Whether you're looking for easy camping meals or what to make for dinner, this cast-iron Venison Burgers recipe is loaded with flavor and some unexpected ingredients too! Since venison is such a lean meat, the trick to a juicy burger is getting the fat ratio right - we use bacon here to hit roughly 10-15% fat, which keeps these burgers from drying out. A little wine-soaked cherry and sage in the mix also helps soften any gamey edge, so even picky eaters end up asking for seconds.
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My husband is an avid hunter and has brought a lot of game meat home for me to prepare over the years. We're talking antelope, deer, elk, bison, dove, and even a mountain lion!
Having all that frozen meat in the freezer forces you to find creative ways to prepare the game meat. Our regular recipe rotations include venison meatloaf, elk chili, elk backstrap, and dove nuggets!
This version burgers recipe isn't just any deer burger recipe. I decided to go a little wild with the ingredients. I'm happy to report that it was a big hit at our house. I hope you enjoy this easy venison burger recipe as much as we do!
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Venison - Pre-ground deer or elk meat can be used, or grind your own using scrap elk or deer meat.
- Bacon: Besides egg and breadcrumbs, we will be using bacon as a binder. However, you can use beef fat, pork fat, olive oil, or butter instead.
- Cherries - Although I rehydrated dried cherries in wine, you can use approximately ¼ cup of ground fresh cherries instead.
- Wine - Any red wine can be used; however, don't use overly sweet dessert wines.
- Sage - I add dried sage to the venison meat, but fresh sage can also be used. A little goes a long way. Make sure to grind it in the food processor with the other ingredients.
- Cheese - Choose from cheddar cheese, pepper jack, or Swiss cheese.
- Hamburger Buns: Our family enjoys sesame buns, but you can really use any burger buns you prefer. This includes brioche buns, sourdough buns, or poppy seed buns.
🍔 How to Make Venison Burgers
Thaw the meat if necessary. Before working on the venison burgers, prepare the Spicy Fry Sauce.
Step 1: Whisk Fry Sauce and Tabasco until combined. Set aside until needed. You'll use some on the burger and the rest to dip fries into. If you're not serving fries with your burgers, make less sauce.
Step 2: Microwave wine and cherries for 15 seconds to help the cherries soften. Set the cherries aside while you grind the elk or deer meat (if needed). Add cherries, wine, bacon, minced onions, garlic, and sage to a food processor. Pulse until you have a paste.
Step 3: Add paste mixture, ground venison, salt, pepper, paprika, breadcrumbs, and egg to a bowl. Mix with your hands until combined. Do not overwork the meat mixture.
Step 4: Form the meat into 4 venison burger patties either free-hand or using a hamburger press.
Step 5: Form a dent in the center of each venison burger and fry in a hot cast-iron skillet for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip venison burgers and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Top each venison burger with a slice of your favorite cheese during the last minute of cooking. Grill buns in the same pan.
Pro Tip: Making a dent in the center of the venison burgers with your thumb before cooking them keeps the venison burgers from swelling into a ball. It also helps the burgers to cook more evenly.
Step 6: Serve the venison burgers with sliced onions, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, and spicy fry sauce.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Enjoy this venison burger recipe with either the fry sauce suggested in this recipe, our Copycat Big Mac sauce, or this Sriracha Aioli. Instead of French fries, try these crispy air fried potato wedges. And for a salad option, try this dill pickle salad!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Venison meat is very lean. Suet (raw, hard fat) is sometimes added by the butcher who processes the ground game meat so that the meat holds together.
Even so, sometimes it's necessary to add oil, butter, breadcrumbs, or egg to hold the ground venison burger together.
Mix 10% of fat with 90% elk meat. Or, for every pound of elk meat, mix in 1.6 ounces of fat. A kitchen scale comes in handy to get the right proportions.
Venison meat can sometimes taste gamey, deer meat more so than elk. Venison steak is usually soaked in milk or buttermilk to get some of the gamey taste out.
However, we can't soak ground venison in milk. Instead, we can disguise the gamey flavor with herbs, spices, and other ingredients.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- When cooking the venison burgers, refrain from pressing down on the patties and releasing the juices, which will dry out the burger.
- This venison burger recipe is also great on the grill!
- Instead of mixing bacon into the raw burger, you can add some butter or olive oil for a healthier option.
- To make a bacon venison burger, fry two additional slices of bacon per burger. Top each venison burger with two crispy slices of bacon before serving.
- Place square pieces of wax paper between uncooked burger patties and store in freezer Ziploc bags before freezing.
- There is no need to defrost frozen venison burgers before cooking them.
- Caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and black truffle aioli pair well with venison burgers.
- Store leftover patties in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
🍖 More Game Recipes
If you enjoy these cast-iron venison burgers, you may also want to check out my new Blackstone smash burgers recipe!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Whisk Fry Sauce and Tabasco until combined. Set aside until needed. You'll use some on the burger and the rest to dip fries into. If you're not serving fries with your burgers, make less sauce.
- Microwave wine and cherries for 15 seconds to help the cherries soften. Set the cherries aside while you grind the elk or deer meat (if needed). Add cherries, wine, bacon, minced onions, garlic, and sage to a food processor. Pulse until you have a paste.
- Add paste mixture to ground venison along with salt, pepper, paprika, bread crumbs, and egg. Mix with your hands until combined. Do not overwork the mixture.
- Form the meat into 4 patties either free-hand or using a hamburger press.
- Form a dent in the center of each patty and fry in a hot cast-iron skillet for 3 to 4 minutes per side, depending on how well you like your burger cooked. Top with a slice of your favorite cheese during the last minute of cooking. Grill buns in the same pan.
- Serve the venison burger with sliced onions, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, and spicy fry sauce.
Nutrition
Notes
- When cooking the burger refrain from pressing down on the patties and releasing the juices, which will dry out the burger.
- This Venison Burger Recipe is also great on the grill!
- Instead of mixing bacon into the raw burger, you can add some butter or olive oil, for a healthier option.
- To make a Bacon Venison Burger, fry two additional slices of bacon per burger. Top each burger with two crispy slices of bacon before serving.
- Place square pieces of wax paper between uncooked burger patties and store in freezer Ziplock bags before freezing.
- There is no need to defrost frozen venison burger patties before cooking them.
- Caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms pair well with venison burgers.
- Store leftover patties in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
P Ratcliffe says
Absolutely wonderful 10/10💋💋🇬🇧🇺🇸
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you so much for the review!🫶