Garlic Venison and Pork Sausage | Easy Recipe

This garlic venison and pork sausage is a versatile and simple recipe. Eat on its own or add it to soups, pasta, casseroles and more! Extra nutrition is added and hidden by using a small amount of organ meat in the recipe.

My husband is a hunter and I'm so glad! If you aren't into hunting, it's something to really consider!

It is a fantastic way to acquire high-quality meat, and if you learn how to butcher too, it makes for very inexpensive high-quality meat.

Another tip for getting cheaper, yet better meat is to buy a whole or half an animal from a farm with good practices. Every year, we buy a pig from a local farm and split it with my in-laws. The cost per pound turns out cheaper than grocery store pork and we know where it's coming from. We also butcher it ourselves (thanks to my brother-in-law who makes that whole operation possible- he's the one who knows how to do it!), so that helps keep the cost low as well.

Every time you butcher an animal there's scrap meat that can be ground up and used as ground meat or made into your own sausage! We simply put all of the scraps into a freezer bag after butchering and take them out of the freezer as we are ready to make fresh sausage. It's the perfect way to use them!

If you hunt or buy whole animals like us, I highly recommend getting a meat grinder with all the classic meat grinder attachments, like this. It will make processing quicker and easier. You could also get a manual meat grinder, but as you may guess, that's a lot more work to use!

This year we have deer, pig and bear in the freezer, so we're excited for many sausage making parties to come! Another of our favorites is this Italian sausage recipe.

This sausage recipe goes well with just about anything. Hello, it's garlic flavored! Eat it on its own as a main dish or throw it into soups, pasta, casseroles, or skillet dinners, etc.

FAQ

What is Venison?

Venison is the meat of deer, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose, among others. In this recipe, I used mule deer.

Are Venison and Pork Sausages Healthy?

Must you ask? Yes, they are and here's why!

Venison - Lean venison is low in fat and cholesterol. High in protein, iron, riboflavin and niacin. Wild game meat is often much higher in nutrients than meat from a farm, as the animals are 100% naturally grass-fed. And of course, no antibiotics or steroids, like in most farmed beef.

Pork - High in protein and vitamins such as iron, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, thiamin and many others. It's important to obtain high-quality, grass-fed pork to get the most nutritional value out of your meat. The pork fat in the meat adds some much-needed moisture that can turn a good sausage into a great sausage!

Organ meat - Organ meats, like liver and heart, are absolutely packed with nutrients, much more than muscle meat. They are rich in B vitamins (including folate), Vitamins A, E, D and K, as well as copper, niacin, riboflavin, choline, zinc and selenium. In fact, 100 grams of beef liver contain more than 200% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin B12 (1386%), copper (730%), Vitamin A (522%) and riboflavin (201%). Like muscle meat, organ meats are high in protein as well. Putting a small amount of organ meat into homemade sausage is a great way to get more in your diet, especially if you aren't fond of the strong taste.

When you make your own food from scratch using fresh ingredients, you know exactly what is going into it!

Why Mix Venison With Another Meat?

Venison meat is a lean meat, so is often quite dry on its own, so adding fattier meat, like pork or bear, to the deer sausage brings in some much needed moisture and juiciness.

How Much Pork to Use With Venison

Use at least 50% pork (or other fatty meat) with venison when making sausage.

What Kind of Sausage Casing is Best?

There are 2 kinds of sausage casings available: collagen and natural hog casings.

Collagen casings - The cheaper of the two options. These are made out of collagen collected from animal hides and can be quite dry. Very uniform in size, but don't let smoke through, so you can end up with strongly smoked casing and bland sausage meat.

Natural casings - A layer of an animal's intestine, usually a pig. These are thinner, more pliable and have the best flavor - they taste much better than collagen casings! If you plan to smoke your sausages, the smoke can permeate through the casing and into the meat. They also look much better.

As you can probably conclude, I recommend natural casings!

Tips to Make Venison and Pork Sausage

• If grinding your own meat, use partially frozen meat if possible. We find that taking meat out of the freezer before bed (keeping it in the fridge) and then grinding the next morning has worked well for us.
• This recipe uses 10 lbs of meat. You can use up to 5 lbs of venison.
• Substitute more pork for the organ meat, if desired.
• If you are using pre-ground meat, just mix your ground venison, ground pork and ground organ meats (if using) with the rest of the ingredients and form into patties or use a sausage stuffer (separate device or attachment on your meat grinder) to form sausages.
• Add 2-3 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes if you want a sausage with some heat.

Tools You May Need

Meat grinder

Large bowl

Cookie sheet

Sausage casings (about 30 feet)

How to Make Venison and Pork Sausage

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs venison
• 6 lbs pork
• 2 lbs organ meat (liver, heart, etc, or use more venison or pork)
• 5 rounded tablespoon sea salt
• 20 bay leaves, ground to a powder
• 2 bulbs of garlic (about 22 cloves), minced
• 5 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1½ teaspoon celery seed
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon filtered cold water

Instructions:

(If grinding your own meat) Place all metal parts of your meat grinder in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This will help the meat grind more smoothly.

If using natural hog casings, rinse them well (get water running through the full length of the casing) and soak them in luke warm water until ready to use.

Cut meat into 1-inch cubes. Feed all your meat through your meat grinder using a 4.5mm cutting disc.

Add remaining ingredients to the meat and mix very thoroughly with your hands. Position a cookie sheet beside the meat grinder to lay the sausage links on. Add a sausage attachment to your meat grinder and remove a sausage casing from the water. Feed the casing onto the sausage attachment and pinch and twist the end of the casing. Begin to feed the sausage mixture through the grinder. (This is a 2 person job!) Guide the casing along as it fills with meat mixture. You can either fill the whole casings with meat and cut it into links afterwards (this is what we do, as it's much easier), or twist the casing to end a link and start a new one as you go.

How to Cook Venison and Pork Sausage:

Add a little olive oil to your skillet. Cook this sausage over medium-low heat, turning occasionally, for 15-20 minutes until all sides are browned and the inside is cooked through.

How to Store Venison and Pork Sausage

Wrap sausage in plastic wrap, then butcher paper and store in the freezer for up to 1 year. Don't forget to label it! Thaw in the fridge before cooking.

Once cooked, sausage can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Did you try this recipe? If so, I would really appreciate a 5-star rating and your comments below! Thanks!

Nourishing Side Dishes

• ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR
• OVEN ROASTED CARROTS & ASPARAGUS
• CRISPY OVEN FRIES
• PAN-FRIED ASPARAGUS
• ROASTED CAULIFLOWER FLORETS

More Main Dish Ideas

• SPLIT PEA SOUP
• HOW TO EAT A TOSTADA
• BRAISED VENISON ROAST
• CREAMY SALMON DILL SAUCE
• BEEF POT PIE WITH SPROUTED WHEAT CRUST