If you are a fan of venison, you need to whip up this Venison Chili with zucchini.
This ground venison chili is loaded with flavor, chili beans, tomatoes, and zucchini in every bite.
Warm-up on a cold day, and save the leftovers to meal prep for a few days or stock your freezer!
Venison Chili
Top your chili with your favorite topping! Green onions, a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt, etc. Grab that spoon and dive in! This is a hearty and filling kind of meal.
Ingredients
- Ground Venison
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Canned Chili Beans
- Spices and Seasonings
- Onion and Garlic
What is the best secret ingredient for chili?
Did you know that zucchini is considered a secret ingredient for chili?
It is one ingredient that will completely transform this comfort food to a whole new level.
The venison, beans, and tomatoes all brings out tons of flavor in all the ingredients.
Now, if you don’t have zucchini you can make without, or even swap for yellow squash if you would like.
Ways To Top Venison Chili
- Tortilla Chips
- Saltines or Oyster Crackers
- Cinnamon Rolls (dip in the chili)
- Splash of pickle juice into chili
- Shredded Cheese
- Avocado slices
- Jalapeno slices
- Mustard (my personal fave!)
How to Make Ground Venison Chili
Ground venison is great made into chili, and the chopped zucchini adds tons of flavor to the dish.
Step 1: Chop up zucchini and onion.
Step 2: Add your venison and onion into the pot and brown it. You want the meat to cook almost but 3/4 the way done.
Step 3: Now you will add in the spices and seasonings, and finish cooking the meat. If you have grease, you can drain it off. Venison is very lean but if they mix with pork or other meat it can create grease.
Step 4-5: Next, add the remaining ingredients into the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce for 30 minutes, or so.
Step 6: Then ladle up and add your favorite chili toppings and enjoy.
Venison is deer meat. You will find that you can get stew meat, ground meat, etc. Venison is a wild game meat, that you can either hunt yourself or buy in a store. If you happen to not have venison, you can use ground beef in replace of.
Venison is Latin for meaning to hunt or pursue. It used to be all wild game was venison and then over the years. Venison was then chosen as the name just for deer meat.
Venison has 50% less fat than traditional ground beef. So, for a red meat you will find venison is a healthier alternative to a classic ground beef. Now, you have to look and see what your venison is mixed with, and take that into account.
Storing Leftover Venison Chili
Fridge
If you have some chili left, store it in the fridge for around three days. Then just reheat and enjoy as you would like. You can warm the chili up in the microwave or opt for a pot on the stove.
Freezer
If you don’t eat all the chili, you can freeze it for up to three months.
Just make sure if you place the chili in a freezer container you leave room for it to expand as it freezes. Otherwise, if you allow it to be too full it can break the lid off your airtight container.
You can also freeze your chili in a freezer bag by laying it flat, and trying to remove as much air as you can.
More Soups To Try
If you love easy homemade soups, you will love these ones too:
Venison Chili with Zucchini Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb ground venison
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 ½ cup water
- 2 cup chopped zucchini
- 1 onion diced
- 15.5 oz can chili beans
- 1 tsp garlic fresh chopped or powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 2 tbsp chili powder
Instructions
- In a large pot, saute onions with venison until ¾ of the way browned.
- Add spices and garlic. Brown venison thoroughly. *if using ground beef, drain grease.
- Add can of chili beans (do not drain).
- Add crushed tomatoes, water, and zucchini.
- Stir ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until zucchini are desired tenderness.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated with ingredients and serving size and may not be accurate. Please always double check with your own nutritional apps as well.
