Venison Meatloaf makes such an easy meaty dinner that tastes great, reheats well, and is super versatile. This meatloaf has a delicious sweet-n-tangy glaze and it is one of our favorite things to cook with ground venison. Give it a try!
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More ground venison recipes to try: Venison Goulash
What we love about this recipe
- This uses 2 pounds of ground venison, so it makes a large meatloaf. Perfect for a large family or for leftovers.
- This recipe can be halved or you can bake it as 2 smaller meat loaves for a shorter baking time.
- The glaze is so so good! We use it heavily because the sweet and slightly tangy glaze tastes so good with the meaty venison.
- This is a low fat meatloaf recipe, since venison is a pretty lean meat.
- The recipe is pretty flexible. No fresh parsley? Use another herb or additional dry herbs. No Worcestershire sauce? Add an extra squirt of ketchup. Want to use plain breadcrumbs instead of panko? Go for it. Only have seasoned Italian breadcrumbs? Use those and reduce the salt a bit.
More hearty ground venison recipes: Easy Venison Chili
Ingredients
For the meatloaf itself:
- 2 lb ground venison
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced very very finely
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½-¾ cup plain panko breadcrumbs (start with ½ cup)
- 2 eggs
- 3-4 tablespoons parsley leaves, very finely minced
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1.5-2 teaspoons salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
For the glaze:
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (OR 1 teaspoon ACV + 1 teaspoon water for a less tangy glaze)
- pinch of salt, onion powder, and garlic powder
- optional: ~1 tablespoon brown sugar (I skip this, but go for it if you like a sweeter glaze)
Equipment
- Bread loaf pan OR
- Baking sheet with parchment paper
- Meat thermometer
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a bread loaf pan with cooking spray OR line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray or oil.
In a large bowl, combine all the meatloaf ingredients. Use your hands to mix well, making sure to distribute the seasonings throughout the venison. If the mixture seems really wet, add up to ¼ cup more panko breadcrumbs to make a total of ¾ cup. I use ¾ cup when I have extra large eggs, otherwise I use ½ cup breadcrumbs.
Transfer the venison mixture to the prepared baking dish or loaf pan and shape into a log. Try to get it to be more wide than flat so it cooks faster.
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
In the meantime, combine all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
After 45 minutes of baking, brush half the glaze on the meatloaf. Continue baking for 15-20 more minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160F (USDA meat temperature chart).
Remove from the oven, brush with remaining glaze, and let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. If you slice it while it's still hot, it will crumble. Slice, serving with your favorite side dishes, such as make-ahead mashed potatoes and garlic roasted broccoli.
Kate's cooking tips
- Try to mince the onion as teeny tiny as you can. Not regular sized ⅓-inch squares of diced onion, but see if you can get them down to less than ¼ inch. If you really don't want to see or feel any onion pieces, you can grate the onion and add that to the venison (discarding any extra juices that dripped out of the onion).
- To cut down on baking time, make 2 separate small loaves and bake at 375F for 30 minutes, then brush with glaze and bake for another 10 minutes, or until fully cooked through in the thickest part in the center.
- This recipe can be halved. Follow the same baking time as the bullet point above for smaller loaves.
- Leftover venison loaf is great in sandwiches, crumbled as a pizza topping, or crumbled into a meaty tomato-based pasta sauce.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Venison Meatloaf with Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground venison
- 1 medium yellow onion diced very very finely
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely minced
- ½-¾ cup plain panko breadcrumbs start with ½ cup
- 2 eggs
- 3-4 tablespoons parsley leaves very finely minced
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1.5-2 teaspoons salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar OR 1 teaspoon ACV + 1 teaspoon water for a less tangy glaze
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch onion powder and garlic powder
- optional: ~1 tablespoon brown sugar I skip this, but go for it if you like a sweeter glaze
Special equipment
- Bread loaf pan OR
- baking sheet with parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (or 375F if making 2 smaller loaves, see notes below). Spray a bread loaf pan with cooking spray OR line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray or oil.
- In a large bowl, combine all the meatloaf ingredients. Use your hands to mix well, making sure to distribute the seasonings throughout the venison. If the mixture seems really wet, add up to ¼ cup more panko breadcrumbs to make a total of ¾ cup. I use ¾ cup when I have extra large eggs, otherwise I use ½ cup breadcrumbs.
- Transfer the venison mixture to the prepared baking dish or loaf pan and shape into a log. Try to get it to be more wide than flat so it cooks faster. Or
- Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. In the meantime, combine all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
- After 45 minutes of baking, brush half the glaze on the meatloaf. Continue baking for 15-20 more minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160F (USDA meat temperature chart).
- Remove from the oven, brush with remaining glaze, and let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Slice, serving with your favorite side dishes.
Notes
- Try to mince the onion as teeny tiny as you can. If you really don't want to see or feel any onion pieces in your meatloaf, you can grate the onion and add that to the venison (discarding any extra juices that dripped out of the onion).
- To cut down on baking time, you can make 2 separate small loaves and bake at 375F for 30 minutes, then brush with glaze and bake for another 10 minutes or until cooked through in the center.
- This recipe can be halved. Follow the same baking time as the bullet point above for smaller loaves.
- Leftover venison loaf is great in sandwiches, crumbled as a pizza topping, or crumbled into a meaty tomato-based pasta sauce.