A delicious grilled venison tenderloin recipe served with a vegetable salad, goats cheese stuffed peppers and green dressing. Perfect for the weekend or entertaining friends and family.
Want to recreate this beautiful dish? Follow our step-by-step recipe and chef tips on how to cook venison tenderloin to perfection. Enjoy!
We love warm salads you can enjoy all year round. This delicious grilled venison was inspired by our venison rack and popular grilled gurnard recipe.
Venison or deer tenderloin (depending on where you are from), is a prized cut of meat. It is the filet mignon of deer meat and when cooked perfectly it is beautifully tender and juicy!
Whether you are a hunter who loves wild game meat or you buy your venison direct from the butcher, we are certain this grilled venison recipe is sure to be a new favourite.
Naturally lean and nutritious, venison is a great meat to add to your diet. Our quick and easy venison stirfry recipe is perfect for weeknights and a must-try.
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Venison tenderloin medallions - for this recipe we used pre-cut venison medallions depending on availability you could also use venison backstrap, loin or steaks.
For the marinade:
- Smoked paprika
- Fennel seeds
- coriander seeds
- Cumin seeds
- A pinch of salt and pepper
- Oil - Choose your preferred non-flavoured cooking oil, we used canola oil in the marinade.
Vegetable salad:
- Courgette (or zucchini depending on where you are from)
- Cherry tomatoes - or whatever variety of baby or vine tomatoes are available to you.
- Asparagus
- Mini vine pepper (capsicum) - these are delicious sweet baby peppers if available or you can substitute them with standard bell peppers (capsicum).
- Baby carrots - or a bunch of young carrots again choose whats in season for you.
- Goats cheese - substitute with feta.
Salad dressing:
- A handful of fresh basil leaves
- Dijon mustard
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper - to taste
The salad dressing can be replaced with a store-bought green salad dressing. Or it can be substituted with a fresh pesto.
- Optional, fresh mint and basil to garnish.
See the recipe card below for quantities.
Step by step instructions.
1. Marinate the venison.
- Combine the dry spices and use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind the spices into a powder, then mix in the oil.
- Coat the venison well with the spice mix and let marinate for 30 minutes.
- While the venison is marinating, preheat your grill (or bbq) to a high heat.
2. Prepare and grill the vegetable salad.
Prepare the vegetables:
- Blanch the carrots and asparagus in boiling water for two minutes. Then remove from the water and cool quickly under cold water.
- Cut the mini peppers in half and fill with the goats cheese, pack firmly.
Grill the vegetables:
- Place all the prepared vegetables into a large bowl, season with pinch of salt and perper and drizzle with oil. Combine well.
- Place the vegetables on the hot grill (keep the peppers with cheese facing up). Grill until the vegetables have nice charr marks. Remove and keep warm.
3. How to grill venison tenderloin.
- Grill the marinated venison medallions to medium rare. Depending on the thickness of the venison and the temperature of the grill around 3 - 5 minutes on each side. Medium rare on an instant-read food thermometer measures 54 °C (129 °F).
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.
4. To assemble.
Make the dressing: Add the dressing ingredients into a small blender and blitz until smooth.
To plate: Once rested slice the venison and arrange with the grilled vegetables on a large serving platter. Drizzle over the dressing and garnish with the fresh basil and mint if using.
Serve and enjoy.
What cut is venison tenderloin?
Venison tenderloin is a premium cut of meat that runs under the backstrap and ribs of a deer. It is considered one of the most tender and flavorful cuts of venison, making it popular with chefs and hunters.
Tenderloins can be purchased as one long piece or cut into steaks or medallions.
To prepare a venison tenderloin, trim any excess fat or silver skin from the meat. This cut is naturally tender and mild in flavour so doesn't need to be tenderised but chefs like to marinate or season the meat before cooking to enhance the natural flavours.
Venison tenderloin can be cooked in various ways, including grilling, searing, roasting, or even sous vide.
A tip from the chef: For best flavour and texture, we recommend a cook temperature of medium-rare.
Serving suggestions
Grilled vegetables with a herb dressing are a great flavour pairing with venison. But once you have perfected how to cook venison tenderloin you may want to switch it up with other flavours or create a feast for family and friends.
Try our list of alternative side dishes or additional serving suggestions below:
- Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
- Wild mushroom risotto
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Cranberry pecan salad
- Grilled corn on the cob
- Garlic butter green beans
- Parmesan truffle fries
Chef tips
A prime cut of venison, respect it - For the best flavour and beautifully tender meat; allow a full 30 minutes to marinate and cook the venison to medium-rare, check with a food thermometer.
And most importantly allow the meat to rest! Don't skip this step because you are rushing to serve the meal, honestly the time taken to rest the minute is so well worth it.
Related game meat recipes
Looking for other game meat recipes? These are a must try:
Ready to give this delicious grilled venison tenderloin recipe a try? Grab the recipe in full below and enjoy.
Did you try this dish? Please leave a rating and review below. And if you have any questions about the recipe, you can ask us in the comment section below too.
Happy cooking!
Recipe
Grilled venison tenderloin
Ingredients
- 600 g Venison tenderloin medallions We used medallions you could also use a whole tenderloin, backstrap or venison steaks.
Marinade
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper
- 50 ml Oil
Vegetable Salad
- 1 Courgette (Zucchini) cut into rounds
- 250 g Cherry tomatoes
- 1 Bunch Asparagus
- 200 g Mini vine peppers (capsicum) Substitute with standard capsicum
- 500 g Baby carrots
- 100 g Goats cheese
Dressing
- Handful Basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¾ cup Olive oil
- 4 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish
- Fresh mint
- Fresh Basil
Instructions
Marinate the venison
- Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind all the dry spices into a powder. Then mix in the oil and coat over the venison medallions, leave to marinate for 30 minutes.600 g Venison tenderloin medallions, 1 tsp Smoked paprika, 1 tsp Fennel seeds, 1 tsp Coriander seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, Pinch of Salt and Pepper, 50 ml Oil
- While the venison is marinating, preheat your BBQ to a high heat.
For the vegetable salad
- Heat a large pot of water to a boil, blanch the baby carrots and asparagus for 2 minutes, remove from the boiling water, cool quickly under running cold water.1 Bunch Asparagus, 500 g Baby carrots
- Cut the mini peppers in half and fill with the goats cheese.200 g Mini vine peppers (capsicum), 100 g Goats cheese
- Place all the prepared vegetables into a large bowl and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil.1 Courgette (Zucchini), 250 g Cherry tomatoes
- Grill the vegetables on the BBQ until you have some nice char marks, grill the peppers with the cheese facing up. Remove the vegetables and set aside.
Grill the venison
- Grill the marinated venison medallions to medium rare. Around 3 -5 mins on each side, depending on the thickness of your venison and the temperature of the grill. Medium rare of an instant-read food thermometer measures 54 °C (129 °F)
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Make the dressing
- Using a small blender, place all the ingredients into the blender and blitz until smooth.Handful Basil leaves, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, ¾ cup Olive oil, 4 tbsp Red wine vinegar, Salt and pepper to taste
To assemble
- Slice the venison, arrange it with the vegetables onto a large plate or board, and drizzle over the dressing. Garnish with fresh basil and mint leaves, if using. Serve and enjoy.Fresh mint, Fresh Basil
