How To Cook Venison Neck Roast

Venison neck roast is a part of the animal that is often discarded, but I’ve found that when cooked properly, it actually provides a good deal of delicious meat.

Hunting is a way of life in our family.

My husband is a big hunter. It’s a running joke in our family that the season never really ends because deer leads to turkey, which leads to fishing. Then, when the fishing slows down it’s time to be scouting for deer hunting again. You get the picture.

We very rarely buy meat from the store. So it’s important that I know how to prepare the venison we harvest, and get the most out of the animal.

We try to utilize all of the meat we harvest.

All of this hunting and fishing means that we have a lot of meat to process throughout the year. But it can be a lot of work, so I am of the mentality that if you’re already doing the work, you should get the most out of it. We love to cook deer tenderloin, use the ground meat for everything from sausage, to chili, and of course make venison jerky. It’s a no-brainer to keep the backstraps and hams from a deer, but what about the bones? The shoulders? The neck?

Over the last couple of years, we’ve made it a point to discard as little meat as possible when processing our venison. This has meant lots of trial and error, and also a few barely edible meals (some of which became dog food and chicken scraps). I refuse to waste anything!

But it also means that we have tried new things, and become creative with the way we utilize the meat we harvest.

Learning to prepare wild game dishes can take some trial and error.

It’s a much leaner protein than what you typically buy at your grocery store butcher counter, therefore cook times and methods have to be adjusted. Let’s just say I cooked a few deer steaks that turned out more like shoe leather as I developed my skills. If you can picture the Griswolds gnawing on that deflated turkey at Christmas dinner, then you get the right idea.

Venison neck has actually become one of my favorite things to cook because it is ridiculously simple, and we are able to make multiple meals from this one cut of meat.

How to Cook Venison Neck

Ingredients

• Venison Neck Roast – bone in
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 onions – quartered
• 6-8 carrots, sliced in half horizontally, then vertically
• 2 pounds medium potatoes, halved
• 2 cups water or stock (I prefer beef or venison, this stock recipe can be applied to any meat)
• More salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.

Directions

1. Clean the roast, removing any sinew and silver skin. Pat dry and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet.
3. Sear each side of the roast on medium-high heat until it has a crispy golden crust.
4. Place the venison roast into the crock pot, or dutch oven, along with all of the tasty bits in the skillet. I like to deglaze it with about half a cup of red wine and add it all to the pot.
5. Place vegetables around the roast.
6. Season with more salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
7. Add the water or stock.
8. Cook in a crock pot on low heat for 8 hours, or 3-4 hours in a dutch oven on low (300º heat). It should be fork-tender and easy to shred.

Other Venison and Wild Game Recipes

My Favorite Supplies for Cooking Venison