One of the many benefits of deer hunting is getting to eat your harvested animal until the next deer hunting season. We always process our deer so that we have steaks & roasts on hand. We’ve learned through trial and error though that we are not fans of certain cuts of meat. I turn my front quarters into jerky and this year my guy turned his deer’s front quarters into brats. He got jalapeño cheddar brats as well as kielbasa brats. The kielbasa ones are fine but the jalapeño cheddar brats are amazing!! There was some extra filling that wasn’t enough to make a pack of brats so the guys at the meat market just wrapped it up for us. I figured it would be good for some skillet dishes.
Many of us grew up eating hamburger helper but it is so easy & much better for you to just make it on your own. You can use any ground meat you like or even make it meatless if that’s your thing. I’ve made this dish before with regular ground venison as well as a ground venison/ground bacon blend and it is delicious. The jalapeño cheddar gives it a nice depth of flavor though so I imagine I’ll be making this again in the future. Bonus…it’s super quick & easy to make with ingredients you already have in your pantry and you can doctor it up any way you desire.
Venison Helper (serves 2)
- 1/2 lb ground venison (I used the filling from jalapeño cheddar brats)
- 1.5 cups dry shell pasta
- 1.25 cups beef broth
- 1 cup milk
- salt, pepper, onion & garlic powder, paprika to taste (I just sprinkle a bit of each over the skillet)
- 1/2 cup drained whole kernel canned corn
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tbsp flour mixed with small amount of water.
Brown the ground venison until cooked through in a large skillet. Add the pasta, broth, milk, seasonings, and corn. Stir gently. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer covered for 10-20 minutes depending on size of noodles until most of the liquid is absorbed and the noodles are al dente. Depending on how much liquid is left in skillet add small amount of flour mixed with water to the skillet and stir until sauce is thickened. Stir in cheese and serve immediately.
