Chicken Fried Venison
It’s not often I get to create “fast food” from venison, but when I do I love it.
Chicken fried deer meat is one of those recipes that you just want to keep on making but probably shouldn’t.
With that being said this dish is better than any KFC, or chick-fil-a.
Choosing the Cut For Fried Venison

The first thing to do when making fried venison is to choose the right cut.
There are multiple cuts of venison that work well for this recipe. I’ve used backstrap, flank, and flat iron to make fried venison and they all work well.
I like using flank and flat iron more than backstrap because I don’t need to flatten them out with a meat mallet.
I also find that the flat iron and flank have a little more flavor than the backstrap.
Once you choose a cut to use make sure that it is well trimmed and has no silver skin. Cut the venison into thin strips.
Marinating the Venison

Once you have the strips of venison you will need to marinade them.
Marinading the venison is an essential step to impart flavor because there is no sauce or other aromatics used on the venison, just the coating I will mention below.
For this recipe, I marinated the venison in buttermilk. Buttermilk does 3 things for the venison,
- Reduces the gaminess – Milk reduces gaminess in venison by leaching blood and impurities from the meat
- Imparts flavor – The flavor is imparted into the venison by herbs and spices added to the milk, milk is a good carrier of flavor
- Tenderizes the venison – buttermilk has a medium acidity which breaks down the proteins in venison to make it more tender
To marinade the venison add the garlic powder and paprika to a bowl and pour over the buttermilk.
Stir the milk to mix in the powders.
Place the venison in a zip loc bag or vacuum bag and pour over the milk. Seal the container and store it in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours.
Making the Coating for Fried Deer Meat

While marinating the meat adds flavor to the fried venison, the coating will account for much of the flavor.
To make the coating add all of the ingredients minus the flour to a mortar and using a pestle grind to a powder.
In a large container, add the flour and mix in the spices.
Pour the venison and the buttermilk into a large bowl for easier handling.
Take one piece of venison and shake off the excess buttermilk. Drop the venison in the flour mixture and coat all over, pressing the coating into the venison.
Rest this on a wire tray while you do the rest of the venison.
Cooking Fried Venison

Fill a large heavy-bottomed pot 3/4 of the way with canola oil.
Heat this over high heat to 350F. Drop in 3-4 pieces of venison one piece at a time.
Be careful not to add too much venison as it will drop the temperature of the oil.
Fry the venison for 5-6 minutes until the coating is a nice golden brown.
Side Dishes For Chicken Fried Venison

There are multiple side dishes that work well with this recipe. The last time I made this recipe I made a nice coleslaw to serve with it.
Other sides that go well with deep-fried venison include french fries, potato salad, and burger buns to make a chicken-fried venison sandwich.

Chicken Fried Venison
Ingredients
- 1 lb Venison sliced thinly (see note 1)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 tbsp paprika sweet
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- Canola oil for frying
Coating
- 1.5 cups flour all-purpose
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper whole
- 1 tsp white pepper whole
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Paprika Hungarian or Spanish
- 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
Instructions
- In a bowl add the paprika and garlic, pour over the buttermilk and mix. Add the venison to a ziploc or vaccum bag and pour over the buttermilk. Set in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours
Coating
- Add the flour to a large container, and add all of the other ingredients to a mortar and grind to a powder.
- Add the spices to the container with the flour and mix.
- Pour the venison and milk into a bowl
- take the venison one piece at a time, shake off excess buttermilk, and dredge in the flour mixture. Rest on a wire rack
Cooking
- Fill a heavy-bottomed pot with the canola oil and heat to 350F
- Carefully drop in 3-4 pieces of venison, one at a time. Cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove the fried venison and rest on a wirrerack or kitchen paper
- If you want the chicken fried deer meat a little spicier you can sprinkle some chili flakes
Notes
- There are a few cuts of venison you can use for this recipe. I use venison flank as it's already thin and quite flavorful. Other good cuts would be flat iron, backstrap, or tenderloin.