This venison pie recipe braises venison with mushrooms, herbs, and stout until tender. It’s topped off with a flaky pie crust and cooked until golden brown in a rich dark gravy.
If you’re looking for another hearty comfort food dish, check out my venison shepherd’s pie. For even more dinner ideas, check out my complete venison recipes guide.
what makes this version work
- Cut choice drives tenderness: Stew-friendly muscles with connective tissue, like shoulder, shank, neck, and trimmed round tip, soften and turn silky with slow simmering.
- Flavor is layered without searing: Sweating aromatics keeps the texture delicate, then flour, tomato paste, dark beer, and stock build a glossy gravy.
- Pastry is flexible: You can use pie dough sheets or puff pastry. Make it a single top crust with a 9-inch pie or add a bottom crust for the ultimate comfort food. Either way, it’s always a good idea to have extra pastry dough sheets in case of tears while assembling.
- Cheese: Smoked cheddar is my preference for the cheese. It pairs perfectly with the dark beer. The cheese not only adds flavor but gives a layer of protection between the crust and filling which makes for better slices.
Key tips for best results
- Sweat, don’t brown: Keep the onions, celery, and carrots from coloring so that they release their natural flavors. So keep the temperature at medium to medium-low.
- Thicken correctly: Whisk in flour before liquid so the gravy stays smooth. Add in the liquid a little at a time while whisking.
- Amount of Stock: Add just enough stock to barely cover the mixture. Adding too much stock will give you a watery filling.
- Simmer covered until fork-tender: Simmer gently just until the deer meat is tender. If the gravy is too thin, reduce it uncovered at the end until the sauce coats a spoon. If you’re worried your vegetables will turn to mush, you can strain and reduce the liquid separately, then fold the mixture back into the gravy once thickened.
- Cool the filling: Cool the filling slightly before adding the pastry so the fat in the dough doesn’t melt early.
- Patching pie holes: It’s a good idea to have an extra pie or pastry crust to patch any tears that may occur before cooking.
- Bottom crust optional: Line the pan with dough if you want a two-crust pie.
- Vent for less puff: A few small slits in the top keep puff pastry from rising too high.
- Catch any drippings: Bake on a sheet pan to catch drips and protect your oven.
Method overview
- Sweat onions, celery, and carrots in butter over medium heat until translucent.
- Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook until mushrooms just soften.
- Stir in venison, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, caraway, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle flour evenly and stir until smooth. Raise the heat to medium-high, and add dark beer while stirring.
- Add just enough stock to cover. Simmer covered until the meat is fork-tender, 2 to 3 hours. Uncover near the end and simmer until slightly thickened if needed. Season and remove the bay leaf. Let slightly cool.
- Pour into a 9-inch pie pan, top with filling, and then the cheese. Add pastry, brush with egg wash. Vent the crust and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes until nicely golden brown.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to put in venison pie?
Use diced venison shoulder, neck, or hindquarter, onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, herbs like rosemary and thyme, a little tomato paste, flour, dark beer, and stock. A handful of smoked cheddar under the crust adds richness.
What cut of venison is best for pie?
Shoulder, neck, shank, and trimmed hindquarter cubes. These have collagen that melts during a long simmer, giving you tender bites and natural body to the sauce.
What makes venison pie taste gamey?
Strong flavors usually come from untrimmed fat or improper handling of the venison in the field or while butchering. Using strong spices and ingredients like caraway and ale helps reduce gamey flavors.
More Venison Recipes
- Venison Bourguignon
- Slow Cooker Venison Stew
- Venison Shepherd’s Pie
- Stovetop Venison Stew
- Venison Casserole
Venison Pie with Pastry Crust
Beer-braised venison and mushrooms tucked under a flaky pasty crust. The cheese melts into the gravy and bakes into the crust for clean slices. A pot pie with big, bold flavors.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced small
- 2 red onions, small dice
- 2 stalks of celery, small dice
- 4 cups chopped cremini or button mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, (optional)
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 2 pounds venison stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 12 ounces dark beer, (stout or porter)
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, (as needed)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Beef or venison stock, (to cover mixture for cooking)
- 8 ounces shredded or sliced cheese (I recommend smoked cheddar or gruyere)
- 2 frozen sheets of pie crust or puff pastry sheets
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
Make the Filling
- Heat a large deep skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the butter. When melted, add the onions, celery, and carrots. Sweat until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms just begin to soften. Around 5 minutes.
- Add the venison, rosemary, thyme, caraway, and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook while stirring for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the flour evenly and stir so there are no clumps. Increase the heat to medium-high and slowly add the dark beer while stirring.
- Pour in enough stock to just cover the mixture. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until the venison is fork-tender, 2 to 3 hours. Stir and check liquid levels every 30 minutes.The mixture should be thick when cooking is complete. If not, remove the lid and simmer until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly and remove the bay leaf.
- While the mixture is cooling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Assemble the Pie
- For a single-crust pie: Roll one sheet of dough to about 1/4 inch thick and place over the filling, tucking edges as desired.
- For a two-crust pie: Line the pan with the first sheet, add the filling and cheese, then top with the second sheet. Use any extra dough to patch cracks or holes.
- Pour the mixture into a 9 inch pie pan. Sprinkle the smoked cheddar evenly over the hot filling.
Apply Egg Wash, Vent Dough and Bake
- Beat the egg and milk together. Lightly brush the top crust with the egg wash. Make a few small slits in the center to vent. Set the pie pan on a baking sheet.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Rest 10 minutes before slicing.
NOTES
Double Crust and Patching Holes
- I listed 2 pastry dough sheets (pie or puff pastry). You can use one of the dough sheets to place on the bottom of the pie pan for a double crust. Or you can use the extra dough to patch any holes that may occur in the top later before cooking.
- Cool completely. Refrigerate slices in an airtight container up to 4 days.
- Freeze whole baked pie or slices up to 2 months. Wrap tightly, then place in a freezer bag.
- Freeze unbaked assembled pie up to 2 months. Add the egg wash just before baking from frozen.
- From fridge: 325 F on a sheet pan 15 to 20 minutes until hot and crisp.
- From frozen pre-baked: 325 F 30 to 40 minutes, loosely tent with foil if browning too fast.
- Pastry: puff pastry or standard pie dough both work.
- Dairy-free options: use a dairy-free pie crust, swap butter for olive oil, and use water instead of milk for the egg wash.
- Cheese: smoked cheddar is great. Sharp cheddar, Gruyere, or no cheese are all fine
- Rest 10 minutes for cleaner slices.
- Serve with buttered peas, mashed potatoes, or a bitter greens salad.
- For individual pies, portion the filling into ramekins and top with pastry rounds.
Make this recipe?Mention @Larry__White or tag #WildGameGourmet!
