Venison Burritos (original)
Venison burritos are a great way of turning lesser-quality cuts of venison into tasty meals.
This recipe makes a complete meal, although it can be eaten as a snack.
I wanted to find a way to showcase the use of sub-prime cuts so went all out here with this burrito recipe.
I made homemade pico de galo, guacamole, and Spanish rice, the only thing I didn’t make homemade were the refried beans (I forgot to soak them the day before).
While you can buy all these ingredients readymade, I challenge you to make them yourself, they are really simple, and with taste much better.
Ingredients and Methods
This recipe uses a lot of ingredients, but it’s not overly complicated.
We can break the recipe down into four different parts
- Meat filling
- Pico de gallo
- Spanish rice
- Guacamole
The meat filling is the star of the show for us, as it showcases the venison. All of the dishes can be made ahead of time and the meat filling can be done last.
For the pico de galo you can make it in 10 minutes. Simply dice the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno and place them into a bowl.
Add the lime juice and stir, set into the fridge until you are ready to serve.
The guacamole is just as easy. There are a million different recipes out there for guacamole, but I put together a relatively simple recipe that I believe works well with venison.
All you need to do is mash the avocados in a bowl with the finely diced shallots, tomatoes, and jalapeno. Stir in the lime juice and a pinch of salt. This can also wait in the fridge.
The Spanish rice is a little more involved, but simple nonetheless. Begin by heating a large heavy-bottomed frying pan on medium heat.
Add the long-grain rice and cook until it begins to brown, stirring constantly. Add the stock, and continue to cook for another two minutes.
Next, add the garlic, tomato passata, and shallots. Stir, and cover the pan. Cook for about 30 mins until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Finally for the meat filling.
Start by adding your dry seasoning to a mortar and pestle, and gently work. You can leave out the chili flakes.
If you like you can gently toast the cumin seeds before adding to the mortar and pestle, I like to do this for a nice smokey flavor.
Next brown the meat over medium-high heat. Use some high temp oil to get the browning started but you don’t need so much because we used pork fat in the ground meat mix.
Add in the dry spic mix and stir well. Continue to cook until the venison is cooked through.
Remove the meat filling from the pan and set aside, toss with some fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
The last thing to do is to put all of these together to make the burrito. There is no right or wrong way to build the burrito, so add the filings in any order you like.
Ingredients
- 1 lb 5oz venison ground
- 2.5 oz pork fat ground with venison above
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1.5 teaspoons ancho chili flakes
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Pico de Gallo
- 1/2 lb tomatoes
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 small jalapeno
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Spanish Rice
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 tablespoons tomato passata
- 2 shallots diced
Guacamole
- 2 avocados
- 1 shallot diced
- 1/2 jalapeno deseeded & diced
- 1 small tomatoe
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Pico de galo
- Dice the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno and place them into a bowl.Add the lime juice and stir, set into the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Guacamole
- Mash the avocados in a bowl with the finely diced shallots, tomatoes and jalapeno. Stir in the lime juice and a pinch of salt. This can also wait in the fridge.
Spanish Rice
- Begin by heating a large heavy bottomed frying pan on medium heat.Add the long grain rice and cook until it begins to brown, stirring constantly. Add the stock, and continue to cook for another two minutes.
- Add the stock, and continue to cook for another two minutes.
- Next, add the garlic, tomato passata, and shallots. Stir, and cover the pan. Cook for about 30 mins until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Meat filling
- Start by adding your dry seasoning to a mortar and pestle, and gently work. You can leave out the chili flakes. If you like you can gently toast the cumin seeds before adding to the mortar and pestle, I like to do this for a nice smokey flavor.
- Next brown the meat over medium-high heat. Use some high temp oil to get the browning started but you don't need so much because we used pork fat in the ground meat mix.
- Add in the dry spic mix and stir well. Continue to cook until the venison is cooked through.
- Remove the meat filling from the pan and set aside, toss with some fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Burrito
- There is no right or wrong way to fill a burrito. I also use refried beans in this recipe but they were not homemade so I have not recipe for them.But if you are using refiried beans they can go on first, the other ingredients can go on in any order.
