Cream Cheese Stuffed Venison Backstrap

Cream Cheese Stuffed Venison Backstrap is an easy way to elevate wild game to gourmet status. Made on the grill, it is a perfect summer meal that won't heat up the house. It's also a great way to use up that delicious elk loin that you have been saving!

I am using a piece of elk loin that I harvested last fall. I typically hunt cow elk, because it is relatively easy to find a rancher who allows hunters to harvest cows. The elk do a lot of damage to fences and haystacks, and I like the mild-flavored meat, so it is a win-win! Click here for the story behind this chunk of meat.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Venison Backstrap

I use a 12-18 inch long section of a deer or elk backstrap (loin). Lay it on a clean surface and. using a sharp knife, slice lengthwise but not cutting quite all the way through. You are wanting to butterfly the backstrap. 

Next, make several more slits down the length of the backstrap - not quite all the way through. This will allow you to use a mallet to flatten the meat to approximately the same thickness. 

You can see that I did accidentally cut too deep a few places, and actually made sone slits. It still works, don't panic! But you will see later that it does allow filling to leak out when you are cooking it. So try do do better than I did! Haha!

Then, place cream cheese, green chile sauce, and cheddar into a bowl and stir together. I like the 505 Southwestern Green Chile sauce, but you can use whatever green chile sauce you like. You could even use diced green chiles and it would work great.

Set the filling aside for a minute while you get your grill started and heated up. When the grill is hot (350-400) lay your venison backstrap on the grill just to sear one side quickly. This site is optional, but I prefer my meat grilled on both sides, so I sear one side very quickly, then take the meat and lay it - grilled side up - onto a cutting board to stuff it. 

Spread the filling down the middle of the backstrap, keeping in mind that you want to spread it on the seared side, leaving the raw side on the bottom. I don't spread it quite all the way to the ends. Then using kitchen twine, Roll it up and tie twine around it at 2 inch intervals, or however close you want it. Knot it tightly and place back on the grill.

I tie the ends down tightly to keep the cream cheese filling inside as much as possible. 

You can see where I made a few cuts too deep and the cream cheese filling is leaking out. You can also "pin" it together with toothpicks, which I have done several times and it works surprisingly well. You can use toothpicks for closing holes, or in place of kitchen twine. 

Stick your meat thermometer carefully into the meat section of the backstrap. When it reads 140, remove the venison backstrap from the grill and let it rest for at least 5 minutes on a cutting board, covered with foil to hold in heat. Some recommend a resting time of 10 minutes, but then the meat is cooled down too much for me, so I stick with 5 minutes. 

When you are ready to slice it, take a scissors and snip off the twine, or remove toothpicks, if you've used those instead. Use a very sharp knife to slice the cream cheese stuffed venison backstrap into thick slices. Serve and enjoy!