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Made with perfectly grilled venison tenderloin, grilled red onions, and homemade horseradish mayo this is the Ultimate Venison Tenderloin Sandwich! Stick to the recipe or mix and match your favorite ingredients to really make this sandwich your own!
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This sandwich is like a handheld venison steak dinner!
You’ve got perfect medium rare slices of venison tenderloin, peppery arugula greens, grilled onions, horseradish, and gorgonzola cheese all on buttery grilled ciabatta bread.
What more could you ask for from a venison recipe?
Speaking of venison recipes: I've got some killer venison sandwich and burger recipes for you! Try my classic juicy venison burger recipe, a venison patty melt, or a grilled venison Philly cheesesteak for a real treat!
Ingredients for this recipe
Making a Venison Steak Sandwich
This is just a brief overview, find detailed instructions in the recipe card below!
Ingredient Substitutions
- Venison Steaks – Grilled backstrap can be substituted if you don’t have tenderloin. Otherwise you can use venison sirloin or even a venison roast, if you're not willing to use the tenderloin.
- Dry Rub – If you haven’t yet made a batch of my venison dry rub you can season the venison simply with Kosher salt and pepper.
- Bread – Sourdough or French bread would also be great options for holding this sandwich together.
- Greens – If you’re not a fan of the peppery arugula, baby spinach is also a delicious tender green to use.
- Balsamic Glaze – Not interested in making your own balsamic reduction? They sell balsamic glaze in the store that would work just fine.
- Gorgonzola – I used a creamy gorgonzola that gets all melty in the sammie, but blue cheese crumbles would also work. Goat cheese would also be delightful if you’re not into blue cheese.
Watch the recipe video!
Ultimate Venison Tenderloin Sandwich
Equipment
- Pellet Grill (or charcoal/gas grill)
- Tin Foil
- Small Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 pound venison tenderloin
- 2 teaspoons venison dry rub, more or less to taste
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 ciabatta sandwich rolls
- 4 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature, divided
- 1 small red onion, sliced into rounds
- 2 cups fresh arugula, for serving
- 2 ounces gorgonzola crumbles, for serving
- Flaky sea salt, for serving
Instructions
The day before serving:
- Up to 24 hours ahead, pat the tenderloin dry with paper towel and season liberally on all sides with 4 teaspoons of venison dry rub.
- Cover the tenderloin and place in the fridge overnight.
- In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Add ½ cup balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vinegar has boiled down and reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
When ready to eat:
- An hour before cooking, remove the tenderloin from the fridge. (It is important to allow any meat you’re cooking to warm slightly before cooking to avoid it becoming tough.)
- While the meat comes up in temperature, preheat your pellet grill to 500 degrees. Or, preheat your charcoal or gas grill to high, direct heat. Additionally, butter each ciabatta roll with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.
- Add the tenderloin to the preheated grill. Close the lid and cook for 2 – 3 minutes before flipping and cooking for another 2 – 3 minutes for medium rare.
- Remove the steak from the grill and immediately top with 2 tablespoons of butter and tent with foil. Allow steak to rest for 5 minutes.
- While the venison tenderloin rests, lower the temperature of the grill to 350 degrees. Place the sliced red onion rounds and buttered ciabatta rolls onto the grill. When bread is toasted, about 2 minutes, remove and set aside. Flip onions and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, or until they are tender.
To assemble the sandwiches:
- Spread some horseradish mayo onto each side of the toasted ciabatta. Add the arugula leaves. Slice the rested steak and divide among the sandwiches and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt.
- Add the grilled onions, crumbled gorgonzola, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction before topping with the other half of the grilled ciabatta.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Refer to post for notes on ingredient substitutions.
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