This is a slow-cooker chili made with ground venison and Italian sausage, simmered for six hours with tomatoes, beans, and a short list of spices including a small hit of cinnamon and dark beer. It’s a practical way to use ground venison if you find the flavor too strong on its own — the sausage and long cook time do real work to mellow it out.
Before you start
The one technique that matters here is browning the meat properly before it goes into the slow cooker. Don’t crowd the pan — cook the ground venison and Italian sausage in batches if needed, and let each batch sit undisturbed for a minute or two so it browns rather than steams. Ground meat releases a lot of moisture, and if you rush this step, you end up boiling it instead. Boiled ground meat turns gray and loose; browned meat has more flavor and a better texture in the finished chili. Use a wooden spoon to break it into small, even pieces as it cooks, and make sure it reaches 160°F (71°C) all the way through before it goes into the slow cooker — a cheap instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out completely.
If something goes sideways
- Chili tastes thin and watery after six hours: Leave the slow cooker lid off for the last 30 minutes. This lets excess liquid evaporate and the chili thickens on its own without adding anything.
- Gamey flavor is still too strong: Stir in a small spoonful of tomato paste and let it cook uncovered for another 15 minutes. The concentrated tomato acid helps cut through the gamey notes that didn’t fully mellow during the cook.
- Beans turned to mush: This usually means the slow cooker ran too hot. Next time, add canned beans in the last 90 minutes rather than at the start — skip the beans entirely for the first part of the cook.
- Chili is too spicy to fix: Stir in a tablespoon of sour cream per serving bowl rather than trying to fix the whole pot — skip adding it to the slow cooker itself, which can cause it to split.
- Meat clumped into large chunks: It wasn’t broken up finely enough during browning. Press the clumps apart with a spoon now and stir well — they’ll soften and separate after another hour on low.
Substitutions that actually work
- Dark beer: A full-flavored beef broth is the best non-alcohol swap. Avoid water — it makes the base taste flat. Chicken broth works in a pinch but gives a lighter result.
- Italian sausage: If you can only find plain pork sausage, add a pinch of fennel seeds and a little red pepper flake to the pan when you brown it. That’s essentially what seasoned Italian sausage brings to the pot. Skip the garnish of shredded cheese on the pot itself — not worth the extra dish — but serve it on the side so people can add their own.
- Ground venison: Ground elk or bison works the same way. If you substitute ground beef, use an 80/20 blend to replace the fat the venison lacks, and expect a milder, less complex result.
- Cinnamon: Don’t skip it and don’t increase it. The 1/8 teaspoon called for is genuinely small — it adds background warmth without tasting like dessert. More than that and it becomes noticeable in the wrong way.
Delicious Venison Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground venison (minced venison)
1 pound Italian sausage (American name for Pork Sausage with Fennel Seeds) - ground
- 1 can tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 can chili beans - mild
1 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Cook venison and sausage in olive oil over medium heat until browned. Add onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes or until tender. Drain. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- In a slow cooker, add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Add meat mixture and combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 2 hours. After cooking, skim off fat. Serve topped with cheddar cheese (or sour cream).
Notes
- Any kind of beer will do, but dark beer is best for this recipe. If you don’t want to add beer, you may substitute chicken broth.
- If you want a little more heat, use hot Italian sausage or add an additional 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
Nutrition
Common questions
Can I use frozen ground venison straight from the freezer?
No — thaw it fully in the refrigerator before browning. Frozen ground meat dropped into a hot pan steams and turns gray instead of browning, and you lose the flavor development that makes this chili worth making.
How do I know when the ground meat is fully cooked during browning?
Use an instant-read thermometer and check that it reads 160°F (71°C) — that’s the safe temperature for ground venison and pork. Visually, fully cooked ground meat will have no pink remaining and the juices in the pan will run clear.
Can I make this on the stovetop instead of a slow cooker?
Yes — after browning the meat and sautéing the aromatics, combine everything in a heavy pot, bring it to a gentle simmer, and cook covered on low heat for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The flavor won’t be quite as deep as the six-hour slow cooker version, but it works well.
If you liked this one
- Wild Venison Mushroom Pies
- Wild Game Stroganoff Reimagined
- Venison Cranberry Holiday Meatballs
- Rustic Game Sausage Pie
