The most flavorful ground venison tacos made in just 20 minutes with a homemade seasoning blend and fresh lime juice! Serve in warm tortillas with a simple avocado lime crema and your favorite toppings for an easy weeknight family dinner.
Tacos are one of my favorite weeknight meals! Piled high with all the toppings and my favorite avocado lime crema, these tacos are extra delicious! One thing I really love about this recipe is that the taco seasoned ground venison is so versatile and can be used to make more than just tacos. Try it with burritos, tostadas, taco salads, taco bowls, or even used to make breakfast tacos or omelettes!
The perfect blend of spices and a touch of acidity from fresh limes and apple cider vinegar help to balance out the rich flavor of venison that is often referred to as gamey. The whole family will love these tacos!
This is a great recipe when you need to get dinner on the table quickly. Even better, it's high in protein and made with fresh and healthy ingredients.
If you're looking for more great ways to use your ground venison, you must give my maple sage venison sausage patties a try! My simple venison chili and easy venison meatloaf are also favorites of mine!
Jump to:
Why you'll love my venison tacos
- Quick & easy. You'll have the most delicious venison tacos on the table in under 30 minutes! The avocado lime crema is also super simple to make in a food processor or blender and whips up in minutes while the meat cooks.
- Homemade seasoning blend. Homemade taco seasoning tastes so much better than store-bought and is made with better-for-you ingredients.
- Made with fresh ingredients. Fresh onion, garlic, and lime juice add lots of bright flavor to the ground venison.
Ingredients Notes
- Yellow onion. I like the sweeter taste of yellow onion, but white or red onion would also work great.
- Ground venison. I make my venison tacos with deer meat, but any ground venison will work!
- Smoked paprika. If you don't have smoked paprika, regular paprika will work.
- Apple cider vinegar. The acidity helps brighten up the flavors while simultaneously helping to tame that strong venison flavor, but you can leave this out if needed.
- Honey. I like the subtle touch of sweetness it adds to balance out the spices, but you can also omit the honey if desired or swap for agave nectar.
- Corn or flour tortillas. Both are great options! It's really a personal preference. If you like flour tortillas, I recommend making your own! If sourdough is your thing, I have the best sourdough discard tortilla recipe for you!
Substitutions & variations
- Tomato sauce. Instead of tomato paste, you can substitute ½ cup of tomato sauce and omit the water.
- Serve with fajita veggies. In a separate skillet, sauté sliced yellow onion and bell peppers with oil until soft.
- Make burritos. Serve the venison taco meat in tortillas with rice and beans!
- Taco bowls. I love a taco bowl! Serve the meat over rice with beans, fajita veggies and your favorite taco toppings. Use tortilla chips for scooping!
Expert Tips
- Add extra olive oil as needed. Because venison is very lean, you may need to add extra oil to the skillet as you're cooking the venison.
- Warm the tortillas. Tacos are always best served with warm tortillas! See Learn more about the different ways to warm tortillas below.
- Make the avocado lime crema. It's incredibly easy to make and so worth it!
Recipe FAQs
Compared to beef, venison is lower in fat, higher in protein and has more essential nutrients like iron and B vitamins.
Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano are a must when it comes to making the most flavorful ground venison taco meat.
Gamey is often used to describe the bold, rich flavors of venison meat when compared to commercially raised beef. Even if you aren't a big fan of those unfamiliar flavors, I strongly believe that you'll still love these venison tacos!
My homemade taco seasoning blend combined with acid from lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and tomato paste work together to brighten up the flavor of the venison, making it taste less gamey.
How to warm tortilla shells
You can use these methods for both corn and flour tortillas.
- Open flame on gas stove. Turn the burner on to medium-low heat or adjust the heat so that the flame is just smaller than your tortillas. Lay a tortilla over the open flame until it's lightly charred (keep a close on because it happens fast), then flip using tongs and char the other side.
- Skillet. Heat each tortilla in a skillet (no oil needed) until warm, about 20-30 seconds per side.
- Oven. Wrap a few tortillas in aluminum foil and place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Microwave. Place a few tortillas between damp paper towels on a plate and microwave in 30 second increments until warm.
To keep the tortillas warm, lay the warm tortillas between damp paper towels on a plate and cover with a lid.
Make ahead
Venison taco meat is a great make ahead option for meal prep. Cook and season the meat following the directions in the recipe card, then store in the fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 days before reheating and enjoying with your favorite toppings.
My deer chili and deer meatloaf are also great make ahead weeknight dinners!
Storing and reheating
Refrigerator
Store taco meat in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Freezer Instructions
Store taco meat in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating Instructions
If the meat is frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stove in a skillet until warm, adding a little oil, broth or water if needed. You can also reheat in the microwave.
More venison recipes you'll love
Did you try this recipe?
I'd love to hear from you! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and comment below. I appreciate your helpful feedback! Follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest for more delicious recipes!
Thanks so much! - Rachel
Ground Venison Tacos with Avocado Lime Crema
Equipment
Ingredients
Venison Tacos
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion finely diced
- 1 pound ground venison
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika or regular smoked
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 lime juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ½ cup water
Avocado Lime Crema
- 2 small avocados
- ¼ cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 4-5 pickled jalapeno slices
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
For serving
- Corn or flour tortillas
- Quick pickled red onion
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Lettuce
- Cilantro
- Salsa
Instructions
Venison Tacos
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the ground venison and cook until browned, about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, make the avocado lime crema.
- Once the meat is browned, add in the garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, honey and water. Mix and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Continue cooking for another minute until everything comes together.
- Serve the ground venison in warmed tortillas with avocado lime crema and your favorite toppings.
Avocado Lime Crema
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
- Yellow onion. White or red onion would also work great.
- Smoked paprika. If you don't have smoked paprika, regular paprika will work.
- Apple cider vinegar. The acidity helps brighten up the flavors while simultaneously helping to tame that strong venison flavor, but you can leave this out if needed.
- Honey. I like the subtle touch of sweetness it adds to balance out the spices, but you can also omit the honey if desired or swap for agave nectar.
- Tomato sauce. Instead of tomato paste, you can substitute ½ cup of tomato sauce and omit the water.
- Open flame on gas stove. Turn the burner on to medium-low heat or adjust the heat so that the flame is just smaller than your tortillas. Lay a tortilla over the open flame until it's lightly charred (keep a close on because it happens fast), then flip using tongs and char the other side.
- Skillet. Heat each tortilla in a skillet (no oil needed) until warm, about 20-30 seconds per side.
- Oven. Wrap a few tortillas in aluminum foil and place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Microwave. Place a few tortillas between damp paper towels on a plate and microwave in 30 second increments until warm.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated by a third party software and is only an estimate, not a guarantee. This information is provided as a courtesy, and you are solely responsible for all decisions related to your health.
Alison Gremillion says
This recipe was unbelievable!!!! I used cottage cheese in the avocado sauce and it was to die for!!!! Siete tortillas on the stove with a little cheese.
Rachel Kochlin says
Alison, your review made my day!! Thanks for cooking along with me! I hope you give more of my venison recipes a try. P.S. I also love Siete tortillas - always stocking up when I make a Costco run!
KT says
Just made these (only modification was no pickled jalapeños) and oh man, some of the best tacos we’ve made!!!! Thank you SO much—this is definitely going in our regular rotation! YUM!
Modern Farmhouse Eats says
KT, that is the nicest compliment!! ☺️ Thank you so much for giving my recipe a try and leaving a review! I hope you give my other venison recipes a try!
Hillary says
I tried this last night and it became an instant favorite! I made the avacado creama (delightful) and the pickled onions several hours before dinner. These really added a "pop" to the dish. The meat itself was so good, though. I had it for lunch today over a Saad (no crema) with ranch. It was so good. We will deifnitely be doing this again!
Modern Farmhouse Eats says
Hillary, thank you so much for leaving a review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the recipe!!