The Semiconservative Granola Girl

Close to Home Living

Sweet Relish

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We love our pickles around here.  Dill Pickles are the foundation of many a recipe.  We make homemade dill pickles, use the brine to make Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken, Instant Pot Dill Pickle Chicken and Dill Pickle Brine for Smoked Dill Pickle Chicken with Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce.  But hot dogs call for Sweet Relish, so here is our recipe.

Please note:  This post contains affiliate links, many of which are to Amazon.  We are an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click through to Amazon or another affiliate and make a purchase, we make the tiniest little commission which does not affect your purchase price.

Homemade Cucumber Sweet Relish Recipe | Easy to make for home canning | Small Batch Pickle Relish Recipe

The Garden and Sweet Relish

We haven’t had a garden in several years.  In truth, we had pretty much given up due to time.  We are fortunate enough to have inherited a cabin in the Adirondacks, and what we have discovered is that you can’t start a garden in June and come back to it in September and expect it to produce.  Not to mention the way baseball and softball interferes with any time that might exist on weekends.  But as I am sure is true for most of you, dear readers, this year was a little different.  So we put a garden in.

But you still can’t leave your garden for a week and expect your pickling cucumbers to be perfect for little crunchy whole dill pickles.  They get fat and seedy if they are not picked at their prime.  However, they need not got to waste, because that makes them perfect for making relish, just cut those seeds out.

The Process

Sweet Relish is cucumber and onions that have been finely chopped.  I wash them, leaving the peels on, remove the seeds, cut them in big chunks and throw them into my Ninja Food Processor.  You will have to do it in batches so they don’t get too pulverized.  I do about half a cucumber at a time.  The goal is 2 cups of onion and 6 cups of cucumber.

In a large bowl or sauce pan, add your vegetables, pickling salt and cold water.  Let them brine for two hours.  Then drain and squeeze to get as much water out as possible.  I poured mine into a colander and to drip drain while working in batches in a sieve colander, I push more water out with the back of a large spoon. It’s kind of labor intensive, but in the end, the relish is less liquid-y.

Wash you mason jars.  I like to use regular mouth pint jars for relish, but that is entirely up to your preference.  And prepare them by sterilizing them in a hot water canner.  Prepare two part lids according to manufacturers directions.

In a large sauce pan, bring vinegar, sugar and other seeds to a boil.  Add the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Transfer hot relish to hot, sterilized mason jars.  Leave 1/2 inch of head space. Apply two part lids and finger tighten.  Process in the hot water canner for 10 minutes.  Allow jars to cool on a towel.

Homemade Cucumber Sweet Relish Recipe | Easy to make for home canning | Small Batch Pickle Relish Recipe

Preserving the Harvest

Around here, our motto is close to home living.  And there is nothing closer to home than preserving the harvest whether it is from your own garden, the local farm stand or your farmer’s market.  If you are looking for other ways to preserve the harvest check out our Preserving the Harvest Index Page.  It has all of our recipes for jam, jelly and garlic dill pickles along with an amazing Basil Pesto Recipe that we make and freeze for summery goodness even in the deepest parts of the winter!

Happy Canning!

Sweet Cucumber Relish

Sweet Relish

Sweet tart cucumber based relish, perfect for hot dogs.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
resting time 2 hours
Course Jam/Jelly/Canning
Cuisine American, Locavore
Servings 2 pints

Equipment

  • mixing bowl
  • box grater or food processor
  • colander
  • canner
  • glass measuring cup
  • measuring spoons
  • mason jars and lids

Ingredients
  

  • 6 cups shredded cucumber remove seeds if they are large
  • 2 cups finely chopped sweet onion
  • ¼ cup pickling salt
  • 3½ cups sugar
  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon celery seeds
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

Instructions
 

  • Combine cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain thoroughly and sqeeze to remove excess water.
  • Combine sugar, vinegar and seeds in a large sauce pan. Heat to boiling.
  • Prepare jars in hot water bath.
  • Add veggies to boiling vinegar mixture and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Pack into hot pint or half pint jars. Leave ½ inch of head space. Seal.
  • Process for 10 minutes in a hot water canner.
Keyword Canning, Pickles, Relish

Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy

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Originally published May 17, 2017. Updated April 8, 2020.

In these days of sequester, there is plenty of time to eat a good breakfast. We eat eggs pretty much everyday. It’s really just a matter of how we will eat our eggs. As I was preparing next week’s post, I realized I needed to update this Venison Sausage Gravy Breakfast Bowl Recipe. We don’t get prepared venison sausage from our deer processor anymore. It seemed we would always run out of plain ground venison but have tons of venison sausage left. But just because you don’t have venison sausage doesn’t mean you can’t make Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy.

Please note:  This post contains affiliate links, many of which are to Amazon.  We are an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click through to Amazon or another affiliate and make a purchase, we make the tiniest little commission which does not affect your purchase price.

Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy | Deer Sausage Gravy | Whole30 Breakfast | Gluten Free Sausage Gravy | Grain Free | Dairy Free

Sausage Gravy

Every Sunday, we got to the little diner in our town after church. Even now, we are continuing to give them our business, just in the form of take-out. If you have the ability to do that, you should definitely continue to patronize your local restaurants, they are struggling. Last Sunday when it was my turn to pick up, I was the only order waiting and one was on the grill. This is a diner that seats about 50 and most tables are full all morning on the weekends. But I digress.

The reason I brought up the diner is because of their sausage gravy. I am not crazy about traditional sausage gravy and biscuits (the biscuits don’t do anything for me), but I do love a breakfast bowl with the sausage gravy over potatoes. That’s how we serve it here and part of how we make this Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy breakfast bowl.

It is fairly easy to make venison breakfast sausage. Simply brown the meat in a cast iron skillet (We love our 12 inch Lodge skillet) and add some sausage-y spices. We use caraway seed, salt, white pepper and ground sage. We add butter or ghee (for Whole30) to the pan because venison is such a lean meat.

To make the venison gravy, add arrow root to the cooked meat and seasoning. Allow it to be absorbed into the meat. Slowly add beef broth allowing that to absorb into the arrow root first making a paste and then continuing until all the broth is in the pan. Bring the gravy to a simmer and continue cooking until it has thickened.

Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy | Deer Sausage Gravy | Whole30 Breakfast | Gluten Free Sausage Gravy | Grain Free | Dairy Free

Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy Breakfast Bowls

Breakfast bowls are a great alternative to biscuits and great because there are so many options. We love to use tater puffs cooked in the air fryer, along with yolky fried eggs. If you are looking for Whole30 options, you can use hash brown potatoes (be sure to read the ingredients, many commercially produced frozen potatoes add sugar. We like Alexia.) or homemade roasted potatoes like Everything Roasted Potatoes.

However you decide to make your potatoes, just build your bowl in layers. Potatoes on the bottom, some Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy, eggs prepared your way and then topped with a little more sausage gravy. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it.

If you are looking for a more traditional sausage gravy, you can check out the original recipe here. You can always combine the two using the seasoning from this recipe and the flour from the original Go ahead. Make it yours.

Whole30 Venison Sausage Gravy

Ground Venison with sausage spices browned and prepared with gravy.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Whole30
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • cast iron skillet
  • measuring spoons
  • glass measuring cup

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons butter or ghee use ghee for Whole30
  • 1 pound ground venison
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper
  • ½ teaspoon ground sage
  • 3 tablespoons arrow root powder
  • 2 cups beef broth

Instructions
 

  • Melt butter or ghee in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
  • Add the meat and seasoning (caraway, salt, pepper, sage) and cook until meat has browned. Stirring occasionally to break the meat up.
  • Add the arrow root to the meat and allow it to soak into the meat and fat.
  • Slowly add the beef broth. Allowing the broth to absorb while stirring to make sure the arrow root that is on the bottom of the skillet is brought into the broth.
  • Bring to simmer and reduce heat until gravy has thickened.
Keyword Gluten free, grain free, Locavore, Paleo, Whole30

Venison Cobbler

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I knew I had a winner on my hands with this ground venison casserole when my 10-year-old daughter asked if she could have it in her lunch the next day. Venison Cobbler is kind like a Venison Shepherd’s Pie or a venison pot pie except it has a cornbread topping instead of potatoes or pie crust. And it’s really delicious.

Please note:  This post contains affiliate links, many of which are to Amazon.  We are an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click through to Amazon or another affiliate and make a purchase, we make the tiniest little commission which does not affect your purchase price.

Venison Cobbler | ground venison with vegetables in a creamy gravy, topped with cornbread | ground venison recipe | deer recipe | ground venison casserole recipe

Venison Cobbler Filling

I got the idea for this recipe from a ground venison cook book that my husband got me for Christmas. I loved the idea of the topping, but the filling in the original recipe had tomatoes in it and I knew my kids would never go for it. So I thought about just using the Venison Shepherd Pie filling. But then I thought, what if I make the gravy creamier by adding milk.

Yessssss! Venison Cobbler is born. It’s got a number of steps, so I am not going to call this an easy weeknight meal. But I have made the filling on Sunday, covered it with foil and put it in the fridge. On the day we are going to eat it, I mix up the cornbread and throw it in the oven.

Venison Cobbler | ground venison with vegetables in a creamy gravy, topped with cornbread | ground venison recipe | deer recipe | ground venison

So it starts with a mushroom and onion gravy, In a cast iron skillet (we like this 12 inch one from Lodge), brown the ground venison in a little added fat, like olive oil. When the meat is about half done, add chopped onions and chopped mushrooms. When the meat is fully cooked and the onions and mushrooms have cooked down (5-7 minutes), add butter to melt. Then, slowly add flour, a tablespoon or so at a time. With each addition of flour, let it fully absorb.

Your meat mixture should have a sort of paste-like consistency from the added flour. Slowly add the beef broth, letting each addition of broth be fully absorbed into the flour until it is smooth. Add the milk, Worcester sauce, salt, pepper and veggies. Simmer to let the gravy thicken.

The beauty of making your filling in a cast iron skillet is that you actually can finish it in the skillet if you are making it the same day you will eat it. If you are not eating it the same day, I recommend transferring the filling to a 9 x 13 baking dish or two 8 x 8 baking dishes. (Two 8 x 8 = one for now, one for later. Cover well and freeze without the topping for up to three months.)

Venison Cobbler | ground venison with vegetables in a creamy gravy, topped with cornbread | ground venison recipe | deer recipe | ground venison

Venison Cobbler Topping

Preheat the oven to 375º F. The next step is mix is to mix the cornbread topping. Growing up, my mother always made cornbread from scratch; however, my husband prefers the Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, so while I do almost EVERYTHING else in my life from scratch (Helloooo, Close to Home Living), this one I concede on. Do what makes your family happy.

If you are using a box of corn muffin mix, you will need two to cover. (If you are doing 8 x 8 pans you will need one each.) Mix the cornbread according to the directions and then spread over your filling.

Cover with aluminum foil. I like to spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray so that it doesn’t stick (as much). Bake for half an hour covered. Then bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cornbread is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

The full pan makes about 8 servings, so we used the leftovers in lunches during the week.

Venison Cobbler | ground venison with vegetables in a creamy gravy, topped with cornbread | ground venison recipe | deer recipe | ground venison

What’s for Dinner?

I don’t know about you. But in these dog-days of March it still seems like soup and casserole season, so why not make a Venison Cobbler. If you are into weekend meal prep, go ahead and make up the filling. I have made it on Sunday and then baked it on Tuesday. I get home a little later on Tuesday, so it is great to know that I can just come home and thrown it in the oven. In fact, that is totally my plan for this afternoon!

If you are looking for more great venison recipes, we have lots! Just check out our Venison Recipe Index Page. They are all there!

Venison Cobbler

Venison Cobbler is ground venison and veggies in a creamy gravy, topped with cornbread.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Locavore
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • cast iron skillet
  • knife
  • measuring tools
  • wooden spoon
  • 13 x 9 baking dish or two 8 x 8 baking dishes
  • aluminum foil

Ingredients
  

filling

  • 1 pound ground venison
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 8 ounces mushrooms diced, about 2 cups
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 16 ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables

topping

  • 2 8.5 ounce boxes of corn muffin mix
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅔ cup milk

Instructions
 

Filling

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  • In a heated cast iron skillet, brown the ground venison over medium heat. You may wish to add a little oil to the pan depending on how lean the meat is.
  • When the meat is about half cooked through, add onion and mushrooms to the meat and continue to cook, stirring periodically to ensure that everything is cooking evenly.
  • Add butter to the meat mixture. Stir until melted.
  • Slowly add the flour, stirring so that it is absorbed as it is added.
  • Once the flour is fully absorbed into the meat mixture, slowly add the broth, about a half cup at a time. Stir until it the mixture is smooth.
  • Add the milk. Reduce the heat and simmer until the gravy begins to thicken.
  • Add the veggies.
  • Transfer the mixture to one 9 x 13 baking dish or divide evenly into two 8 x 8 baking dishes.

Topping

  • Prepare the corn muffin mix according to the direction on the box. Spread evenly over the top of the venison-veggie mixture.
  • Cover with foil (you may wish to spray it with non-stick spray so it doesn't stick).
  • Bake half an hour with the foil on. Remove foil. Back 10-15 minutes longer until the gravy is bubbling and the cornbread topping is golden brown.

Notes

Save a dish and leave the mixture in the cast iron skillet.  Top with corn bread and bake in the skillet.
 
Keyword Locavore, venison

Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas

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Taco Tuesday is perfect for our family.  Tuesday is one of the days I get home a little later, so an easy weeknight meal of tacos or nachos or taco salad is perfect.  But sometimes, Taco Tuesday needs a little change up like fajitas, like Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas.

I know, right now you are thinking, smoker on a weeknight?  Well yeah, actually, we have found a few things that you can smoke in under an hour that are perfect for weeknight smoker meal.  (Check out my post here.)

Note:  This post contains affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas | Smoked Steak Fajitas | smoke the meat in your electric smoker and then add it to the veggies cooked on the stove top | Whole30 | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas Preparations

If you are going to take the time to make fajitas in the smoker, then you need to make your own fajita rub which like my Venison Tacos starts with chili powder and ground cumin as the base ingredients.  Then just add some Kosher salt, dried minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. 

Apply the rub liberally to a pound of venison chops or steaks.  Reserve at least a teaspoon of the rub for the vegetables.  (If you are looking to speed this meal up, chops will cook faster because they are smaller.)  

Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas | Smoked Steak Fajitas | smoke the meat in your electric smoker and then add it to the veggies cooked on the stove top | Whole30 | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Preheat your electric smoker to 225°F and add wood chips according to the manufacturer’s directions.  We like to use hickory for its smokey flavor.  Allow the meat to sit at room temperature with the rub on it while your smoker comes up to temperature.

While the meat is sitting, you can start to prepare the peppers and onions.  Slice an onion or two, two or three bell peppers and a jalapeño (remove the seeds for less heat).  Mince 3-4 fresh garlic cloves.

Once your smoker has filled with smoke, you can add the meat to the electric smoker. 

Melt 1/4 cup of butter (use ghee to make it Whole30) in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the vegetables and lower the temperature so they will cook slowly while the meat is in the smoker.  Once the vegetables have cooked down, add the remaining rub to the peppers and onions.

Serve

Remove the venison from the smoker when the meat has reached an internal temperature of 145°F.  Slice the meat into thin strips and add it to the pepper and onion mixture.  Serve as desired.

We like to top our fajitas with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cheese on a flour tortilla, but if you are looking to have Whole30 Fajitas, you could serve them on a lettuce wrap with guacamole and compliant salsa or you could have fajita bowls by serving the meat over rice or cauliflower rice or hash brown potatoes.  The possibilities are endless.  And don’t forget to save your leftovers for Whatcha’ Got Omelette or Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash.

Smoked Venison Steak Fajitas

A homemade fajita rub on venison steaks or chops which are smoked in your electric smoker then served with stove top sauteed peppers and onions.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican, Whole30
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • electric smoker
  • hickory chips
  • skillet

Ingredients
  

Fajita Dry Rub

  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1½ tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tsp dried minced garlic
  • ½ – 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Vegetables

  • 2 bell peppers color of choice
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 3-4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 jalapeno seeds removed if desired
  • ¼ cup better or ghee

Smoked Venison Steak

  • 1 lb venison steaks or chops

Instructions
 

Dry Rub

  • Add all the dry rub ingredients together in a mason jar.
  • Shake to mix throroghly.

Smoked Venison

  • Reserve 1 teaspoon of rub for the vegetables.
  • Apply the rub liberally to the meat on both sides. Allow to sit while the smoker comes up to temperature (225°F) and fills with smoke.
  • Smoke the meat for about 1 hour. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 145°F.

Vegetables

  • After the meat has gone in the smoker, slice the peppers and onions.
  • Melt butter or ghee in a skillet over medium heat.
  • Add onions, peppers and garlic. Saute until vegetable become soft.
  • When the vegetables have cooked down (about 30 minutes), add the reserved rub and turn the burner back to low. Allow vegetables to continue to warm until the meat is done.

Fajitas

  • After the meat comes out of the smoker, slice into strips and add to the vegetables.
  • Server with guacamole, salsa and cheese on tortillas or to make it Whole30, serve on lettuce wraps, cauliflower rice or over hash browns with guacamole and compliant salsa.
Keyword Dairy free, Electric Smoker, Gluten free, Whole30

Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash

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A while back, I wrote about how we use up our leftovers in the morning in an egg scramble that we like to call Whatch’ Got Omelette, but recently, we have taken that delicious little food invention to the next level with what we are calling Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash.

Note:  This post contains affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash | use leftovers and frozen potatoes to make a quick and delicious breakfast or breakfast side

Just like a Whatch’ Got Omelette, Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash takes advantage of using up leftovers and the combinations are endless.  Instead of starting with a base of eggs, this starts with a frozen potato of your choice.  We go with tater puffs when we are not doing a Whole30, but you can easily make this Whole30 by using a frozen shredded potato like our Whole30 Western Quiche, just check the ingredients for a compliant brand.

Because you are starting with frozen potatoes, you will want to start by heating the fat of your choice in a large skillet—bacon fat is perfect.  (We love our 12 inch cast iron skillet from Lodge.) Add some chopped onion.  If you are using tater puffs, you will want cook them in the fat until they can be broken up with the side of a spatula before adding your other ingredients. 

Once your potatoes are about half done, you can add the leftovers of your choice to make your most amazing, always different breakfast hash.

Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash | use leftovers and frozen potatoes to make a quick and delicious breakfast or breakfast side

Amazing Breakfast Hash Combos

Looking for inspiration for your Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash?  Here are a few of our favorites:

Steak and Zucchini Hash:  leftover grilled steak with leftover grilled zucchini and onion

Smoked Venison Steak Fajita:  leftover venison steak fajitas

Taco Hash (pictured below): left over Venison Taco Meat. (Our Venison Taco recipe is Whole30 and can be totally made with any ground meat.) Serve with salsa and other taco toppings of your choice.

Picnic Breakfast Hash:  leftover hot dogs and hamburgers

Bacon Cheeseburger Hash:  Cook 4 or 5 slices bacon before adding the potato.  Set your bacon aside and then cook your potato, add leftover cheeseburger and crumble the bacon.

Spinach, Chicken and Sausage Breakfast Hash (pictured above):  a couple hands full of spinach, grilled chicken and grilled or smoked Italian sausage

Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash | use leftovers and frozen potatoes to make a quick and delicious breakfast or breakfast side

Serve Up Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash

Clean Out the Fridge Breakfast Hash is perfect served with a yolky fried egg. However our daughter loves it with scrambled eggs, so it’s totally your choice.  Heck, it could even be a breakfast in and of itself with all that potatoey and meaty goodness.

Looking for other great breakfast ideas, checkout our page that indexes all of our Whole30 and non-Whole30 breakfast recipes.  If you are looking for the perfect Whole30 breakfast hash, check out my favorite Butternut Squash and Prosciutto Hash. It is sweet and salty and quick for weekday mornings.

Venison Shepherd’s Pie

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I’m pretty sure that in a few places here on my blog, I have mentioned that I love mashed potatoes.  So, when I was in college and in the dining hall of all places, I discovered that there was such a thing as shepherd’s pie, I was immediately smitten.  Fortunately, my kids love mashed potatoes too, so even though they are not keen on casseroles (sad because they are one of my comfort foods), they love Venison Shepherd’s Pie.  If you’re not so big on the venison, then feel free to substitute any ground meat.

Please note:  All links are to Amazon.  We are an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click through and make a purchase, we make the tiniest little commission which does not affect your purchase price.

Venison Shepherd's Pie | ground venison with vegetables in gravy topped with mashed potatoes

Venison Shepherd’s Pie

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Shepherd’s Pie was developed as a way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, meat and gravy.  Traditionally, it would have been served on Monday or Tuesday with Sunday dinner’s leftovers.  However, in this recipe we are using ground venison and fresh mashed potatoes and gravy made from beef stock.

Preparations

Start by preparing your mashed potatoes.  You’ll probably need about 4 cups of mashed potatoes which is 8-10 medium potatoes. 

While your potatoes are boiling, you can begin to brown the meat.  Since venison tends to be a lean meat, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of oil or butter to the pan first. Add onions and cook until soft. We brown our meat in a 12 inch cast iron skillet.

ground venison for a roux

The next step is to make a roux. Add the flour to the meat. Make sure that the flour is fully absorbed into the meat and onion mixture. Slowly add the broth, allowing it to be fully absorbed into the flour and meat to begin to create gravy. Be sure there are no lumps as you add, you cannot get the lumps out later.

Once the broth has been fully added, you can allow the gravy to come to a simmer and begin to thicken. Finally, add the the mixed vegetables and remove from the heat.

Pour the meat, gravy and vegetables to a casserole dish. (I love my 2 quart oval pyrex casserole dish for shepherd’s pie. The lid makes it perfect for the freezer.)

Top with mashed potatoes. Bake until the gravy begins to bubble and the mashed potatoes begin to brown slightly about 40 minutes. Allow the dish to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Venison Shepherd's Pie | ground venison with vegetables in gravy topped with mashed potatoes

A Love for Shepherd’s Pie

“Can we have shepherd’s pie?” is a frequent question in our house. And we do love it in all forms: Cheesy Ham Shepherd’s Pie and Turkey Shepherd’s Pie and, of course, Venison Shepherd’s Pie. But unfortunately, shepherd’s pie in any of it’s forms doesn’t make an easy weeknight meal. However, the great thing about it is that it can be made ahead a day or two or even frozen.

I will often make a shepherd’s pie as part of my weekend meal planning then I can easily throw it in the oven as soon as I get home from work. It takes a little longer to bake if you are starting from cold, but it tastes just as good.

I also sometimes make a double batch of meat and gravy and put one in the freezer. We are not crazy about how frozen mashed potatoes come out, so I will make new mashed potatoes on the weekend to put atop a defrosted casserole. Then I bake it just the same.

So we hope that you enjoy this recipe for Venison Shepherd’s pie and try some of our other Shepherd’s Pie recipes too.

Venison Shepherd's Pie | ground venison with vegetables in gravy topped with mashed potatoes
Venison Shepherd's Pie

Venison Shepherd’s Pie

Ground venison and vegetables in gravy topped with mashed potatoes.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • hand mixer
  • skillet
  • casserole dish
  • 4 quart pot

Ingredients
  

Mashed Potatoes

  • 8-10 potatoes
  • ½ cup butter melted
  • ¼ cup milk

Filling

  • 1 pound ground venison
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour use ¼ cup for thicker gravy
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mashed Potatoes

  • Peel and chunk potatoes. Add to salted water, heat over high heat until boiling. Boil until fork tender. About 15 minutes.
  • Drain potatoes and return to pot.
  • Use an electric hand mixer to mash potatoes.
  • Once potatoes are well mashed, add butter and milk. Mix well.
  • Set the mashed potatoes aside until you are ready to use them.

Filling

  • Brown the ground venison over medium heat. Venison tends to be very lean, so you may need to add a little oil to the skillet to keep it from sticking to the pan.
  • Add chopped onions and cook until soft. About 3 minutes.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt.
  • Sprinkle flour over the butter, meat and onions. Stir until it is absorbed into the butter and meat.
  • Slowly add the beef stock. Let each addition be absorbed by the flour. Be careful to make sure that the mixture is smooth with each addition. You cannot get the lumps out later.
  • Once all the stock has been added, allow the gravy to simmer and thicken.
  • Stir in the mixed vegetables and remove from heat.

Assembling the Shepherd's Pie

  • Pour the meat mixture into a casserole dish.
  • Top with mashed potatoes.
  • Bake 30-45 until the gravy begins to bubble and the mashed potatoes are golden brown.
Keyword Locavore

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