Easy Venison “Beef and Broccoli” Recipe 

Sometimes recipes are born out of creativity, and sometimes they are created out of necessity. This is one of the necessary ones – I had meat thawed and had no idea how to cook it! You may have noticed we are a wild game eating type of family, but using all of the different cuts of venison (we hunt white tail deer in our area) in our meals is new to me. We have our deer processed locally and get all of the different cuts, many of which I have never used from a deer prior to last year. This is a challenge I have happily accepted – who wouldn’t love some delicious, homegrown, lean meat that is extremely low cost filling their freezers?  

This meal came about one evening when I realized I had thawed two top round venison steaks for supper during the week, and I had no idea how to properly cook a round steak cut. After searching on the Google and hitting up Pinterest to read about what exactly a top round steak was and how to best use it, I decided to try an Asian-inspired recipe that I enjoy: Beef and Broccoli, substituting the beef with venison.  

Prepare the Venison Steak 

Whenever possible, you want to marinade your venison meats before you cook them, preferably overnight. This help keeps them very tender and can remove a lot of the gamey taste from the meat (if that is something you don’t desire). I do this with every cut of venison I use and put the marinade together basically the same way each time: oil (I prefer avocado or EVOO), vinegar (balsamic or red wine), soy sauce, and whatever spices best complement the recipe I plan to make. I put the meat in a storage container, sprinkle and pour the marinade ingredients over it, then shake it up well before putting it in the fridge for the night. This allows for the meat to soak in the flavors and tenderize, but the marinade flavors don’t overpower the overall flavor of the dish. Check out Easy Venison Marinades: Enhance Your Wild Game Cooking for details. I have used this marinade for years on venison and it never disappoints! 

Cooking the Venison and Broccoli 

This dish comes together very quickly once you begin cooking, so I highly recommend preparing the meat, broccoli, and sauce before beginning to cook.  

When you are ready to begin preparing the meal, remove the meat from the marinade and slice into bit-size pieces. You could also slice into thin strips; I just prefer to cut meat up before cooking whenever possible for my younger kiddos. Cut up your fresh broccoli florets into bite-size pieces. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl.   

In a large skillet, heat avocado oil on medium-high heat, then add the broccoli florets. Cook until slightly tender, tossing often, then remove from the pan. Add more oil if needed and add the meat in a uniform layer. Cook for one minute, then turn over and cook for another minute. DO NOT OVER COOK THE VENISON. The meat will continue to cook once other ingredients are added. Add the broccoli back into the skillet and stir together. Pour in the sauce and cook until thickened. Serve over jasmine rice. 

Tips and Substitutions  

This recipe is based on the Beef and Broccoli recipe by Natasha at Salt & Lavender. It looked easy and delicious, so I decided to put my own spin on it to use my venison cut and make it to my family’s preferences. You could definitely use traditional beef as in the original recipe. I found the recipe on Pinterest, and you can also click the link above to see the recipe.

You could potentially use frozen broccoli, though it should be thawed and drained first. Everything in this recipe cooks very quickly and it would be easy for frozen broccoli to get mushy. I recommend using fresh. 

If you prefer a spicy dish, add red pepper flakes to the sauce mixture. 

I prefer to avocado oil to cook my meat in as it has a high smoke point and doesn’t add extra flavor. You could use olive oil or sesame oil as well.  

Adjust the beef to broccoli to rice ratio to your preference and for the amount of meat you are using. 

Venison and Broccoli Ingredients 

Serves 4-6 people 

2 lbs. Venison top round steak 

3 heads fresh broccoli (3-4 cups) 

Marinade: 

2 tbsp Avocado or olive oil 

¼ cup Organic soy sauce 

2 tbsp Red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar 

Sauce: 

½ cup Organic soy sauce 

½ cup Water 

½ tsp Apple cider vinegar 

½ tsp Avocado oil 

¼ c brown sugar 

3 TB cornstarch 

½ tsp Ginger (powdered) 

2 tsp Garlic (powdered) 

Directions 

1. Prepare marinade for venison steak. Marinate the meat at least 8 hours, preferably overnight. 

2. When ready to prepare the meal, slice the meat into desired size, cut up the broccoli, and mix together the sauce ingredients.  

3. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the broccoli florets and cook until tender, tossing often. Remove from pan. 

4. Add the meat to the skillet; cook on each side for about one minute. Do not overcook! 

5. Add the broccoli back to the skillet and toss together. Pour the sauce over the mixture and cook until desired thickness, stirring often. 

6. Serve over rice and enjoy!