Venison Dry Rub Recipe

This venison dry rub is a wonderful spice blend to use on your favorite cuts of fresh deer meat! It’s excellent on deer steaks like grilled backstrap or pan seared tenderloin. You can even stir it into your venison burger mix for a time saving seasoning shortcut!

This post is sponsored by Oklahoma Joe’s ®. Thank you for continuing to support the brands who help make Midwest Nice a place for good people to find good food.

Made with pantry staple spices and herbs this rub is a kitchen must-have in our venison recipe obsessed household! We always have some in the cupboard because it goes great on virtually all cuts of fresh venison. Mix up a jar this hunting season and you’ll certainly agree!

What Spices for Fresh Venison?

• Kosher Salt – It’s imperative to use Kosher salt when seasoning meat, more on that below!
• Coarsely Ground Pepper – Bonus points if you grind your own.
• Garlic Powder – Garlic makes everything better and is an essential aromatic, providing a great depth of flavor.
• Onion Powder – Another essential aromatic that both flavors and compliments the deer.
• Dried Rosemary – the earthy, slightly floral flavor of rosemary holds up beautifully to a strongly flavored meat like venison and doesn’t get lost in the cooking process.
• Dried Thyme – The slight citrus aroma of dried thyme provides a light, clean finish to whatever venison you’re cooking.
• Smoked Paprika – Adds depth and a bit of heat, without being overwhelmingly spicy.

Homemade Venison Dry Rub

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. This will prevent any clumps and ensure even distribution of the spices.
2. Store in an airtight container. For up to six months! Make sure you label the jar with the contents and the date it was made.

Using Fresh Rosemary and Thyme

Oftentimes when I’m cooking my preference is for fresh herbs as they tend to be more flavorful than their dried counterparts. For this rub to be shelf stable, we must use dried herbs.

However, if you’re willing to refrigerate the rub and only keep it for two months, you can use fresh rosemary and thyme in place of the dried.

Kosher Salt vs Table Salt in Cooking

In all my recipes I call for Kosher salt. Not to get all elitist or “I’ve worked in restaurants,” but it really is the superior salt for several reasons.

• The coarser, larger grains of Kosher salt stick beautifully to the surface of meat. Evenly salted meat will be more tender and juicy and that’s what we want with venison.
• Because the salt is larger, it’s harder to over-season your food. There’s so much more control when you sprinkle Kosher salt over food.
• Kosher salt is less refined and doesn’t contain any additives or anti-clumping agents so you get a purer seasoning.

A Note on Smoked Paprika

Because I often use this rub when I’m going to enjoy smoked venison using smoked paprika adds another delicious layer of smokey flavor. You’re welcome to substitute sweet paprika for a milder flavor or hot paprika if you want more spice.