Game
Venison Stew
Chunks of venison shoulder browned and braised slowly in red wine and beef stock with smoked bacon, root vegetables, juniper, thyme and a spoonful of redcurrant jelly, until the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce is dark and glossy.
- Serves 6
- Hands-on 40 min
- Oven 2–2½ hrs
- Even better made a day ahead
- Freezes well
- British (Scottish)
Method
Heat the oven to 160°C (fan 140°C, gas 3). Pat the venison (1 kg) dry and toss it in the seasoned flour (3 tbsp), shaking off the excess.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil (3 tbsp) in a large flameproof casserole and brown the venison in 3–4 batches, without crowding, until deep brown on all sides. Lift each batch onto a plate, adding more oil as needed.
Turn the heat down, add the butter (25 g) and bacon (150 g) and cook for 4 minutes until the fat runs. Add the onions (2 onions), carrots (3 carrots), celery (2) and swede (200 g) and cook for 8–10 minutes until lightly browned, then stir in the garlic (2 cloves) and juniper (8).
Pour in the wine (450 ml), scraping up the browned bits, and bubble for 3 minutes. Add the stock (450 ml), redcurrant jelly (2 tbsp), thyme (a little) and bay leaves (2 bay leaves), return the venison and its juices, and bring to a simmer.
Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2–2½ hours, stirring once or twice, until the venison is very tender. If the sauce is thin, simmer it uncovered on the hob for 10 minutes; if thick, add a splash of stock.
Remove the bay and thyme stalks, season to taste and scatter with parsley (a little). Serve with mashed potato, buttered cabbage or crusty bread.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Venison is very lean, so cook it low and slow with the lid on; a stew that boils hard will toughen.
- Jamie Oliver adds small new potatoes for the last 45 minutes to make it a one-pot meal.
- Beef shin or chuck can replace the venison; cook it for the same time.
- Like most stews it improves overnight: cool, chill and reheat gently until piping hot.
How this recipe was developed
We compared BBC Good Food’s venison stew by Nick Nairn with Jamie Oliver’s venison and juniper stew and the most-rated venison stew on Allrecipes.
- Wine, stock and redcurrant. Nick Nairn’s stew on BBC Good Food (4.75/5 from 222 ratings) braises venison in red wine and beef stock with redcurrant jelly, thyme and bay.
- Root vegetables. Nairn uses carrot, swede or turnip, onion and celery; we keep all four.
- Juniper. Jamie Oliver crushes juniper berries into his venison stew; we made them optional because not every kitchen has them.
- Flour first, brown well. All three dust the meat in flour and brown it; Allrecipes’ Venison Stew (4.8/5 from 267 ratings) keeps it simple with onion, carrots and potatoes.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Nick Nairn): Venison stew (4.75/5, 222 ratings)
- Jamie Oliver: Venison & juniper stew
- Allrecipes (BUCHKO): Venison Stew (4.8/5, 267 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.