In our ever-growing effort to be more self-sufficient here on the farm (and likely in a desperate attempt at peace and quiet) Eric has taken up hunting. He’s been a few times in the past, but this is the first year that we have broken down and joined the hunting club up the road in a real effort to put meat in the freezer.
Well, a few weeks ago, Eric finally got his first deer! He was very excited and felt all manly killing something with a bow and dragging it back to the cave.
Of course, then we had to do something with it. We had processed deer before that had been given to us by friends, but this was the first one that he could really lay claim to, so it was a joyous occasion.
We now have a freezer full of roasts, stew meat, cube steak, and the biggest hit, Venison Bacon Sausage. This is basically an Italian-style sausage, minus the fennel (which I find to be utterly VILE and loathsome.) The main trick was to use packages of “bacon ends and pieces” as the added fat, rather than the more traditional pork butt that you usually read about. Let’s face it, everything is just better with bacon, and these irregular pieces are an inexpensive way to add it to your sausage!
It turned out so well that the children were fighting over the patties that we cooked up to test for seasoning! I hope you enjoy it too!
P.S. You could also make this with other meat such as ground pork or turkey!
- 3-4 lbs. Venison
- 2.5 lbs Bacon Ends and Pieces
- 3 tbsp. Italian Seasoning
- 2 tbsp. garlic powder
- 2 tbsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. pepper
- 2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp ground bay leaf
- Grind together deer meat and bacon, alternating what you put through the grinder so that it comes out fairly well mixed.
- When the meat is all ground, add all the herbs and spices.
- Mix well to combine.
- Form a patty and fry in a pan to test for seasoning.
- If everything tastes the way you like it, your sausage is ready.
- We like to package it in 1 lb packages and freeze most of it for later.
looks great…. and I am sure very tasty
My mom brought a bunch of ground venison when she visited last. We had days of slow cooked tacos. It was my kids first experience with venison. I bet they’d love these!
Venison tacos sound great!
Hi Heather! Congrats to the hubs on his deer! Sure wished my guys were hunters! What, you don’t like fennel seeds? They are delicious! I just used them last night in my homemade Italian sausage spaghetti sauce! I ground pork butt myself! So much tastier than store bought Italian sausage! I would sure love to try this version, with fennel seeds, of course! Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!
Let me know how it is with fennel! Just don’t ask me to try it. Blech! 🙂 (In my defense, I eat almost anything else, just not that! (No licorice or root beer either, since they are flavored with that!)
I am SOOOO jealous!! lol
I’ll have to try this…less the Italian spices…of which I’m just not fond. Farmland just quit making my favorite bacon sausage and I’ve got some ground venison in the freezer. This stuff makes the house smell heavenly. Thanks for posting. 🙂
Sage would be a great substitute for Italian seasonings if you like more of a breakfast sausage flavor! In fact, I would have made a batch of sage, but I realized I was out too late!
This looks so yummy! I am going to have to try it. Good looking deer your hubby got!
Thanks!
This looks great!
We have some venison in the freezer but the girls always prefer beef. So, I have been trying to get creative with venison. I am going to give this recipe a try!
Thanks for sharing at the HomeAcre Hop, this will be my feature post this Thursday!!
Sandra
Great post! My husband hunts deer too, but we’re limited on what to make with it. I use it for spaghetti, tacos, and chili, but that’s about it. It does help to reduce our beef, but I love this for sausage! We’ll definitely be trying this, and we love sausage!
Thanks for sharing with us over at the Homeacre Hop! I’m going to be featuring you for our next Hop!
Mary 🙂
http://www.homegrownonthehill.blogspot.com
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I used ground elk and it was amazing! Thanks for the delicious recipe!!