This easy pan fried deer heart is prepared by searing the venison heart in butter with fresh thyme and garlic.
This recipe is quick and easy to prepare, using only simple ingredients, and a delicious way to get healthy organ meat in your diet! Buttery-fried venison heart may just be the best way to celebrate a successful hunt at deer camp this year.
What is it?
The deer heart muscle is the often overlooked trophy of a successful whitetail deer hunt. If you aren't saving the heart from your harvest, you are missing out on one of the most flavorful and nutritious parts of the deer.
The two most popular ways to enjoy it are by making pickled venison heart (a personal favorite treat of mine), or pan frying heart meat like a steak with butter, herbs, and seasonings, such as in this great recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Raw deer heart - This venison heart recipe can be used with any wild game or beef hearts.
- Butter - Although you could use olive oil for this simple recipe, I highly recommend using butter because it adds a lot more flavor.
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh thyme - Rosemary would be a good substitution.
- Yellow onion - Red onion can be used for a stronger flavor, otherwise, shallots are also a great substitution.
- Optional - You can add further flavor enhancers like a splash of Worcestershire sauce, or red wine vinegar.
How to clean deer heart
Before you can cook this easy deer heart recipe, the raw heart needs to be properly cleaned. There are three important steps to this.
- First, trim off the hard fat cap from the top of the heart. This is easy to do with the heart placed on a cutting board. Any visible fat or connective tissue needs to be cut away from outside of the heart with a very sharp knife until only purple meat is remaining.
- Second, rinse the heart under cold water while squeezing the heart to pump it. This is to purge any remaining blood from the interior of the heart. Continue to rinse and pump until the water runs clear. I also recommend running your fingers inside the chamber of the heart to check for any blood clots needing to be removed.
- The final step is to cut up the deer's heart into large pieces. There isn't a right or wrong way to do this. As shown in my photo below, you can either slice horizontally through the heart to make heart steaks or make your cuts vertically through each valve to lay the heart open, then slice into thin strips.
How to cook venison heart
This easy pan-fried deer heart recipe is quickly prepared in a large skillet. To begin, season the cut deer heart with salt and black pepper. Next, melt butter in the skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions, fresh heart, thyme, and garlic cloves.
Cook the heart for 2-4 minutes per side to give it a quick sear, or until it reaches your desired doneness then remove from the skillet and serve with sauteed onions.
Pan Fried Deer Heart
Equipment
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 deer heart cleaned and sliced
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season deer heart to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium high heat then add sliced deer heart, chopped onions, garlic, and thyme. Let the venison develop a sear, then flip, cooking for 2-4 minutes per side.
- Let the venison cook to 130 degrees, or your desired level of doneness*, then remove from the skillet and serve with sauteed onions.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on October 11, 2022.
Terry Ardery
Doing this recipe for about 50. Years now very good recipe