Venison and Juniper Stew

Hearty, nourishing and so damn good! This lightly spiced stew is easy to make, difficult to mess up and incredibly sustainable.

👉 Skip to ingredients & directions.

Stewing is a simple way to cook venison, alongside it's perfect flavour friend: juniper berries. Juniper is one of Scotland's native conifers. It's fairly rare in the wild on the Isle of Arran, where we process our venison, but it's available as a dried herb in many shops. We get ours from Bay Stores in Whiting Bay, where you can also find our wild venison.

The best cuts of venison to use for stewing are the cheaper cuts with more bone and sinew. The marrow from the bones and the sinue melt down to create a lucious, silky rich sauce. The gelatin this creates is also an excellent source of dietry collagen, great for our joints, bones and skin!

We use venison shanks or necks for our stews, but many people also prefer to use diced haunch. Luckily we make all these products for you in our larder on the Isle of Arran. See here for where you can buy it.

Juniper berries in the wild

• Servings: 3

• Calories: Averagely about 420 per serving

• Prep time: 20 minutes

• Cooking time: Minimum 1 hour

• Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes, but can be slow cooked for a full day.

Don't be afraid of the sinew because, when slow cooked, it makes the most delicious rich gravy, without a hint of chewiness.

Which Cuts of Venison are Best?

Diced venison is one of our best selling products. We get it, it's great! It's a super fine grained meat from the haunch, which is one of the best cuts of meat from a deer.

However there are some other options that, in our opinion, are superior and vastly underrated.

One of the reasons why diced is more popular then other cuts is because it doesn't contain and bone or sinew. Don't be afraid of the sinew because, when slow cooked, it makes the most delicious rich gravy, without a hint of chewiness. Just melt in the mouth flavoursome meaty goodness.

Ultimately though, this is down to personal preference. Below lists some of the options for slow cooking venison:

1. Shanks

   This is the lower leg portion of the deer. It contains a good sized bone with lovely rich marrow for thickening the sauce and deepening the savoury flavour of the stew. This is our favourite cut of meat in our house. It also happens to be the cheapest cut of meat we make. Cheap doesn't have to mean bad!

   
   

2. Neck

   Much like the shank, it contains bones and sinews that all melt down and disappear with proper slow cooking. If you cook for long enough you won't be able to find any sinews or tough bits as it will have all melted into a thick gravy. Deer neck can be very large, so we make "neck rings" that give you easier to handle portions with all the same marrow goodness.

   
   

3. Shoulder

   Generally shoulders are sold as whole shoulders, which are too big to handle in your average home kitchen. They're often used in commercial kitchens. We suggest skipping this one at home. Whole shoulder does make the most amazing pulled venison in the oven or BBQ though... yum!

   
   

4. Diced

   As it's cut from the haunch the texture cannot be beaten. This has no sinew or bone so it's a great choice for those who like their stew to feel fresh and pure and avoid risking an old fashioned gelatinous stew. If you're cooking with diced you will only need to cook your stew for about an hour. You'll know it's done when the meat falls apart.

   
   

   Where to buy our venison, here.

Venison & Juniper Stew

Ingredients

• One pack of diced venison (500g), or around 800g of venison shank or neck. More on choice of venison cut above.

• 2 tablespoons plain flour

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 carrots, cut into chunks

• 1 parsnip, cut into chunks

• 2 celery sticks, sliced

• 250 grams potatoes, cut into chunks

• 150 ml full-bodied red wine (e.g. Shiraz)

• 300 ml beef or venison stock

• 1 tablespoons tomato purée

• 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoons salt and black pepper

• half teaspoon of dried juniper berries

• 1 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, or wild garlic, chopped (to serve)

Directions

1. Season and coat the venison: Pat the venison haunch dry with kitchen paper. Season generously with salt and pepper, then toss in 2 tablespoons plain flour until evenly coated. Shake off any excess.

2. Brown the venison: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Brown the venison in batches (don't crowd the pan) for 3–4 minutes per batch until deep golden all over. Set aside.

3. Fry the onions: Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and garlic cooking for a further 5 minutes until softened.

4. Add vegetables and deglaze: Stir in 2 carrots, cut into chunks, 1 parsnip, cut into chunks, 2 celery sticks, sliced, and 1 tablespoons tomato purée. Pour in red wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble for 2 minutes

5. Build the stew: Return the browned venison to the pot. Pour in stock and add 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, juniper berries and 1 bay leaf. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.

6. Slow cook: Cover with a lid and cook on a very low heat for a minimum of 1 hour, until the meat is tender and falling apart. Stirring occasionally. Diced venison will become tender before other cuts of venison. To cook cuts of meat on the bone prepare to slow cook all day long, ideally around 6 hours for the best results. A slow cooker is very helpful.

7. Add potatoes and finish cooking: Add 250 grams potatoes, cut into chunks to the pot, stir, and cook for a further 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the venison falls apart easily.

8. Rest, season, and serve: Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Rest for 5 minutes off the heat, then scatter over 1 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley or wild garlic, chopped (to serve) and serve with crusty bread or dumplings

Notes

1. Freezing 🧊

   We make this in big batches and freeze it into portion sizes. It keeps well and defrosts great.

2. Local Wild Venison 🦌

   Venison is very sustainable but it can be tricky to get hold of. See our section on buying venison for all the retailers selling our Isle of Arran venison.

3. Cooking time varies depending on which cut of meat you choose ⏱️

   Anything on the bone can be cooked much longer than diced venison. See the section above for more details.

4. Swapping Ingredients 🥖

   We often make our stew with whatever vegetables, spices, or herbs we have to hand. For sure, some combinations work better but ultimately we want to avoid food waste so using what you've already got is a great option.

5. Wine substitute 🍷

   If you'd rather not use alcohol, swap the red wine for an equal amount of extra stock and a splash more Worcestershire sauce.

6. Slow cooker 🐌

   After step 4, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on Low for 7–8 hours or High for 4–5 hours, adding potatoes in the last 2 hours.