This venison enchilada recipe is the perfect Midwestern dinner! They’re full of flavorful venison, melted cheese, and a homemade red enchilada sauce that is so easy!
Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list in this recipe. Please! First, most of them are spices, so that’s just flavor. Second, going the homemade route with this enchilada recipe makes all the difference. Trust.
Venison Enchilada Components
- Enchilada Sauce (The red kind. The homemade kind!)
- Ground Venison
- Onions, Garlic, and Green Chilis
- Tortillas (Flour. But you can use corn, I wouldn’t hate it.)
- Shredded Cheese (Wisconsin’s finest.)
- Fun Toppings! (Think sour cream, avo, and tomato, etc.)
Be a Deer
There’re all kinds of enchiladas out there. Veggie, chicken, tuna (whut?). This venison variation uses ground deer meat in the same way that a classic beef enchilada recipe uses ground beef. It’s my favorite way to use venison! Find a recipe that uses beef, and sub in venison. That’s how I wound up making the best darn burgers to ever grace a grill.
If your venison supply is limited (or nonexistent) ground beef can absolutely be substituted into this easy recipe. Or chicken or turkey. Go crazy. Or! Cut a venison roast into 2-inch chunks, cover in a thin layer of beef broth, and bake at 325 until the meat easily shreds apart – about 2 hours. (Ok, now I need to make them that way!)
How to make this easy enchilada recipe
- Make the red enchilada sauce. It’s so quick! And flavorful! You’ll never do storebought again!
- Brown the venison. With some onion, garlic, and green chilis. And lotsa spices. Flavor!
- Assemble the enchiladas. A little sauce in the pan. A little sauce on a tortilla. A lotta filling in a tortilla. Roll ‘em up and cover them in more sauce and the most cheese.
- Bake and enjoy. The cheese will get so melty. And the fresh toppings add crunch and cool and creamy and contrast. Don’t skimp on these!
Make the red enchilada sauce. Make the venison filling. Spread sauce on tortillas. Roll up some filling. Cover with the remaining sauce. Top with cheese and bake!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Work ahead – From the sauce to the filling, all of these components can be prepped ahead of time! And! The enchiladas themselves can be prepared ahead of time.
- Freeze! – Because this dish can be prepared ahead, it’s a great option for weeknight dinners! Fill up the pan and instead of baking, wrap it in plastic wrap, cover in tinfoil, and throw in the freezer for later. The night before serving, thaw the enchiladas in the refrigerator and bake as directed the following evening.
- Shred it – For the love of all that is good in this world, shred the cheese by hand! It makes a world of difference! First of all, many pre-shredded bagged cheeses have additives to keep them from clumping. Unfortunately, this also keeps them from melting smoothly and creamily into the dish. You want the smooth. And the cream. You want to shred the cheese. As a bonus, bulk blocks of cheese are usually cheaper than the pre-shredded bags!
What other venison recipes would you like to see from me? Leave a comment below to let me know!
Venison Enchilada Recipe
Made with ground venison and a homemade Mexican red sauce, these venison enchiladas are an easy dinnertime recipe to enjoy any time of year!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 1151kcal
Ingredients
For the Red Enchilada Sauce:
- 3 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- 3 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or ½ tablespoon dried)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken stock
For the Enchiladas:
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small white onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds ground venison
- 4 ounces diced green chilis
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
- Sour cream for serving
- Tomatoes for serving
- Avocados for serving
- Cilantro for serving
Instructions
For the Red Enchilada Sauce:
- In a medium sauce pot heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Whisk in flour to form a roux. Cook, stirring constantly until roux is light brown, about three minutes. This cooks the raw flour taste out!
- Add all of the spices and stir to combine. Let the spices warm for a minute to “bloom” and release their flavors. Stir in the fresh oregano and tomato paste until combined. Whisk in the chicken stock until smooth.
- Cook the enchilada sauce for five or so minutes, until it has thickened slightly. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly.
For the Venison Enchiladas:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, chili powder and coriander. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, stirring to coat, and cook for three minutes, until they begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add in the venison and cook until completely browned, about 7 – 9 minutes. Sprinkle in the seasoning mixture and cook for another minute before stirring in the green chilis. Remove from heat and set aside.
To assemble the Venison Enchiladas:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread about ½ cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- Place a tortilla on a plate and smear a small dollop of enchilada sauce over the entire surface. Flip the tortilla and coat the other half with more sauce. Spoon ⅛ of the venison mixture onto the tortilla and roll into a tight tube. Place in prepared pan, seam side down, and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.
- When all eight enchiladas are in the pan, pour the remaining red sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheeses.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
- Remove from oven and top with sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro before serving.
Notes
- To store leftover enchiladas, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to three days.
Nutrition
Serving: 2enchiladas | Calories: 1151kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 82g | Fat: 68g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 267mg | Sodium: 4203mg | Potassium: 1410mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2638IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 791mg | Iron: 13mg
This looks so delicious Amanda! Thanks for including my enchilada recipe in your beautiful post!
Thank you for being a constant inspiration, Anita! <3
Gosh, the meat on it's own was so delicious. The sauce on it's own was also very good! Together though there was just quite a bit of salt. I had to stop eating about halfway through my enchilada and my husband, determined man that he is, tried to power through a full one. Unfortunately, he had to cut it short a bit due to his mouth going just a tad numb.
I will definitely be making this again but I think I may just cut the salt in half?
Still, thank you for a very nice recipe!
Hi Ashton! I'm sorry to hear this dish was too salty for you and your husband. I know not everyone's tastes are the same, and I tend to season my dishes as they would be prepared in a restaurant because of my background in professional kitchens. Here are some things that may help to avoid this problem in the future: Always season as you go. Seasoning during every portion of cooking is a tip I learned long ago in restaurants. Add some salt at the beginning, some at the middle, some at the end to finish. Along this same line: Taste as you go! Be sure that you're adding some of the salt/seasoning, tasting, and then adjusting as/if necessary. You can always add more salt, you can never take it away! Also, be very mindful of what kind of salt a recipe calls for. Kosher salt is not the same as regular iodized table salt. Using an equal amount of table salt when a recipe calls for Kosher will result in a dish that is waaaaaay too salty. And even then, some Kosher salts vary in their level of "saltiness." Diamond Krystal is a salt that I really enjoy, but is not widely available where we live, so I use Mortons, which is a heavier, coarser, and thus perceived as "saltier" grain. When you remake it, I would say, go more by your own personal preference than a hard and fast "halving" of the salt level, as that may result in a bland dish! Cooking is all about personal preference and experimenting and learning as we go (of which I'm constantly doing). Thanks again for the feedback and I hope you enjoy my other recipes 🙂
What size tortilla?
Hi Sandra! The ones I use are medium-sized taco. They're about 6-7 inches or so!
I've never made enchiladas before but with this recipe I'll certainly be making them again! Make the sauce and grate that cheese, it's worth it!
So happy to hear that, Amanda! Thanks for making my venison recipe <3