pan on the stovetop and add a couple of tablespoons of oil or butter, turn the heat to medium-high and let the pan get really hot before adding the burgers.
Once the pan is hot, add the burgers and turn the heat down just a bit. I like my burgers well done so I cover the pan but you don’t have to do that. After 4-5 minutes, I flip the burgers and cook them on the other side for an additional few minutes before removing them from the pan.
Note – cook these venison burgers exactly how you like to cook any other burger. If you like them on the grill, cook them on the grill, if you like them raw or medium-well then don’t cook them long, and don’t cover the pan… Make them your own and cook them however you like. - Build your burger however you want and enjoy!
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions...
- Can I follow this same recipe with ground beef?
Definitely! It will be a delicious hamburger as well. - Can I add a different kind of fat?
You can add lamb fat if you can come by it. You can also leave the fat out completely but your burger is going to be a bit tough. A way to fix it is to add wet bread. Take 2-3 slices of bread, wet them, and break them into pieces over the meat. Then, mix the bread with the meat and the seasonings. - Any other ideas for fun toppings?
Yes! Try roasted poblanos or roasted red peppers. Try to spread your bun with carrot top pesto, basil pesto, or cilantro pesto, or red pepper paste. Or top your venison burger with these delicious candied jalapenos! - Can I freeze venison burgers?
if you want to keep some of the venison burgers for later, you can freeze them. One way is to freeze them before you season them and fry them (don’t refreeze meat. Only do this if the meat wasn’t already frozen before). Wrap each hamburger individually in plastic wrap, stack the hamburgers in a container, and freeze. When you are ready to use our burgers, let them thaw and then fry or grill them. Do the same when freezing the hamburgers that you already fried. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, stack them in a container, and freeze them. Before serving, let the hamburger thaw on the countertop and then reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 321Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 166mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 15g
Hi! I’m Lady Lee. I help homesteaders simplify their homesteading journey while still producing a ton of food! I am a single mother of four, I was born in Israel and raised in an agricultural commune called a Kibbutz. Now I homestead in central NC.
We have gone organic as much as possible and love to use deer meat. However, we don’t like to use beef fat because of the hormones and antibiotics used in raising beef. So to add fat, I add mashed avocado. Works well to add the needed fat and it’s a healthy fat at that.
Wow, that’s the first time I hear this trick. Thanks for sharing it! I wouldn’t think you can cook the avocado inside the meat but if it works that’s great. Will definitely have to give this a try.
I’ve been using ground turkey for years. I personally don’t like the taste of ground beef. Turkey will take the flavor of any seasoning you add and it is much lighter than beef. These meatballs look fantastic. Whenever I’m making spaghetti my guys always want meatballs. Pinning!
In the past six months or so, it suddenly got really hard for me to digest beef. I literally feel like I have to go to sleep for six hours after a meal that has beef in it. I am now trying to stick to chicken, turkey, and fish. Ground turkey is great!