I’m no Masterchef, and with 2 young children to feed (100 times a day!), simple and quick is where it’s at. Mr Va Va is the one who will spend a lazy weekend afternoon in the kitchen, but for me it’s all about minimum effort, maximum reward. As you might expect, venison features frequently on our dinner table. It also features heavily in our day to day conversations with the people we meet and it seems that many of you find venison a little intimidating. I promise that it is not scary at all! In fact, it’s super simple. It’s all about experimenting and finding out what works best for you, your family (and your appliances).

There are thousands of venison recipes available online but we totally get how overwhelming it can be when you’re just starting out. So, to help you on your way and perhaps make it a bit more relatable, we will be sharing some tips, ideas and recipes for the cuts that we include in our fresh venison boxes. Today we’re kicking off with venison mince.

Venison Mince

Mince is a great introduction to venison, especially for kids. They often don’t even notice a difference and by the time you tell them it’s not beef, they’re already converted! Just treat it as you would lean beef mince.

For bolognese/chilli/stalker’s pie type dishes, it’s best seasoned with black pepper and browned well first before adding to other ingredients. Venison Bolognese with rosemary instead of the usual mixed Italian herbs is incredible!

Burgers

Venison burgers are delicious and pretty much guaranteed to be a hit with the whole family.

1. We just whizz 3/4 crackers (plain or flavoured) in a food processor and add to 500g mince, add a few twists of black pepper, a half teaspoon of garlic granules and one of onion granules and mix together (hands are best!).
2. Divide into 4 balls (or make smaller ones if you prefer) and mould them into patty shapes about half an inch thick. Try not to overwork them or they can become too dense, although the crackers seem to help avoid this. Make a slight indentation in the middle with your thumb or a spoon – this helps to keep them flat while cooking.
3. Then heat a little oil and fry/griddle/BBQ on a med/high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side, depending on how you like them. Then remove and rest for a few minutes while you prepare your toppings.

Toppings:

Of course you can use any buns (or no buns!) but we love them with sweet brioche burger buns. Sometimes we’ll just go for the standard cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and ketchup combo but for a real treat we go for crispy bacon, camembert or brie (melt on top of the cooked bacon on top of the burger during the last minute of cooking), topped with cranberry or redcurrant sauce, herby salad leaves, red onion and mayonnaise. Just beautiful!

Have a play with toppings: fried onions, coleslaw, red onion or tomato and chilli chutney, gherkins, smoked cheeses…the possibilities are endless.

Our kids also love just plain old burger and beans for dinner!

Meatballs

Venison meatballs are another crowd pleaser.

Just follow step 1 as above, add some other dried or fresh seasoning if you like (oregano, mixed herbs etc) and divide into 1 inch (ish) balls. Heat oil and fry for 12-15 minutes making sure they are thoroughly browned. Open one up to check if you like – remember, slightly pink is fine. Rest while you make your sauce.

This recipe from BBC Good Food is my go-to quick and simple pasta sauce and involves no onion chopping (WIN!) It’s also really easy to double or triple the recipe for freezing (WIN WIN!) I usually whizz it with a food processor for a silkier sauce and then stir through the meatballs to heat through with some extra basil leaves. Serve with pasta and parmesan. Ta da!

I’ve been meaning to try baked meatballs as well but that is for another day. Let me know if you get there first!