Hands down, the best way to enjoy venison and sure to please everyone. A savory sesame soy sauce tossed with stir-fry vegetables and venison over a bed of pasta.
This venison stir fry is my most favorite way to prepare and enjoy venison. The flavor of venison has not always been my favorite but pairing it with the perfect flavors has made it one of my favorite and easy meats to prepare.
Ready in 30 minutes or less! This venison stir fry is a quick and very simple recipe, making it a perfect weeknight dinner option. I like to make it in advance and re-heat when we’re ready for dinner to simply life. If there is anything I am after these days, it’s quick yet healthier dinner options that everyone likes.
What is a Mongolian Sauce?
Typically a sauce served over beef. It’s a combination of brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. I made it my own by adding sesame oil for more flavor.
Prepping the Venison
I make this venison stir fry recipe often and I switch it up by using different cuts of venison. When I made it here, I chose a tip steak because it’s easy to flash fry and toss on top.
Another way to make it and a personal favorite in our house is with ground venison or ground venison sausage. Last year we were fortunate to harvest a deer and were able to freeze some mild and breakfast sausage mixed with a blend of seasoning and pork fat. That sausage took me from a girl who was turned off from the so-called gamey taste of venison to someone who preferred venison over beef or chicken, It’s so good and can be substituted in this recipe for a steak cut. It’s just as easy – just brown it as you would any other ground meat, drain, and add into the sauce and toss with the pasta.
Why Venison?
My husband and I both hunt and feel very fortunate to harvest our own meet. The past two years, my husband has delivered and depending on how we process the meat, it typically lasts us a year. We get a little more creative with different ways to use it each year. Being able to harvest our own meat saves us so much money each year on groceries and saves me those dreaded after work trips to the store, ugh the worst! Don’t get me wrong, we eat other proteins too!
Venison is soo lean and a great source of protein!
A 3oz serving of venison has about 2g of fat, whereas beef and pork both come in at around 6g of fat for the same serving size.
Because it’s so lean and has less fat content, this is what gives the meat what people refer to as a “gamey taste.” The greater the fat content, the less of this taste the meat will have and that’s because fat is flavorful which is why people love to cook with fat. Want to get real sciency for a minute? It’s actually the shape of a fat molecule that makes humans naturally like it. It’s small round, very smooth molecules make it desirable to us. So basically, it’s natures fault, not ours!
But you can certainly enhance the flavor of venison without dousing it with added fat. You can pre-soak the meat with a vinegar based marinade and then grill it and toss it in this recipe. Or heck, use a moist cooking method like a slow cooker to cook the meat and then add it to the recipe. Personally, the sauce in this venison stir-fry recipe is packed with flavor and the pasta and both venison soak it right up making it so delicious. Using either a ground venison or a tip steak like I did here is the easiest way and so flavorful!
Upping the Tenderness
If you’re pan frying your steak with a little oil, it’s very easy to over cook and nobody wants to eat tough meat! Some simple ways to avoid this are:
- Cut against the grain. When slicing the steak, be sure to slice it in long, thin pieces against the grain of the meat.
- Toss it with cornstarch before frying. This can help act as a tenderizer and also helps thicken the sauce too when added. I did not use this trick this time around because I prefer a thinner sauce.
- Pre-marinate or use a moist cooking method to cook before-hand. Like I mentioned above, you can certainly use one of these methods to add flavor and make your steak very tender. I usually do not but it’s an option.
Is Using Pasta Necessary?
Nope. You can completely omit the pasta altogether and have a simple veggie and venison stir fry using this sauce. Because I make this so often, I experiment with it each time. I usually prefer to use linguine versus spaghetti but it’s all I had on hand at the time and it still worked great. I have also used egg noodles, ramen noodles without the seasoning packet, lo mein noodles, and fettuccine pasta.
Storing for Later
This venison stir fry stores well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container. This is a great meal prep recipe. Make it and store it right away in single serve containers for lunches during the week or a quick dinner go-to.
Make It Your Own
Want more heat – add more red pepper flakes. Want a thicker sauce – add more water and cornstarch to the sauce.
If you tried it and loved it, let me know in the comments! Enjoy!
Venison Stir Fry with Mongolian Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta, linguine or fettuccine
- 1 bag frozen stir-fry vegetable mix
- 1 lb venison, thinly sliced tip steak
For the Sauce
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ cup soy sauce, low sodium
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- ¾ cup beef broth
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ cup brown sugar
Garnish
- sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Boil the pasta. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is boiling, begin the sauce.
- In a saute pan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine ¼ water and 1T cornstarch. Pour into sauce mixture and stir until it thickens. Add in cooked pasta.
- In a skillet, heat 1T olive oil. Sear the venison tips for 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside.
- Add the venison to the pasta and sauce. Garnish with chopped green onion and toasted sesame seeds.
