Perfect Venison Burgers | How to Make a Juicy + Flavorful Deer Burger (2024)

Making perfect venison burgers isn’t hard. All you need to do is add a bit of fat and a few flavors to make this underrated meat shine on burger night.

Ah, venison burgers. A popular dish to make with ground deer meat, but they often end up dry, tough and gamey.

If you find that this is usually true for you, you’re probably cooking venison burgers like you’re cooking beef burgers. With just a few simple tricks, you can take your wild game burger night to the next level and start using up that ground venison you have in the freezer. (For more venison cooking tips check out my free guide!)

Venison burgers are always a go-to in our house year-round when we’re trying to use up ground venison, and these honestly are so crazy flavorful and juicy, I like them even more than traditional beef or turkey burgers. The best part is the lean, grass-fed, responsibly sourced protein.

INGREDIENTS & KITCHEN TOOLS | VENISON MEAT, SPICES, FROZEN BUTTER

We make venison burgers on repeat in our home and they are not just a summer meal around here. The secret to the perfect burger is the frozen butter. You’ll also need ground venison meat, balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, salt & black pepper, and perfectly toasted hamburger buns. For your toppings, feel free to mix it up, some like to keep it simple with the basics (slices of cheese, mayo, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and pickles), but you could easily get creative by adding some bacon and a fried egg on top! Top whip up these burgers, you’ll need a bowl and whatever form of equipment you plan on cooking your burgers in (if using a grill, preheat to medium-high heat and spray grill grates with a grill spray. If cooking on a stovetop, I recommend a cast-iron skillet).

STEP BY STEP | MAKING THE BEST VENISON BURGER RECIPE

Before you begin making your burgers, place a stick of butter into the freezer (trust me on this one)! Depending on how you plan on cooking your venison burger, you’ll want to prepare your area. If you are cooking on a grill, preheat the grill to medium-high heat. If you prefer to cook them stovetop, you’ll want to preheat your cast iron pan 3-5 minutes before cooking. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Right before you form the patties, grate about 2 tbsp of the frozen butter into your meat mixture. Form the meat evenly into 4 evenly shaped balls and then form them into your venison burger patties. Place the burgers on a grill or hot pan and cook for about 5-8 minutes per side (just so they have a nice crust on the outside) and then add your cheese (cheddar cheese is our favorite). Make sure you let your burgers rest for 5-10 minutes before assembling.

TIPS AND TRICKS | PERFECTLY JUICY VENISON BURGERS & FINDING THE PERFECT MEAT-TO-FAT RATIO

How do you make venison burgers that aren’t dry?

The trick to cooking venison burgers is to add a bit of fat to the meat because it’s very lean, and make sure you don’t overcook them.

Adding fat

In this recipe, you’ll see below that I’m using cold, grated butter and mixing a bit into the patties. Not too much, you don’t want the burger to be greasy, but just about 1/2 tablespoon of grated butter per patty to give it some juice.

Our deer meat is also cut with 10% pork fat, so be sure to add some sort of fat to your grind (or have your butcher do it) when processing the meat.

Cooking to perfection

One of the #1 ways to ruin deer meat is to overcook it. I like my steaks rare to medium rare and my burgers just over medium, so about 140F internally.

Once your burgers reach about 140-145F, pull them off the heat source you’re using and let them rest for a few minutes before serving them. This is SO important.

How do you make deer burgers taste good?

If you don’t love the flavor of venison, or even if you do and you want to enhance it, you’re going to want to add a bit of seasoning and acid to your burgers to let the meat shine.

I add a bit of balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to combat the richness but bring out the meaty flavor.

Then, it’s just simple salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. It’s really that easy!

HOW TO SERVE

These venison burgers are served perfectly as is, but they also pair perfectly with my Southwest Pasta Salad, Tabbouleh Salad, or some Homemade French Fries.

OTHER VENISON RECIPES

There are so many delicious ways to use up that extra ground venison you have in your freezer. My Award-Winning Venison Chili is always a fan favorite. I also cannot recommend my Best Every Venison Meatballs – they are perfect for meal prep & store perfectly in the freezer. Venison Sloppy Joe’s & Venison Burrito Bowls are the perfect quick and easy weeknight meals that the whole family will love.

STORING & REHEATING

If you happen to have any of these leftover (very rare around here), store them in an airtight container and simply reheat in the microwave or stovetop, just for a few minutes until heated through.

Love this recipe? Make sure to order a copy of my cookbook, Venison Every Day, for more amazing deer meat ideas.

Print

this post was originally published in June 2020. It was updated in June 2022.