This steakhouse-style venison steak recipe uses simple ingredients to bring out the rich, natural taste of wild venison. This recipe was born out of a desire to make a good venison steak without masking the flavor with a marinade. It takes a bit of careful watching to avoid overcooking your meat, but the result is nice, tender venison steaks that are cooked with just butter, salt, garlic cloves, and a few basic seasonings.
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Most years, the majority of our meat comes from venison harvested off of our property. We’ve come to really love the taste of deer meat, whether it’s in venison tacos, venison chili, fajitas, or broccoli “beef”. But the whole family is extra excited when steak night.
Venison is a lean meat that’s not quite as forgiving as beef steaks, so it does take some careful watching and cooking to make sure that you don’t overcook your steaks and end up with a tough, gamey flavor. However, it only takes a cook time of about 10-15 minutes to get a delicious, pan-seared steak, so it ends up being a pretty quick recipe that really makes an easy, delicious, and nourishing weekend meal.
Tips for Cooking Venison Steak
- Let your meat come to room temperature before cooking. If you cook a cold steak, it’s easy to end up with an overcooked piece of meat. This is because the outside of the steak will cook quickly while the middle will still be cold. Letting your meat come to room temperature first prevents getting an overcooked steak.
- Don’t overcook. Cooking venison steaks can be a little tricker than cooking beef steaks. Since the meat is so lean compared to beef, it’s really important to watch your steak carefully and avoid overcooking in order to end up with the best steak possible.
- Let it rest before serving. When meat rests after cooking, it allows the muscles to relax and the juices to distribute throughout the steak. Giving these juices time to flow will help you get the perfect venison steak and eliminate dryness. In general, larger cuts of meat (like venison roasts) should rest longer. For steaks, 5-10 minutes is sufficient.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Steakhouse-Style Venison Steak
- Venison backstraps. Venison backstrap is one of the most tender cuts of venison and runs along the deer’s spine. It’s a very flavorful cut. However, it’s also a lean cut of meat – not very fatty – so it’s important to not overcook your backstraps if you want to get nice, juicy steaks.
- Butter. Be generous with the butter! This keeps your deer steaks moist in the skillet and helps to give them that juicy flavor.
- Salt. Don’t hold back on the salt either! We use Redmond kosher salt for this recipe. This simple but important ingredient helps to draw out the moisture, tenderize your steak, and of course, greatly enhances the flavor!
- Garlic cloves. Fresh garlic cloves bring out the natural flavors of the steak, and you end up with perfectly browned, crispy cloves that pair beautifully with your tender steak bites.
- Other seasonings. We also add freshly ground black pepper, mustard powder, and ground thyme.
- Fresh rosemary. Fresh rosemary is the perfect finishing touch to serve with a plate of juicy venison steaks.
How to Cook Venison Steaks
- If your steaks are frozen, thaw them in the fridge.
- When the steaks are thawed, you’ll need to bring them to room temperature before cooking. To do this, remove from the fridge and butterfly your steaks by cutting them in half. We find that it generally takes about 30-60 minutes to bring the steaks to room temperature.
- When you’re ready to cook, pat your steaks dry with paper towel to remove extra moisture. Then, salt them generously on both sides.
- In a small bowl, combine freshly ground pepper, mustard powder, and ground thyme.
- Prepare your garlic cloves by peeling and cutting them into thirds. Feel free to add more cloves if you’re a garlic lover!
- While you’re preparing your seasonings, heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet on the stovetop over medium heat until it begins to smoke.
- When your seasonings are prepared and your cast iron pan is smoking, you’re ready to add your steaks! Turn your stove up to medium-high heat and use tongs to transfer each cut of venison into your pan, making sure that each piece is making full contact with the pan and not overlapping with the other pieces.
- Cook the first side for about 3 minutes, then flip your steaks over. After 3 minutes on each side, add your butter, garlic, and spices to one side of the pan. Melt the butter in the pan, and while melting, mix the spices into the butter. At this point, you can turn the heat up to high in order to get a good crust on your steaks.
- While your steaks are cooking, move them gently around in the butter mixture to coat. You can also tip your cast iron skillet slightly and use a large metal spoon to spoon the butter mixture overtop of your steaks to “bathe” them. While you’re cooking, move the garlic cloves around slowly to make sure they don’t burn.
- Continue closely watching your steak and flipping it about every three minutes. You can also pick up your steak with your tongs to sear the edges. For the best results, stay right near your steaks and continue moving them every couple of minutes to make sure that they don’t overcook. It’s easy to overcook venison steaks, and they’re not as forgiving as beef steaks. But the extra effort of staying near your pan is well worth it!
- After about 10 minutes, you can use a meat thermometer to test the internal temperature of the steaks by probing into the side. This is the best way to test the readiness of your meat without overcooking it. We generally like to cook our steaks to medium (or until the internal temperature reaches about 160 degrees F), but its totally up to personal preference whether you like your steaks rare (145°F), medium (160°F), or well done (170°F).
- Remove to a cutting board and top with your garlic cloves and a sprig or two of fresh rosemary. Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
What To Serve With Venison Steak
Our favorite way to serve steak is with a green vegetable and crispy American fries or mashed potatoes.
Our go-to veggies to serve with steak are usually green beans sautéed in olive oil and lemon juice, roasted brussel sprouts, or roasted asparagus.
FAQs About Cooking Venison Steak
How do you cook venison steaks so they’re tender?
Our best tips for cooking a tender and delicious deer steak are to let your meat come to room temperature before cooking, watch it closely to avoid overcooking, use a meat thermometer to test the internal temperature, and let your meat rest for approximately 10 minutes before serving.
How long does it take to cook venison steaks?
Cooking times for steaks will vary depending on how thick the cut of meat is and your cooking method. We find that cooking steaks usually takes approximately 10-15 minutes in cast iron skillets, with cuts that are about 1/2 – 3/4″ thick.
Are there different ways to cook venison steaks?
Definitely! If its your first time trying out a deer steak recipe, you get to experiment around to find the best tasting recipe for your family’s dinner table. We love using simple ingredients to bring out the natural flavors of wild game meats. However, many people also enjoy marinading venison steaks in a simple pan sauce with ingredients like soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, or Worcestershire sauce.
There are lots of easy recipes for cooking venison steaks, so enjoy finding your favorites!
Does venison taste different than beef?
Yes, venison is leaner than beef and usually has what many people describe as a more gamey flavor. The flavor of venison, however, ultimately depends on a factors such as the deer’s diet, age, and how it was harvest and processed.
Read our family’s opinion on the difference between venison and beef!
Is hunting for venison cheaper than buying meat?
This depends on so many factors! In general, the cost of hunting is high for the first couple of years. However, once you have the basic equipment you need, hunting can become a great way to save money on meat over the course of a few years. For our family, we save quite a bit by deer hunting each year.
Check out our cost breakdown of hunting for venison to see how we pay less than $3 per pound of meat.
More Favorite Venison Recipes
Here are some other winning recipes you can use to enjoy the delicious taste of venison!
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Steakhouse-Style Venison Steak
This steakhouse-style venison steak recipe uses simple ingredients to bring out the rich, natural taste of venison. This recipe was born out of a desire to make a good venison steak without masking the flavor with a marinade. It takes a bit of careful watching to avoid overcooking your meat, but the result is nice, tender venison steaks that are cooked with just butter, salt, garlic cloves, and a few basic seasonings.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds venison backstraps
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 8-10 garlic cloves, cut in thirds
- Fresh rosemary (optional)
Instructions
- First, set your venison out and let it come to room temperature. (Approximately 30-60 minutes for thawed meat.)
- Butterfly your steaks by cutting them in half and pat them dry with a paper towel. They should be about 1/2" - 3/4" thick.
- Salt generously on both sides.
- In a small bowl, combine pepper, mustard powder, and thyme.
- Heat a well-seasoned cast iron on medium heat until it's smoking. Adjust meat to medium high and add steak to the pan, making sure that the pieces don't overlap. Work in batches if necessary.
- After about 3 minutes, flip your steaks. Cook for about 3 minutes on the second side, then add your butter, spices, and garlic cloves to an empty corner of the pan.
- Melt butter in the pan and mix the spices into the butter. Turn the heat up to high. This allows the steak to get a good crust.
- Use a large spoon to ladle the butter and spices overtop of the steaks in order to bathe them. You can tilt that pan to help collect the butter with your spoon. While cooking, be sure to move the garlic around occasionally so it doesn't burn.
- Continue turning your steak approximately every 3 minutes and bathing it with the butter mixture every so often. You can also turn it up on its sides to help sear the edges.
- After about 10 minutes, use a meat thermometer to probe into the side of the steaks to test doneness.
- Cook until the temperature reaches rare (145°F), medium (160°F), or well done (170°F), according to your preference.
- Remove to a cutting board and let rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Top with fresh rosemary.
Notes
It's important to let your steak come to room temperature before cooking. Otherwise, the outside will cook too quickly and leave the inside undercooked.
Stay right near your pan to avoid overcooking your steaks. They only take 10-15 minutes to cook, and the extra attention is worth it in order to avoid dry steaks!
Letting your meat rest allows the muscles to relax and the juices to distribute. If you want the juiciest, most delicious steak possible, don't skip this step!
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