Wild Game Recipes: Dry Rubbed Chimichurri Venison Tenderloins

There’s nothing better than coming home from a successful hunt and enjoying an amazing dinner created from your harvest. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to kill a doe during archery season here in Texas and couldn’t wait to get it home to share with friends and family. It’s become a tradition for our family & extending hunting family to serve up the tenderloins, heart & liver the day of the kill.

We will discuss the heart & liver in another post since those are more of an acquired taste but here’s an easy recipe for serving up some amazing tenderloins with a little twist on the usual wild game rub. It’s easy and tastes amazing!

First trim up the meat and clean off any hair that might be stuck to the loins. Toss everything into a baking dish (I trimmed off some of the flank too which can be tough but is still delicious in my book) and apply the chimichurri rub. Be sure to rub your roasted garlic (we usually have some frozen for situations such as this!) all over the top and set it in the fridge to soak up some of the rub flavors. I usually don’t marinade meat when we are going to be cooking it the same day. There’s just not enough time for the marinade to get into the meat. A great dry rub will do the trick in a pinch!

While you give the rub a little time to set-in you can grab your favorite beverage and retell the tail of your hunting trip or start working on that heart & liver. You can also get your pan or grill hot & ready to go. I’m a big fan of the Lodge grill pan for something like that. It’s easy to setup since I’m usually too tired to get the grill going after a hunt and it lets some air get under the meat while cooking. I put some olive oil or bacon grease in the pan and set it on medium-high.

I’ll cook the tenderloin for 3-4 minutes max on each side and then let them rest while getting any fixings served up. Then just serve and eat! It’s one of my favorite cuts of meat and is the best way to end the day after a successful hunt!

Chimichurri Dry Rub

3 tbs dried oregano leaves

3 tbs dried basil leaves

2 tbs dried parsley flakes

2 tbs dried thyme leaves

2 tbs coarse kosher salt

1 tbs ground black peper

1 tbs smoked paprika

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried crushed red pepper

Mix all of your spices together and crush in a bowl using the back of a spoon if you don’t have a mortar bowl. You can also double this up if you want to have a little extra for next time!

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