7 Ingredient Slow Cooker Venison Stew + Stove Top Version (Gluten-free)

This Slow Cooker Venison Stew Recipe is everything all of us need. Filling, warming, comforting, super easy and tasty. One of the best meals for winter.

This easy Venison Stew is hearty and loaded with all the good stuff – even though there are only 7 ingredients. 

Yes only 7. But they are 7 good stuff ingredients, most of which you already have in your pantry.

And it is very customizable too so you can play around with the recipe to your taste.

For example, you can add a bit more vegetable stock if you want to make it more soupy, you can swap the carrots for some pumpkin or squash to get a more fall vibe.

Easy Venison Stew

Of course, the beauty of 7 ingredients is that it is simple and less to do, but you can add in a few more veggies you prefer too. Your stew, your rules.

The other day, I had both girls home sick from school. We decided to spend the day cuddled up in bed and get down to some serious girl talk.

Amongst all the hugs, snuffles, hot water bottles and a million and one unicorns, I got to hear about best friends old and new, the BEST playground games, their favourite subjects (science, art and going to the ‘compinter sweep’ aka computer suite).

And birthday party dreams (6 months away and involves unicorns), and favourite teachers and cousins.

Then we watched a couple of movies during which they reiterated to me that their current favorite meals were Pierniczki świąteczne (polish Christmas cookies), low carb granola, and my slow cooker jerk chicken stew, so if I would mind making all of these later that evening. 🙂

It was one of the best 8 hours of my life, I wanted to stay right there the entire day and could have stayed for the rest of the week, if I could have put real life on hold.

It was with great reluctance that I got out of bed to put something on for supper.

And I decided that I wanted a quick easy treat, so enter this crockpot venison stew, which meant I was back up in with them in less than 20 minutes.

Happy days.

Slow Cooker Venison Stew Tools

So, are you ready to find out how to make deer stew in your crockpot? Gather up your ingredients and I will show you……

How To Make Venison Stew with 7 ingredients

Easily is the answer, very easily. So you need

• Venison
• Onions
• Chopped tomatoes with herbs
• Carrots
• Chorizo
• Garlic
• Beef stock

How Do You Cook Venison In a slow cooker

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat and brown the venison in batches for 3-4 mins until done. Add the browned venison into the bowl of the slow cooker. You can skip this step and add the venison straight into the slow cooker)
• Add the onion to the pan and sauté for about 5 mins till softened. Then transfer the cooked onion to slow cooker. (You can skip this step and just put the onion into the slow cooker).
• Add the tomatoes, carrots, chorizo, garlic and hot beef stock into the slow cooking bowl, mix well, cover and cook on high heat for 3-4 hours (or low heat for 7-8 hrs).
• Season the crockpot venison stew well before serving.

Stove Top Venison Stew

• Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and brown the venison in batches for 3-4 mins until done, remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the onion to the pan and sauté for about 5 mins till softened.
• Add the venison back to the pan along with the tomatoes, carrots, chorizo, garlic and hot beef stock mix well, cover and cook on high heat for 3-4 hours (or low heat for 7-8 hrs).
• Because of evaporation from opening the pot, you would need to add a little extra liquid to the stew – start with about 180-250 mls (3/4 – 1 cup) and add more if needed.

Do You Need To Brown The Venison?

Essentially you quickly brown the deer meat in batches and sauté the onions for another few. Then pretty much dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker and that is it.

To be honest you can skip the browning and the sautéing steps too and just add everything straight in.

 But peeps, I really must tell you that the browning really adds a richer depth of flavour to this venison stew so if you have time, you should try and do it.

Deer Stew Tips

• You can swap the venison for some stewing beef or elk instead.
• Should you want to get a slightly thicker deer stew, then mash some of the carrots.

Deer Stew Variations

• Optional extras you can add to the stew include bay leaves, chilli and spices like juniper and caraway seeds. My motto for this is ‘to just add things that you like’
• Feel free to swap out carrots for potatoes

How to Remove The Gamy Taste From Venison

• If you are worried about the gamey taste of venison then soak it in a liquid like buttermilk, milk, saltwater etc first, then rinse well before cooking.

How To Freeze Deer Stew

This deer stew is sooooo easy to freeze and reheat, which makes it a perfect meal prep recipe. Just follow these steps:

• Let the deer stew cool down then transfer into these very handy Ziploc freezer bags.
• Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags.
• Label the bags and then lay them flat in the freezer.
• Store the venison stew in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How to Thaw Crockpot Deer Meat Stew

• Remove the venison stew from the freezer the night before needed and let it thaw in the fridge.
• For a faster thaw, you can place the stew into a microwave and thaw according to the microwave’s instructions.

How To Reheat Slow Cooker Venison Stew

• Transfer the thawed venison stew into a bowl and reheat in a microwave.
• Or transfer the thawed stew into a saucepan and reheat over low to medium heat.

Can I say that this 7 ingredient venison stew rocks when you serve it warm from the slow cooker with a big old drizzle of chilli oil and some fresh herbs?

And if you want to make it more filling then serve your deer meat stew  with some hot out of the oven crusty bread to mop up all that juiciness.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Just drop everything and try it yourself.

Easy Venison Slow Cooker Recipes

If you are looking for more easy venison stew recipes then why not check out these below.

• easy slow cooker venison and bean stew. It is really easy and really filling too.
• Oh and make sure to try Campfire Stew as well (venison can be used if you prefer it).

Weight Watchers Points in 7 Ingredient Slow Cooker Venison Stew

There are 5 Freestyle Points in one serving of 7 Ingredient Slow Cooker Venison Stew.

More Crockpot Recipes

• Crockpot Spaghetti Casserole.
• Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs.

More Venison Recipes

• Instant Pot Venison Stew.
• Instant Pot Venison Chili.

WHAT IS VENISON?

You may know (or you may not – no judgment here, peeps) that venison is deer meat, but I find there is a bit of confusion about what is venison exactly.

A particular part of the deer? A particular cut of deer meat?

Venison is ANY part of the deer that can be consumed. Even deer liver would be considered venison. But for this venison chili recipe, you’ll use venison mince (ground venison).

I love cooking with venison because it’s leaner than beef and also has more vitamins and minerals. (Ticking off all the ‘healthy eating’ boxes right there.)

It also can’t be intensively farmed, and most deer have lived a natural life until just before you get it from the butcher.

Lots of people talk about eating ‘pasture-raised’ (not factory-farmed) meat these days, and most venison is that way naturally.

Deer meat benefits

Oh, and can I talk about healthier. Venison is almost completely fat-free and cannot be intensively farmed. In fact, most is wild, so will have lived a completely natural life until just before you get it from the butcher.  Lots of boxes ticked right there.

Here is my suggestion, drop everything and make this slow cooker venison and bean stew. It is so, so, so worth it

Thank you for reading my 7 ingredient crockpot venison stew recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you.

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