Venison Meatloaf

Name: Venison Meatloaf
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 6 people
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups bread, torn to pieces; 1 cup milk; 1 small yellow or white onion; 1 medium carrot; 1 small fennel bulb, chopped roughly; 1 celery stalk; 3 garlic cloves; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 pounds ground venison; 1 cup grated Italian cheese; 1/4 cup tomato sauce; 1/4 cup chopped parsley; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 3 eggs; Marinara sauce for painting the top and serving

User Reviews

5.0

318 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 45 mins
Servings
6 people
Calories
429 kcal
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
American

Venison Meatloaf

Elizabeth Hodge

Report

Meatloaf is more of an art than a science, and the loaf's final consistency depends on a few things: How much stuff you put into the mix that isn't meat, how thoroughly you work the meat, and what sort of binder you use.

Share:

I Made This!

238 people made this

Print

63 people printed this

Save this

190 people saved this

Ingredients

Servings

1 1/2 cups bread, torn to pieces (see recipe headnotes)
1 cup milk
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped roughly
1 small fennel bulb, chopped roughly (optional)
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds ground venison
1 cup grated Italian cheese, parmesan or pecorino
1/4 cup tomato sauce (or ketchup)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 eggs
Marinara sauce for painting the top and serving

Add to Shopping List

Instructions

Soak the bread cubes in a bowl with the milk while you chop the vegetables and get everything else ready. Put the roughly chopped vegetables into a food processor and blitz them until it begins to form something of a paste. This will keep the meatloaf super moist.
Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté the vegetables from the food processor until soft. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Cook this another couple minutes, then remove the mixture to a plate and spread it out: This helps it cool quickly.
Preheat your oven to 375°F. When the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess milk and chop and mash the soaked bread on a cutting board until it too forms something of a paste. Toss it and the cooled vegetable mixture into a large bowl. Add the ground venison, cheese, parsley, eggs, salt and oregano and combine. I like to actually work the meatloaf mix well because the bread and vegetable mix will keep it moist and tender -- normally you don't want to over work meatball mixes, but this is an exception. It will help the meatloaf bind together better.
Grease a loaf pan; I use butter. The pan I use is a Pyrex 1 1/2-quart pan that is 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. Something more ore less this size will be fine. Or, you can set the mixture on a greased baking sheet and mold it into a loaf. Pack the meat mixture into the pan and bake it until the center reads about 155°F, which will take roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes. I put the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet to catch any overflow of fat or tomato sauce.
About 30 minutes before the meatloaf is ready (shoot for the 45-minute mark), paint the top of the loaf with marinara sauce. Have some more sauce warming in a small pot to serve with the finished meatloaf.
Once the loaf is ready, sit it on the countertop for 5 minutes to rest before popping out of the loaf pan. Do this carefully. Slice and serve with sauce.

Notes

This recipe calls for marinara sauce, but any simple tomato sauce will do, so long as it's not too chunky. Finally, this meatloaf keeps well, and is great as a sandwich filling during the week.
Use finely ground venison with some fat in it, beef or pork. Or mix fatless ground venison with fatty ground pork or beef or veal. Or double the bread.
You can cook the vegetable mix up to a day or two ahead. Keep it in the fridge.
If you want things a little zippy, add 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
I like to serve this with mashed potatoes or polenta, and I really like it as sandwiches the next day.

Nutrition Information

Show Details

Calories 429kcal (21%) Carbohydrates 12g (4%) Protein 45g (90%) Fat 22g (34%) Saturated Fat 11g (55%) Cholesterol 222mg (74%) Sodium 1707mg (71%) Potassium 886mg (25%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 6g (12%) Vitamin A 2360IU (47%) Vitamin C 10.1mg (11%) Calcium 301mg (30%) Iron 6mg (33%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6people

Amount Per Serving

Calories 429 kcal

% Daily Value*

Calories	429kcal	21%
Carbohydrates	12g	4%
Protein	45g	90%
Fat	22g	34%
Saturated Fat	11g	55%
Cholesterol	222mg	74%
Sodium	1707mg	71%
Potassium	886mg	19%
Fiber	2g	8%
Sugar	6g	12%
Vitamin A	2360IU	47%
Vitamin C	10.1mg	11%
Calcium	301mg	30%
Iron	6mg	33%