The Best Ground Venison Burgers

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Here is the best ground venison burger recipe that takes only a few simple ingredients that you likely have in your pantry or fridge, to create the most juicy deer meat burger that isn't dry or tough- they are absolutely delicious!

venison burger with a slice of tomato on a wooden board

Best venison Burger Recipe.

There I said it. What makes this recipe so great? The taste and the simplicity.

These easy ground venison burgers are simply seasoned but are truly so flavorful. The butter, worcestershire, onion powder, and garlic powder are the perfect accompaniments to the deer meat that compliment the taste of the wild game without accentuating any gamey taste.

How to make a venison burger stick together and are juicy

The key to ground venison burgers that stick together and aren't dry is making sure there is enough fat. Deer meat is truly a very lean protein on it's own so it needs a little extra care to make sure it doesn't dry out, get tough, or crumble.

Adding fat to the meat when processing it is a great way to help ensure the meat does not dry out or crumble when cooking it. My father in law processes our deer meat for us after hunting season and he adds approximately 5-8% beef fat to the ground deer meat. Some people use pork fat, just a matter of preference. If you do not process the venison yourself, a butcher can certainly add the fat in for you. Fat also helps the venison stay formed.
Adding cold butter. Adding butter to the burger keeps it moist and helps the meat stick together. The cold factor makes sure that it spreads evenly throughout the meat when incorporating. Some people add bacon grease or chopped bacon pieces, but I love keeping it simple with butter. Plus it reminds me of a Culver's Butterburger--yum!

Add an egg. Eggs are a simple ingredient that work as a binder to hold the meat together without changing the flavor.
Don't overcook it. Medium at most, or you risk a dry burger. 3-4 minutes per side is all you need!

Looking for more ground venison meat recipes?

Ingredients

I like to season my venison burgers like I do my beef burgers--simply. Now the only things that are different here are adding a little acid (worcestershire) and a little extra fat (grated butter). Other than that, this is exactly how I would prepare my ground beef burgers. If you don't have ground deer meat, You could certainly supplement any wild game or standard ground beef for the meat here.

Ground Venison. Ground deer meat with pork or beef fat added is the base of these easy venison burgers.
Worcestershire Sauce. Like always, I like to add a little acid to my venison recipes and worcestershire is the perfect compliment to the deer meat when turning it into burgers. It adds a depth of flavor that is hard to pinpoint but oh, so good!
Egg. An egg helps work as a binder to hold the lean meat together.
Cold Butter. This helps add flavor and fat, and helps the meat stay formed into a patty.
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt

Instructions

Begin by moving your butter from the fridge to the freezer for about 30 minutes before you start so that it gets nice and cold.

burger ingredients in a white bowl unmixed.

In a medium sized bowl, add all of your ingredients: ground venison meat, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and egg. Quickly use a box grater or microplane to grate cold butter into the bowl.

Using your hands, gently mix together the ingredients to combine, but do not overmix. You want the mixture to just come together.

Form the deer burgers into patties and place to the side. This recipe will create around 4 standard size burgers.

Heat up a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, carefully place the burgers into the pan. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes before carefully flipping and cooking 3-4 minutes on the other side. The outside should have a nice golden brown crust to them, and the inside be just cooked through.

Remove burger patties from heat and place on a bun with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Top Tip

These venison burgers can be made on the grill too, you just have to be careful as they are more delicate than ground beef burgers. Form them a bit tighter than if you were cooking venison burgers in a skillet and also make sure they are "set" before flipping them.

Grill over medium heat for about 8 minutes, flipping carefully halfway through.

Burger Toppings

Since these burgers are so simply seasoned, you can really go any direction you want with the burger toppings, from simple ketchup and mustard to all the fixins'. Here are some suggestions for what to top your venison burgers with.

ketchup
mustard
butter lettuce
sliced Tomatoes
sliced red or white onion
sauteed Onions
sauteed Mushrooms
jalapenos
mayo
cheese

Storage

burger patties stacked up with wax paper between them

In the fridge. If you prep these ahead, they will stay fresh for 1-2 days in the fridge before cooking them. I like to place a piece of wax paper in between each burger patty to keep them from sticking together. Store cooked burgers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container.

In the freezer. Want to prep some extra venison burgers ahead for later use? These can easily be frozen and cooked up at a later time. Simply place wax paper between each patty and then freeze for up to 4 months in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator before cooking.

Recipe FAQs

How do I keep venison burgers from being dry?

Adding fat, like butter or pork fat, helps ensure the lean venison meat stays moist and gives a great flavor as well.

Can venison burgers be cooked rare?

Just like beef, venison can be served rare. As long as you know that the venison meat is quality (either from a reputable source or hunted yourself), and it has been stored properly (refrigerated or frozen), then ground venison burgers can be served rare.