Smoky Moose Meat Skillet Dinner
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Smoky Moose meat skillet dinner with wine sauce is delicious. This easy to make game recipe has lots of staying power. A high protein dinner that’s low in carbs.
Healthy ground Moose meat and bacon are simmered together with vegetables, black beans, cheese and seasonings in a unique wine sauce. Add smoked provolone cheese and asparagus spears on top for a delicious and easy Moose meat recipe.
This is an easy skillet recipe, perfect for a quick weeknight meal. Moose meat is a very lean and healthy meat to cook with.
Is Ground Moose Meat Good?
Ground moose meat is a very lean meat that has a stronger flavor. Ground moose meat is a healthy and low fat alternative to ground beef. This ground meat can be dressed up in many different dishes. The skillet dinner provides other flavors that pair well with the strong moose meat taste. Change up the spices and filling to fit your dietary and taste needs.
How do you Cook Ground Moose Meat?
Moose meat can be cooked just like ground beef, turkey, or chicken. Simply heat the skillet with some oil or butter in it. Place the ground moose meat in the skillet and cook until browned. Keep a close eye on the meat. Meats that are leaner will become tough quickly when overcooked. Cook the moose meat until it is evenly browned all over.
Adding an additional fat into the pot (like bacon grease) can help get the meat properly browned without burning it. Consider adding in another fat source during the browning process (sausage grease works great too). If you choose not to add an additional fat to the skillet, watch the meat very closely while browning it.
What does Ground Moose taste like?
Ground moose has a very strong flavor profile when compared to milder ground meat like beef. Ground moose can have a gamey flavor much like wild caught venison. The flavor for the ground moose is often described as sharp or strong. Cooking this meat with other strong and complimenting flavors can help tone down the gamey flavor.
What Spices go with Moose Meat?
Moose meat is an intensely flavored meat that does well when properly seasoned with herbs and spices. Here are a few of our favorite seasonings and spices that pair great with ground moose meat:
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Salt
- Cracked Black Pepper
- Brown Sugar
- Dried Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
- Parsley
- Smoked Paprika
- Bay Leaves
- Chili Powder
- Montreal Steak Seasoning
More Game Recipes:
For Christmas my brother gave me Moose meat and a great story. He always has a good story. So I listened to him tell the dramatic tale of the enormous black Moose his hunting party bagged last Fall on the very last day of the hunt.
I learned from my daughter in law, Heather, how much a wine sauce can improve a skillet dinner. Her Wild Pheasant in mushrooms and wine sauce recipe is amazing if you need a pheasant recipe. I decided to use a wine sauce for this Moose meat game recipe too. But Its Moose hamburger so it deserves a smoky cowboy flair. So this wine sauce is smoky sweet and intensely flavorful.
Ground meat skillet dinners should be easy. I’m not into complex recipes. At all. The wine sauce is SO simple you will not mind making it. And the outcome in SO worth it!
Bacon is a good recipe partner to ground moose meat. Moose is EXTREMELY lean and high in protein. This makes it hard to brown without burning. Adding fat is necessary. And bacon tastes wonderful with it.
According to LawrenceBay.com These are Moose meat health benefits: All Great reasons to eat Moose!
- 102 calories per 100 grams of meat
- moose meat delivers 22 grams of protein.
- ZERO carbohydrates.
- It offers your body niacin and riboflavin, helping it make red blood cells as well as metabolize foods.
- Moose meat is extremely low in saturated fat, with less than 0.5 grams per 100-gram serving. Because of this, moose is better than Beef steak, especially for people who worry about their cholesterol.
- A typical serving of moose meat contains 59 mg of cholesterol, and adults, in general, shouldn’t have more than 300mg of cholesterol per day, so a couple of moose meat servings a day is a good thing.
- Moose meat is rich in minerals, including selenium, iron and zinc.”
So add that bacon. The healthy Moose meat makes up for it :). If you are eating keto or low carb this recipe can easily be adjusted for you. Use a sugar free sweetener or reduce the wine by 1/2 cup.
This is one of those REALLY tough to photograph recipes. I tried several shots. You need to know it’s WAY better than you are seeing here.
Your kitchen will smell wonderful and the family will LOVE this recipe. But… it just looks like a regular old hamburger dinner with some asparagus on it. This recipe is so much more than that. Hamburger helper get behind me. This is a stellar sustaining dining experience.
Moose meat is surprisingly similar in flavor to grass fed beef or Bison. (One our readers, Kenali, suggested Bison for this recipe. Thank you Kenali!) I used seasonings I felt would go well with beef and they worked perfectly with Moose too. If you use grass fed beef in this recipe. Reduce the bacon by half. You won’t need so much fat to cook it.
The asparagus is from our garden. That’s how it wandered into this meal. And it needs to stay. Those fresh asparagus tips are steamed right on top of the skillet dinner. Their flavor is one more necessary part of this whole. We really enjoyed those whole steamed asparagus spears cooked right into the melting smoked provolone.
You could use a very thinly cut moose steak (Or thinly sliced cooked roast) in this recipe if you have no hamburger. But mind that your meat is tender. That’s the real advantage of the ground Moose meat. Ground meat is easy and quick.
Smoky Moose Meat Skillet Dinner with Wine Sauce Recipe:
If I ever get to make this meal again I will thicken the wine sauce. That’s why I gave you optional directions to do that. As you can see the sauce is very thin. It tasted divine but the whole meal would have looked more together if the sauce had a bit of cornstarch cooked into it. I’m out of cornstarch just now. I almost called this dinner a stew. But it really is a Smoky Moose Meat Skillet Dinner. That’s its name and I’m sticking to it.
Instructions:
- Set a large skillet on medium heat. Add the bacon.
- When bacon is about half done (stir it until the bacon fat begins to get transparent and liquid forms in the pan.) Add the ground moose burger, onion and garlic.
- Sprinkle the Montreal steak Seasoning on and stir until the moose meat is thoroughly broke apart.
- When the meat is cooked add the remaining vegetables and beans and stir. Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
For the wine sauce:
- Set a one quart pot on high heat and pour in the wine and worcestershire sauce.
- Boil the sauce until it is reduced by half (about 10 minutes). Add the brown sugar and butter and continue to boil until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the wine sauce into the skillet, Stir to combine.
IF YOU ARE THICKENING THE SAUCE: Increase the skillet heat to medium high. Whisk together the cornstarch and water and pour it into the skillet stirring constantly at a boil. Continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and then reduce skillet heat to simmer.
To finish the dinner:
Add the provolone slices and asparagus spears on top. Continue to simmer 10 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked to your preference and the cheese is melted
Your Printable Recipe:
Smoky Moose Skillet Dinner
An easy dinner with an AMAZING flavor profile. Ground moose meat, bacon, smoked provolone cheese, a wine sauce and Asparagus spears steamed on top make this unique dinner worth hunting for. If you have ground Moose meat this is a wonderful way to enjoy it.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Moose Meat, Could substitute thin sliced steak
- 8 slices natural smoked bacon, We use Hemplers Brand.
- 1 Tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 large garlic scapes, diced all the way up the stem
- 1 14 oz. can black Beans, undrained
- 5 mini sweet peppers (Or I large sweet bell pepper), chopped small
- 4 slices (rounds) smoked provolone cheese
- 5 large prepared asparagus spears , break the hard ends off to prepare
For the Wine Sauce
- 1 1/2 Cup White wine, any you prefer
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch mixed with equal amount water, Optional for thickening
Instructions
- Set a large Skillet on medium heat. Add the bacon.
- When bacon is about half done(stir it until the bacon fat begins to get transparent and liquid forms in the pan.) Add the ground moose burger, onion and garlic.
- Sprinkle the Montreal steak Seasoning on and stir until the moose meat is thoroughly broke apart.
- When the meat is cooked add the remaining vegetables and beans and stir. Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
For the wine sauce:
- Set a one quart pot on high heat and pour in the wine and worcestershire sauce.
- Boil the sauce until it is reduced by half. Add the brown sugar and butter and continue to boil until the sugar is dissolved. (a few minutes)
- Pour the wine sauce into the skillet, Stir to combine.
- IF YOU ARE THICKENING THE SAUCE: Increase the skillet heat to medium high. Whisk together the cornstarch and water and pour it into the skillet stirring constantly at a boil. Continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and then reduce skillet heat to simmer.
- Add the provolone slices and asparagus spears on top. Continue to simmer 10 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked to your preference and the cheese is melted. Serve.
Notes
Note:
You can also thicken in the wine sauce pot before adding to the skillet if you prefer. Just whisk the cornstarch mixture into the wine sauce and whisk at a boil until it thickens to your preference. Remove from heat and pour into the skillet. Now stir it together with the skillet liquids and let it all merge together at simmer.
You may substitute tender cooked leftover Moose steak for the hamburger.
You may also substitute either Bison or grass fed beef for the ground Moose.
Nutrition Information
Yield
7Serving Size
2 cupsAmount Per Serving Calories 393
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We eat a lot of moose in Alaska. I’m always looking for new ways to prepare the meat that doesn’t completely mask the flavor. This was a huge hit and the recipe was requested by numerous people! I used bacon ends and pieces, 2 cans of tri-blend beans (its what I had) and 2 tsp steak seasoning. I also added 1 1/2 tsp ground jalapeno powder (peppers from my garden) and 1 tsp smoked paprika (as suggested in comments too). I took another commentor’s suggestion and reduced the wine to 1 cup and mixed the cornstarch into the sauce before adding to meat mixture in pan. I left out the provolone and the asparagus but that was a personal preference.
Everyone enjoyed it so much I had to make it again a couple days later!
Hi Michelle, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with this dish. We are delighted you and your loved ones enjoyed it. And THANKS so much for sharing how you made it works best for you. We love all these ideas. Have a wonderful day!
I made this on the weekend and boy, did we like it! Its a keeper.
I used smoked cheddar for the cheese, and added a little smoked paprika.
Thank you!
Hi Steacy, Thanks for the great review. I love the smoked cheddar idea. Have a wonderful day!
I made this tonight (first time making moose) and it was so good I had to leave a review. I did make a few substitutions as I didn’t have asparagus on hand so I added mushrooms with the onions. I left out the beans but turned it into a shepherd’s pie by putting some mashed potatoes on top with the cheese, and added some fried onions and baked it at 400 for 30 minutes. I think mashed sweet potatoes would be fabulous too. Thank you for a great recipe. Every bite was comfort for my belly!
Hi Rebecca, I’m so glad you enjoyed this Moose recipe. And I LOVE your tweaks. Thanks so much for the great review and ingenious tips.
Happy Holidays!
Just brought home some ground moose meat from our trip to Alaska. We enjoyed this recipe but since I noted it seemed like a chili and my husband can’t eat beans I made the recipe Without them. The number of servings was reduced to three. We added more asparagus, about 1/2 lb. I don’t use sugar or cornstarch so I started with 1cup of wine and reduced it to 1/2 cup with butter. This made the dish very rich in flavor but not at all soupy.
Hi Marcia, Your version of this recipe sounds marvelous! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and adjustments. Home cooking at it’s best. Have a great day!
My son’s friend is a chef and gave him 1 1/2 pounds of ground moose and he passed it on to us. (mom & dad) I had no idea what to do with it and went looking for a good recipe and ideas for a meal, this one looked good to make since I only had to buy the smoked provolone cheese. It is indeed a yummy recipe and came out very good, thanks for sharing it. Very good instructions as we do prefer a thicker sauce and had the cornstarch sitting on the ready. Overall I would call this a chili recipe and plan to definitely make it again. Ground moose is not something that one can buy or get like a loaf of bread, so I do like the noted Bison and grass fed beef as options to use also. I’m a little late to this party/post but had to post how yummy this was.
Thank you so much Gary for the Great review. I’m so happy to know the recipe worked well for you. Have a great weekend!
Love this!! I made this last night and the house still smells amazing! Due to available ingredients, I substituted with maple bacon (5 slices instead of 8) and removed them from the pan so they stayed crispy. I couldn’t find smoked provolone so I used smoked gouda. Will definitely make again!
Hi Breanna, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with this recipe for us. I love your substitution ideas. It’s so helpful to others to get comments like this. Have a great day!
This dinner was delicious! I will make it again.
My only complaint is the format of this posting. I needed to scroll through about ten screens of photos and interesting but inessential information before I could access the actual recipe. This is a common problem with online recipes, and has become a pet peeve with me.. Why not put the ingredients and method first, and the add in the photos and other commentaries for those who want to read them?
Hi Barbara, I’m delighted you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to rate it and leave your opinion on this post and saying you found it interesting but you did not enjoy the actual format. We learn from comments like these.
Barbara – I concur with your complaint about finding the recipe. This is a format that the internet recipe’s have adapted and it’s simply one of those things you will likely have to adapt to. Adapting is not so difficult. To get right to the action, hit CTRL F on your computer and start to type the word ingredients. You may have to click a couple of times, but that pretty much takes you to the place you want to be, It lists the ingredients then immediately after you have the directions. This old dog simply had to learn a new trick. Wonderful job Diane. My neighbour gave me some Moose meat and I am looking forward to experimenting with it. I rarely read all the details in these type of recipe formats, however since I am new to Moose and I have heard the nuances can make all the difference, I thoroughly enjoyed reading every detail in this recipe. I look forward to making it and I am certain it will be a success.
Hi Ted, Thank you so much. We have recently installed a “jump to the recipe” button for our readers. It’s at the top of the post before the first paragraph for those that just want the recipe. 🙂
Moose meat is SO good. It’s very similar to beef but has almost no fat so it does take a bit of tweaking in the recipe. Take a Look at our Cabbage rolls recipe too. My sister in law made the meat filling by mixing ground moose and beef. Hope this helps. Have a wonderful day!
This is delicious! I made this a couple months ago and am making it again tomorrow because my brother is visiting and I know that he will love it just as much as we did!
We are so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for stopping by to let us know. Happy Holidays!
This turned out awesome. I used a little smoked paprika to add a little more smokey taste!. My brother in law went up on a moose hunt in Alaska, and brought some back.. Thanks again
Hi Ray,
I’m so happy you enjoyed this moose meat recipe. We LOVE Moose and are always looking for ways to enjoy it.Thanks for sharing the smoked Paprika tip! You made my day with your comment. Happy Holidays!