Braising is the perfect technique for cooking venison roast, and this Beer Braised Venison Roast recipe brings a German flair and intense flavor that are destine to be a family favorite.
Cooking a roast for a crowd
One of the things I really love about having people come to visit is the excuse it gives us to make a fancy meal.
You can’t pound a whole roast or massive lasagna with two people. You just can’t. Unless of course, you want leftovers for the month. And sometimes we just get a hankering to cook something a bit bigger and out of the ordinary.
Recently, my parents came up to visit while bringing my brother back to school. It was so nice to see them, and Tim and I were excited to be able to treat them to this Beer Braised Venison Roast.
Our Beer Braised Venison Roast Recipe
We slow simmered our venison roast for 3 hours, resulting in tender, fall-apart meat, that is infused with the robust flavors of beer, a slight tartness from the mustard, and just the perfect hint of sweet from the tomato paste and brown sugar.
The mustard and beer give this roast a distinctly German feel. It would be a perfect, hearty recipe to serve along side of your favorite Oktoberfest beer!
It is the perfect, hearty meal for spending hours at the table, catching up with family and enjoying the company.
And, did I mention, it made the house smell AMAZING!
If you don’t have access to venison, don’t worry. This dish is just as tasty if you use a beef chuck roast.
Braising is the perfect technique for cooking venison roast, and this Beer Braised Venison Roast recipe brings a German flair and intense flavor that are destine to be a family favorite.
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 lb venison roast (or beef shoulder roast)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 onions, cut in half and quartered
- 6 large potatoes, cut into 1” cubes
- 10 carrots, cut into 1” chunks
- 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour (plus an additional 1/4 c if necessary, added at the end)
- 2 (12 oz) bottles beer (dark lager style is best)
- 2 c vegetable or beef stock (we prefer low sodium)
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- Season roast with salt and pepper. In a 2 gallon or larger Dutch oven or soup pot melt 1 Tbsp butter. Add the roast and sear on all sides over medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the roast from pot.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining 2 Tbsp butter. Melt butter and add onions. Saute until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots, saute 1-2 minutes. Add flour and stir until moistened.
- Stir in beer, stock, tomato paste, brown sugar, mustard powder, and thyme. Mix well. Add the roast back to pot, nestling it among the vegetables. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 3 hours.
- Thirty minutes before serving, remove the lid from the pot. If the stew looks too brothy, place ¼ c of flour in a small bowl. Ladle ½ – ¾ c of broth from the pot into the flour and whisk until no lumps remain. Pour mixture into the stew and stir to incorporate.
- Continue to simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens slightly.
This recipe from 2013 was updated in December 2015. We made the roast even better. Enjoy!
An oldie but goodie, this is one of our original recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We make this often and have updated the pictures, but you can see some of the originals below. Check out how far our photography has come in a few short years!
This is a fantastic recipe! Makes venison roast a delicacy!
Thank you Louise! It is definitely one of our favorite ways to cook venison!
Would like to make this for Christmas eve. Can this be made the day before?
Hi Dennis!
To make this ahead of time, you could go two ways. If you just want to prep it ahead of time, you would prepare it through “Step 3” where you add the roast back to the pot of sauted vegetables and sauce. Then, you can let the mixture cool in your Dutch oven or soup pot and refrigerate it right in the pot over night. Then day-of, you can bring the mixture up to a simmer and continue with step 4.
Alternately, you could very easily prepare the entire recipe the ahead of time. I would still let it cool and refrigerate it in your cooking pot, so that day of you can bring it to a simmer for 15-30 minutes to make sure it’s heated through.
We hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!
Instead of a dutch oven, do you think it would come out OK using a crock pot?
Great question! To cook this in the crock pot, we would prepare the ingredients through step 2. Then mix everything in the crock pot. Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-7. If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out!
I have made this multiple times and my family has loved it. However instead of a Roast I used Venison stew meat. This makes an amazing Stew. Thank You for the recipe.
Thanks Michelle! We are so excited that you and your family love this recipe! Venison stew meat sounds like a wonderful choice!
Made this last night!! Awesome recipe!!
So glad you loved the recipe, Niki! Thanks for stopping by to tell us how it turned out!
I totally agree with an excuse to invite people over! Lovely dish Sarah 🙂