This recipe can be done with any large heart. I designed it for deer and elk, but it will work with antelope, moose, wild boar or whatever. For non-hunters, try beef heart, veal heart or lamb hearts. You don't have to marinate the meat, but it adds a lot of flavor, and helps keep it moist on the grill.
Recipe by Hank Shaw on June 13, 2012
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT15M
Total time: PT35M
Rating
5 stars (38 reviews)
Keywords
easy, grilling, venison
Ingredients
1 or 2 deer hearts (or 1 elk, moose or beef heart)
4 tablespoons olive oil, (divided)
1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 or 4 colored bell peppers, (cut into 2 to 3 pieces each)
1 large onion, (cut into large wedges)
Categories
Appetizer
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Steps
Trim the hearts as discussed above. In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, oregano, thyme and black pepper. Massage the marinade into the meat, put everything into a container that can just about hold everything and marinate for as little as 30 minutes, or as much as 2 days.
When you are ready to cook, get your grill hot. Coat the peppers and onion in the rest of the olive oil and salt well.
Grill everything on high heat. Put the hearts and veggies on the grill -- skin side down for the peppers -- and leave them alone with the grill cover open for 8 minutes. Flip everything and grill, uncovered, for 5 more minutes.
Check the peppers and onions, and when they are nicely cooked with a little char, remove and put in foil to steam. Remove any blackened skin from the peppers.
If the hearts are not cooked through yet, cover the grill and cook for 2 to 5 more minutes. If you are using a thermometer, you want to get the meat off the grill when it is 130°F in the center. You can also use the finger test for doneness. Tent the hearts loosely with foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with black pepper and good sea salt at the table.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 678 kcal
Carbohydrates: 10 g
Protein: 82 g
Fat: 32 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Cholesterol: 562 mg
Sodium: 1073 mg
Sugar: 5 g
Reviews
Tom Rietveld on 2026-02-09 (5 stars): Hank, since I found your grilled venny heart recipe, it has been a tradition for the past several Super Bowl Sundays. (We don't even watch the game anymore.) The 2026 version was absolute perfection, so much flavor. I let it sit in the marinade for about 36 hours.... awesome instructions and recipe. Thank you!
Brian Whipple on 2025-10-12 (5 stars): Great flavor and texture
Phil W on 2023-11-19 (5 stars): I just cooked the heart from my first archery buck. I must say I was super nervous as previous attempts with other recipes weren't as nearly successful as this particular one. The only change I made was I took the heart segments off the grill after the first 8 minutes, foiled the heart pieces on a small cutting board, and put in the oven for 5 minutes, but did not turn the oven on. I must say this turned out spectacular! No sauce, other than the marinade, medium rare, and paired with a nice red wine...sooo tasty! I can't wait till next season! Thank you, Mr. Shaw!
Justin Westervelt on 2022-12-21 (5 stars): This is one of my favorite ways to cook heart. It works great with beef heart too.
Denisa on 2022-11-28 (5 stars): this is honest to goodness the best deer heart marinade. I had never tried deer heart but my husband loves it so when I shot my deer last year I decided I would try cooking it for him. I found this recipe and went with it. I let the heart marinade for 2 days (mainly because I forgot about it the first day). it's just so good. now I never leave my heart behind!
Julie Witte on 2022-10-21 (5 stars): I used to hunt, but now rely on friends for heart and liver. This sounds like a great recipe and I will use it with the muley heart I received today! Thank you.
Hannah on 2022-07-30 (5 stars): I’ve never cooked heart before and this recipe was so easy and delicious. I don’t have a grill but I used a cast iron skillet and it still worked well.
Chad Low on 2022-02-22 (5 stars): We go nuts for this recipe. It is so simple, but so damn good. Haven't done anything else with the last 20 or so hearts we have taken from mule deer and antelope. Since we eat almost no other meat than wild game, folks are way too suspicious, otherwise I could unknowingly feed this to the biggest wild game snobs I know.
Anita Germain on 2021-10-28 (5 stars): I’m a newby at organ meats. I followed your directions and my first deer heart came out good the very first time! Thanks Hank
James on 2021-09-08 (5 stars): Absolutely delicious and a great way to introduce game heart to curious folks. I prepared it as an appetizer and served it as a modified bruschetta and it went over very well. Thanks, Hank!
Eron Armour on 2021-09-08 (5 stars): What an excellent recipe!
Jeff on 2020-11-30 (5 stars): Great recipe, never tossing out a heart again! Even my 8yo daughter liked it.
JOHN KALMAKOFF on 2020-11-29 (5 stars): So just wanted to let you know this. My kids were raised on wild meat. The first meal my wife cooked for me before we were married was a mule deer roast from that fall. The point is that wild meat is what we are accustomed to as a family. I have always said that if people don't like venison, they simply haven't had it properly cooked.
Now given that, this is one heck of a marinade. We have eaten this twice so far this year on deer heart and tenderloin that was taken right out of each deer, marinated overnight in the fridge and then bar-b-qued (yes I am Canadian) to a perfect medium rare. Absolutely outstanding. The grilled peppers and onions pair perfectly. The only thing I added, probably due to my slavic background, was pasted fresh garlic to the marinade.
Thanks very much for the recipe. We, as a family since our kids have been small, have hunted, fished, and gathered seasonal berries. We do our best to respect the animals with proper butchering, aging and then food preparation. I will definitely be looking back to your website for additional recipes.
John on 2020-10-27 (5 stars): This has become my absolute favorite way to prepare deer heart. My 8 year old says it's his favorite meal!
Keith on 2020-05-05 (5 stars): My go to every time!
Lee Dwyer on 2019-12-13 (5 stars): I own buck buck moose! I love your recipes ! I cook a lot of wild d game and have experimented with them but your recipes perfect any goals I had thx!
