Cast-Iron Venison Burger Recipe

Name: Cast-Iron Venison Burger Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
Ingredients: ⅓ cup Fry Sauce; 1 tsp Habanero Tabasco; 1 lb. venison meat ((deer or elk meat)); 2 tbsp dried cherries ((soaked in wine)); 2 tbsp red wine; 4 slices bacon ((or 1 tablespoon oil)); 2 tbsp minced onions; 1 clove garlic; ½ tsp dried rubbed sage; 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper; ½ tsp smoked paprika; 2 tbsp bread crumbs; 1 small egg; 4 cheese slices; 4 burger buns

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These Cast-Iron Venison Burgers are loaded with flavor, and some unexpected ingredients like dried cherries, smoked paprika, and sage. The dried cherries and sage add a great, subtle flavor to this venison burger recipe. Whether served with Coleslaw, Potato Salad, or French fries, you're going to love this tasty Venison Burger!

venison burger and fries on a white plate

Why This Recipe Works

Venison meat is very lean, which means not only is it healthier, but you need to add fat, or another binding agent to keep the burgers from falling apart. Sometimes I add bacon grease like I do in my Buffalo/Bison Burgers recipe. Other times, I add olive oil or shredded frozen butter. But in this Venison Burgers recipe, I add ground-up BACON. I mean, how can you go wrong with bacon, right?

This is a great recipe to try when you want to prepare new recipes using leaner game meats like venison. Ground deer or elk meat can be used in this recipe. You know, those little meat packages that are taking up so much room in your freezer? 😉

If you don't have pre-ground venison, another option is to grind some venison scrap. Although I normally use scrap to make jerky, I used my meat grinder attachment to grind a few pounds of venison scrap to use in this recipe.

What Goes into Venison Burger

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Venison — Pre-ground deer or elk meat can be used, or grind your own using scrap elk or deer meat.
Cherries — Although I rehydrated dried cherries in wine, you can use approximately ¼ cup of ground fresh cherries instead.
Wine — Any red blend 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.

How to Make Venison Burgers

Before making the venison burgers, prepare the Spicy Fry Sauce.

Prepare 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.

Mix the Venison Burger Ingredients

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 to ground venison along with salt, pepper, paprika, bread crumbs, and egg. Mix with your hands until combined. Do not overwork the mixture.

Step 4

Form the meat into 4 venison burger patties either free-hand or using a hamburger press.

deer burger mix in a bowl — If you'll be freezing some of the burgers, layer with waxed paper first.

deer burger mix in a burger press — If you'll be freezing some of the burgers, layer with waxed paper first.

Fry the Burgers

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 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.

Tip: Making a dent in the center of the venison burger before cooking it keeps the burger from swelling into a ball. It also helps the burger to cook more evenly.

Tip: This Venison Burger Recipe is also great on the grill!

Step 6

Serve the venison burgers with sliced onions, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, and spicy fry sauce.

venison burger, sauce and fries — *Enjoy this Venison Burger Recipe with Spicy Fry Sauce and Fries on the side*

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips

What can I mix with venison to make burgers?

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, bread crumbs, or egg to hold the ground venison burger together.

How much fat should I add to venison burgers?

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.

How do you get the gamey taste out of venison?

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.

When cooking the burger refrain from pressing down on the patties and releasing the juices, which will dry out the burger.
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 waxed 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 sauteed mushrooms pair well with venison burgers.

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Cast-Iron Venison Burger Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

What Goes into Venison Burger

Recipe Ingredient Notes