Use these ingredients as a guide, not dogma. If you can't find some of the specialized ingredients, like the harissa, use sriracha or even a few dashes of hot sauce. Once made, this stew will keep for a week in the fridge.
Recipe by Hank Shaw on April 29, 2021
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT180M
Total time: PT200M
Rating
4.83 stars (28 reviews)
Keywords
stews, venison
Ingredients
2 to 3 pounds venison stew meat, (or beef or lamb)
Salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large onions, (sliced root to tip)
5 garlic cloves, (chopped)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 quart venison broth or beef stock
2 bay leaves
2 pounds fingerling or Yukon Gold potatoes
2 Anaheim peppers, (diced)
1 cup peas
12 green olives, (chopped)
1 or 2 preserved lemons, chopped ((optional))
2 tablespoons Harissa or ground chiles
1/3 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Categories
Main Course
Soup
Cuisine
North African
Steps
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid. Brown the stew meat — I like 2-inch chunks — over medium-high heat. Do this in batches and take your time. Set aside the browned venison while you do the rest.
Heat the oven to 325°F.
When the meat is all browned, add the onion — this will deglaze the pot. Stir it around until no browned bits are left in the pot. Sauté this until the onions are browned, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two.
Add the the meat back to the pot, then the tomato paste and mix well. Pour in the venison stock and bay leaves and bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, cover and put into the oven for 2 hours.
At the two-hour mark, turn the heat down to 300°F and add the potatoes and peppers. Return to the oven.
Once the potatoes are tender, remove the pot from the oven, turn it off, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover the pot again on the stovetop and let this sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 339 kcal
Carbohydrates: 30 g
Protein: 32 g
Fat: 10 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 96 mg
Sodium: 431 mg
Sugar: 5 g
Reviews
Linda Riopel on 2026-04-03 (5 stars): Made this stew today. I added some carrots and a little berbere spice along with the harissa paste. Used a mix of regular peppers as didn’t have Anaheim peppers. Added a couple chunks of regular lemon as didn’t have the preserved lemon. Smelled amazing as it cooked and tasted even better. The meat was really tender. I did soak the venison in buttermilk for several hours beforehand since with my last venison stew (different recipe), I found the meat was a bit tough and gamier tasting.
Loved this stew! Amazing. Can’t wait to have the leftovers tomorrow. Thank you for a great recipe.
Rick D Warwick on 2025-03-21 (5 stars): This is incredible! I baked as indicated and the normally tough sinew venison came out so tender you could easily cut it with a soup spoon. Of course all the tough bits melted into a silky, rich, sauce. I would recommend doubling the recipe. Your Dutch oven should hold it and it should freeze up nicely. Oh, and the carrots are killer when added in final stages. Cooked up perfectly. I'll be adding extra in the next batch. Thanks Hank! You've done it again.
Angela S on 2025-01-18 (5 stars): Just made this with venison and it was wonderful! I didn’t have any peppers on hand so left them out but did add carrots. A great use of the preserved lemons my partner made last year. I will definitely be making this again. My dinner party of 6 devoured it on a very cold northern Wisconsin night.
Rajima on 2024-10-15 (4 stars): I add the peas at the same time as the potatoes. I use fresh broad beans in season too. The harissa I use is a wild cherry harissa paste, or sometimes a rose harissa and some blackcurrant or cherry jam. I use whatever I have at the time. I add a Berber spice mix as this recipe doesn’t really have the level of spice normally used by North Africans. Serving either with large couscous or rice. Add saffron to the rice if it’s a special occasions.
Brian on 2024-05-23 (5 stars): This is really good. Flavors are well balanced. The harissa and olives give it a unique taste. I used it with elk. This stew recipe was an excellent use of the meat
Bret on 2022-12-06 (5 stars): I have traditional American stew down to perfection. This recipe was way out of my comfort zone of cooking stew. It turned out great. It is perfect and everyone loved it.
Thanks~Bret
Chris Gooden on 2022-07-25 (5 stars): I made this tonight using a boneless lamb leg and fresh peas. Not sure if Hank means harissa paste or harissa sauce but I used sauce and it was perfect! Subbed in poblanos and only cooked for 1 hour since I used lamb, then added potatoes and peppers. Then 18 minutes at 300* for the taters. I squeezed in a lemon at the end and that made this extra special
Josh Bowman on 2021-12-28 (5 stars): This is delicious. I’m not huge on peppers but this has such complex flavour that I still loved it. Fed it to people for their first venison dish and it was unanimously delicious and tender.
Megan Wieder on 2021-12-15 (5 stars): Making this with a boneless venison neck roast, my kitchen smells amazing! But I CAN wait for it to be done....giving it the time it needs to cook low and slow!
Barbara Parsons on 2021-12-05 (5 stars): Our son keeps us supplied with various cuts of venison, including his Italian sausage and our preference is to use the venison in international cuisine recipes that use chicken or lamb or beef. This stew knocked the top off. We're lucky to have a Lebanese market in our city neighborhood, so the preserved lemons were in the fridge, migrated to the slow cooker, and happily resided in the bowl as a perky addition. I love your site. And I tell all our hunting/fishing friends to check you out.
