How to Cook Venison Backstrap

Cast iron seared venison backstrap is coated in a flavorful dry rub and then cooked until medium rare in a skillet. If you are looking for an easy way to prepare the best cut of deer meat, this is your answer! Perfect for a weeknight dinner or special occasion. 

Hunting season is upon us and and if you're like me, you are hoping your freezer is about to get restocked with lots of deer meat! My husband is going deer hunting in just over a few week and I already have plans for the wild game we both hope he will bring home. 

My father in law used to be a butcher, which is a great blessing to us, because it means he completely breaks down the deer for us and prepares all different cuts from ground, to roasts, to backstraps. Ground deer meat is one of my favorites because of its versatility to use in almost any recipe that calls for ground beef with a few modifications. But venison backstraps? Those are the cream of the crop and most people's favorite cut!

This is a recipe for easy venison backstrap that you with surely enjoy whether you are a seasoned venison lover or new to cooking with deer meat!

What is venison backstrap?

The backstrap is the meat that runs along the spine of the deer. There are two backstraps per deer. This cut of venison is often prized as the best of the lot. This cut of meat is incredibly tender and is compared to the filet mignon of the deer. 

Ingredients

• Venison backstrap (sometimes called venison inner strap or venison tenderloin) 
• olive oil
• onion powder
• dried thyme leaves
• paprika
• sea salt

Best way to cook venison backstrap

Because venison is so lean and easy to over cook, I find the best way to cook it is either on high heat very quickly or using sous vide method so there is complete temperature control. These instructions for cooking venison backstrap are simple to follow and don't require any special tools or skills.

Begin by taking your deer backstrap out of the fridge and placing it out on the counter to come up to room temperature. This is a very important step to make sure you are able to cook venison backstraps to rare or medium rare without having them be over cooked on the outside and completely raw in the middle. 

Once the meat is at room temperature, pat dry with paper towels and coat liberally with oil. Combine spices for dry rub and press spice mixture into the deer meat until fully coated.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium to medium high heat. Place seasoned backstrap on to the hot skillet and brown. The goal is a nice deep sear, cook for 2-3 minutes per side, only touching the meat to flip it.

Once seared, place in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes to cook deer backstrap to desired doneness level. Remove from the oven when the internal temperature of the meat reaches between 120 and 125 degrees fahrenheit. 

Cover with foil and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. The meat will continue cooking and rise 5-10 degrees during this time. 

Slice rested meat and enjoy your perfectly cooked venison tenderloin!

more ways to cook venison backstrap

• marinated
• smoked
• grilled
• oven baked
• sous vide (my personal favorite!)

Temperature for cooking deer meat 

While certain cuts of deer meat, like ground venison, are a little more forgiving, the back straps are something you definitely want to have on the rare side. Because venison is so lean, cooking it to more than medium-rare will run you the risk of the meat being tough.

But rare to medium rare venison backstrap, that cuts like butter and will absolutely melt in your mouth. So tender!

When preparing, cook to an internal temperature of 120-125 degrees which will allow the venison to carryover cook a few degrees and settle because 130-135. 

How to Serve

Serve this easy venison tenderloin like you would serve a delicious pot roast or beef tenderloin. I love it simply prepared with mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes and a veggie like peas or steamed broccoli. 

more venison backstrap recipes 

• sous vide venison tenderloin
• venison medallions