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This easy venison casserole is simple, juicy, and packed with cheesy goodness! It’s an easy, hands-off recipe for these busy winter nights.
I absolutely love cooking venison. From venison stroganoff to venison pasta and venison sliders, there is always something fun to make!
This recipe is made with ground venison, but if you have venison steak, you can use that in place of the ground meat.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- The bubbling cheese topping on this recipe makes it irresistible.
- If you don’t have ground venison on hand, you can use any ground meat you prefer, such as ground beef, pork, or turkey. I’ve even used ground elk, which makes for a delicious and gamey twist, similar to my elk meatloaf recipe.
- Uses one dish for browning the meat and baking the meal. Fewer dishes are a win for me!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground Venison: The ground venison is perfect for casseroles. If you can’t find ground venison, ground elk or ground moose are good substitutes.
- Onion: Adds a savory and slightly sweet flavor to the casserole. I prefer to use yellow onions, but white or red onions can also be used.
- Spices: Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder provide a flavorful seasoning blend. Adjust the amounts to your taste preference.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the casserole.
- Potatoes: Russet potatoes are a great option for this casserole, but you can also use Yukon Gold potatoes or red potatoes.
- Sour Cream: Adds a creamy and tangy flavor to the casserole.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup: I don’t use a lot of canned soups in my recipes, but I do love how it adds so much flavor and helps keep the meat from drying out.
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: The cheese adds a melty and cheesy topping to the casserole. You can use a different type of cheese if you prefer.
Venison Casserole Recipe
Step 1: Brown the venison in a cast iron skillet with the diced onion and seasonings.
Step 2: Toss potatoes in butter.
Step 3: Add the ground venison, diced potatoes, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and one cup of cheese to a large bowl and mix well.
Step 4: Add everything back to the skillet to bake for 55 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. Add the remaining cheese to the top for the last 10 minutes of baking time.
Expert Tips
- Dice your potatoes up small, about the size of hash browns, to ensure they cook through.
- This fits perfectly in a 10″ cast iron skillet. If you want to stretch this meal further, you can add a few additional potatoes and bake it in a 12″ skillet.
- Let the casserole cool before serving. This will help the flavors to meld together and the casserole to set.
- Be sure to brown the ground venison before adding it to the casserole. This will ensure the meat is cooked through and prevent the meat from being mushy.
- Serve it with crusty dutch oven bread or our favorite, Korean-style garlic bread.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Ground beef is a great substitute for ground venison in this recipe.
Yes, you can make this casserole ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
While you can soak steaks, heart, or liver in milk, ground venison does not benefit from soaking in milk.
Herbs and spices are a great way to enhance the natural flavor of venison and reduce any gamey taste.
Storing and Reheating
If you have leftovers, store them in a sealed container and place them in the refrigerator. They should last three days.
When reheating your venison casserole, preheat your oven to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes covered, then uncover for another 10 minutes.
You could also add more grated cheese at this point to create a new cheesy crust.
Related Recipes
- Venison meatloaf with a bbq glaze
- Bacon elk burgers
- Classic venison chili
- Juicy venison tenderloins
- 18 ground venison recipes
- Venison wellington
If you tried this Venison Casserole Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Venison Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground venison
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic and onion powder
- 2 tbsp of butter melted
- 5 medium size potatoes peeled and diced
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup 10.5 oz
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Brown the venison in a cast iron skillet along with the diced onion and seasonings.
- While the venison is cooking, toss together potatoes and butter in a large mixing bowl.
- Once the venison is browned, drain grease (if applicable) and add the meat to the mixing bowl.
- Stir in sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and one cup of cheese.
- Add everything back to the skillet to bake for 55 minutes.
- Add the remaining cheese to the top for the last 10 minutes in the oven.
Notes
- Scroll up for detailed step-by-step photos.
- Dice your potatoes up small, about the size of hash browns, to ensure they cook through.
- Let the casserole cool before serving. This will help the flavors to meld together and the casserole to set.
- Be sure to brown the ground venison before adding it to the casserole. This will ensure the meat is cooked through and prevent the meat from being mushy.
This is seriously the best recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Made this tonight because I pretty much had all the ingredients on hand already. My wife and I liked but we felt there was too much sour cream in it. I used 1 1/2 pounds of ground elk meat. I will definitely make this again but cut the sour cream in half and add a small can of mushrooms as well.