Best Venison Marinade: "Super Juice"

Recipe by Jeremiah Doughty

When it’s deer-hunting season, it’s easy to find yourself with various cuts of meat that you’re not sure what to do with. Fortunately, when working with gamey cuts like deer meat, there are several options. This one is a favorite of mine and works as the best venison marinade you’re going to find with super-simple ingredients that most people have on hand.

How to Make Wild Game “Super Juice”

This “Super Juice” marinade recipe has become one of our household staples, and it’s also become quite popular in other parts of the United States and around the world. Not long ago, I got a message from a family in the UK who told me it’s their go-to marinade for wild game like rabbits.

In my house, we only grocery shop once a week. About seven years ago, my eldest daughter asked that I make pronghorn venison steaks but with a new, flavorful twist. I went to my pantry and realized that we didn’t have much because we already completed that week’s shopping.

Rather than freak out, I just grabbed some of the ingredients we had that morning and threw them all together into a venison marinade. I combined them with some venison tenderloin and pronghorn steaks and let them marinate. After a long day, I grabbed them from the fridge, drained the marinade, and popped them on the grill on high heat.

After cooking the venison, I placed the steaks on the table, and they looked and smelled absolutely amazing. We started to chow down, and everyone was blown away by the flavor of the steaks. Not only were the flavors amazing, but they were also very tender. Upon consideration, I realized that it was the soy sauce that provided the right enzymes to help break down the meat as it was marinating. This helped tenderize the meat, so I decided to write this recipe down for when I have more cuts of venison.

Fast forward another two weeks, and my girls asked me to make the “Super Juice” again. I had no idea what they were referring to, but they explained that it was the marinade that I made a few weeks back. They said it was the best venison they'd ever had, and a new family staple recipe was born.

This is now my go-to recipe for all wild game. You can use several cuts of venison for this, including backstrap and tenderloin. You can also easily incorporate it when cooking wild poultry, like duck. Remember, deer are best prepared medium-rare, so this adds a flavor profile that enhances this cut of meat.

Wild Game Marinade "Super Juice" 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

• 1 tablespoon cracked pepper

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon rosemary

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over your favorite cut of meat.

2. Allow the meat to marinate for four to 24 hours. Then, remove the meat from the marinade and cook however you see fit.

3. Enjoy.

A Truly Versatile Recipe

As venison recipes go, this isn’t complicated and requires ingredients most of us have around the house. It even works as a great stand-alone flavor, but it’s also one of the best venison recipes when combined with additional flavors. The best part? It doesn’t require expensive ingredients or complicated preparation.

This recipe doesn’t even have to be grilled; friends have pan-fried it in olive oil, and they added different herbs, spices, pepper, and incredible ingredients to help make it their own. I’ve also been told that it pairs really well with red wine. Give the recipe a try; enjoy the simplicity of the flavors, and let me know your thoughts. Tell me how it turned out. Thanks for all you folks do and for always supporting me.