Deer neck roast is surprisingly tasty and tender when cooked in a crockpot. Sprinkled with herbs, dotted with butter, cooked low and slow… this recipe is a wonderful way to use up a deer neck. There is a lot of meat on a neck – don’t just let it go to waste! It make a good meal for a family, or you can freeze it in smaller portions for later.
How to Make Deer Neck Roast
First, let the venison marinate overnight, or at least several hours. This gives it such a good flavor. I mixed up a simple marinade and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.
Next, heat a skillet to high, add oil and sear both sides till well browned. Slice an onion and place in the bottom of a crockpot.
Place the deer neck roast on top of the onions. If your roast is too long, you may have to cut it in half. Alternately, you can roast it in the oven instead of the crockpot.
I like to crush garlic with a meat mallet! Super easy to smash the clove a bit, and the peelings come right off.
Sprinkle seasonings on the meat, carefully place garlic and butter over top, then pour liquids around the sides. Cover and cook on high for 8 hours.
After 8 hours, the meat should pull off easily with a fork. Carefully lift the venison neck roast out of the slow cooker and place on a cutting board or baking sheet. Cut across the grain several times, then pull meat off with a fork.
What to serve with deer neck roast
Place all meat back into the juices in the crockpot, and stir. Serve over hot noodles or mashed potatoes. You could pile it on rolls for a French dip, or tuck into tacos.
Deer Neck Roast
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup worchestershire sauce
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
For the Roast
- 1 deer neck roast
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 1 onion sliced
- 6 cloves garlic diced
- 1 cup beef broth or chicken broth
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- ¼ teaspoon rosemary
Instructions
- Mix marinade ingredients together in large pan and place meat into the marinade, turning to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 4-12 hours. Can flip meat to other side once during marinade time if desired.
- Slice onion and place in bottom of crockpot.
- Heat oil in heavy skillet, and sear roast on both sides till well browned. Place roast on top of onion.
- Sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and cayenne on top of the roast.
- Dice garlic and place carefully on top of the meat. Arrange sliced butter over top of the garlic, and pour the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and broth into the crockpot.
- Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 8 hours. Remove from crockpot and cut against the grain several times. Shred with a fork and place back into the juice. Stir and serve over noodles or potatoes.
Notes
Nutrition
It is the end of our deer season in Wisconsin and we just got our deer all cut up and packaged yesterday . So I thought I’d make one of the neck roasts my husband wanted done. Wasn’t to excited about it but googled how to make a venison neck roast. This one came up about 6th boy I’m glad I picked this one. Haven’t used balsamic vinegar before. My husband loved it! Even my 3 yr old granddaughter said i smell garlic, are we having spaghetti? I even ate it it was awesome. Didn’t do the marinade it was too late, but did the rest but cooked it in oven at 325 for 2.5 hrs. Thank you will use again .my son stopped by and he had a reg venison roast in his oven he said his was very tender also but didn’t have the great flavor mine did. Thank you!
Oh that’s great! Thank you so much for the review! I also just loved the flavor in this recipe.
I am very excited to try this recipe, sounds delicious! I am clarifying though that the crock pot is set on High and not Low correct? I always think when I hear low and slow regarding cooking something in the crockpot that it would be the low cooking setting ? Could just be the way my brain works!
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!!
Yes! Cook on the high setting. The high setting on a crockpot is typically 300 degrees, so it is still considered “low and slow”. 🙂
Wow…Thank you for sharing this recipe as it is delicious!! We followed the recipe with the exception of…. we cooked our 1.5 lb neck roast on low for 7 hours and it turned out perfect. We will definitely be making this again!
I fixed this yesterday and while at work my daughter texted and said it smelled heavenly. I got home shredded it up it is by far the best deer meat meal I have ever tasted. Thanks for the great recipe.
You are very welcome! I agree – I think it’s the best way I have eaten deer meat!
I have not cooked this but have a question. Are you really cooking this on high?. I can see low for this time but high? Please confirm?
I know it seems a long time for high temp, but yes, I cook it on high for 8 hours.
I apologize if this is a dumb question, but did you cook your neck roast with the bone in or bone out?
I cooked it with the bone in. Either way would work!
I know it’s been questioned multiple times but I find it very hard to believe it was on the high setting for 8 hours. I can’t put anything in my crock pot on high for 8 hours without it ending up like charcoal, let alone a piece of meat that isn’t very fatty. It had to be on low.
Time and temperature can very depending on your altitude, type of crockpot, and more. Yes, I cooked mine on high for 8 hours, but you can certainly try it on low and see if it is long enough. Let me know!
Absolutely loved it! Whole family felt the same. I could never have trimmed a neck this well, bones came out clean. I venture to say this may be my new favorite wild game recipe and for sure favorite way to prepare venison, even above the ole staple, chicken fried blackstrap. Just wish deer had 2 necks!
Thank you for the review! I feel the same way… Favorite recipe!
I have eaten deer neck roasted in the crockpot many times, but never cared for the flavor so much. This recipe was great!The garlic, herbs and butter went beautifully with the neck meat. Everything was fall apart tender. (I cooked mine for 12 hours because the neck I used was so huge, I could barely get the lid on my crockpot…. Part of that time was on high to get everything cooking, then I finished on low.) I didn’t bother marinating ahead, but flavor was still very rich. It made fantastic gravy! Thanks for the great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the review and comments!