This Instant Pot Venison Steak is tender, juicy, and mixed with sweet, flavorful onions & peppers! It's easy to make and so delicious.
What is Venison?
If you have a hunter in the house, then you are probably aware that venison is deer meat. But did you know that it is actually the name given to a group of larger, wild game that also includes antelope, bison, caribou, and elk? Yep!
Why is Venison Healthy?
Venison is a red meat, however it is very lean and much lower in saturated fat and calories than beef. It is an excellent source of protein, iron, and B vitamins.
I think it's important to know that the meat you are eating is natural and organic with no added hormones or antibiotics. I also feel it is more humane that these animals led a free range roaming life and did not suffer any abuse, confinement, or neglect.
What you will need
- Venison
- Bell Peppers
- Onion
- Beef Broth
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Olive Oil
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Cayenne Powder
- Salt
- Black Pepper
How to make Venison Steak in the Instant Pot
First, slice the venison, onion, and peppers. Next, season the meat with the spices and then set your Instant Pot to saute on high. Add the oil and venison, and cook for 5 minutes or until browned.
Next, you will mix in your broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Top it off with all of those scrumptious onion and peppers!
When it comes to bell peppers, I prefer to use a rainbow of colors. They are super healthy and packed full of carotenoids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals! In fact, one serving of my Venison Steak with Onions & Peppers will provide you with over 100% of your daily requirement for vitamin C!
Now it's time to cook! Lock the lid into place and seal the vent. Set to pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. (It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to pressurize before the cooking process starts.)
After the cooking cycle has finished, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release by moving the valve to the vent position. Once the float valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
So Good!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Leave a comment below. I love to hear from my readers! 🙂
Here are a couple of my other Instant Pot recipes that you are sure to love:
Instant Pot Venison Steak with Onions & Peppers
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Venison Steak sliced
- 4 Bell Peppers sliced
- 1 Onion sliced
- 1 ½ cups Beef Broth
- 2 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Cut the venison, onion, and peppers into slices.
- Mix the onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper together and season the meat.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute on high. Once ready, add the oil and venison. Cook for 5 minutes or until browned.
- Mix in the broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any browned bits. This will add more flavor!
- Add the onions and peppers.
- Lock the lid into place and seal the vent. Set to pressure cook on high for 15 minutes.
- Once finished, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release by moving the valve to the vent position. Once the float valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
This looks like a delicious meal. I'm not an onion person but they actually look really delicious in this recipe.
My husband doesn’t care for them either, but I usually sneak some in. You could add mushrooms too!
You’ll love it, Biana! 😊
This looks amazing! I think venison this way would be so delicious!!
It's so good! Thanks for stopping by, Emily. 🙂
Wow I had no idea that venison does not actually refer to just deer?! Good to know! Delicious recipe, by the way!
Glad you enjoyed it, Emmeline! Love your name btw. 🙂
I love Venison steak. The bell pepper really make the steak delicious.
Yes, so good with onions and peppers!
I love venison, its a beautifully flavoured meat and leaner than beef, usually. We have a venison centre about 45 minutes drive from us!
Well THAT'S convenient! 🙂
Venison is so delicious and I just love your twist. It just sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing.
It is most definitely delicious! 🙂
This looks great! Sharing with my son, the hunter 🙂
Thanks for sharing the recipe along, Sula!
It's been ages since I've tasted venison. I'm going to see if I can find any online and give your recipe a try, it looks ah-mazing!
Thanks Chef Dennis!
I am thinking about getting an instant pot....yes, I don't have one, don't judge! LOL! Recipe looks so good!
You must get one! You will not regret it!! 😀
The InstantPot is a very versatile piece of equipment. Always had a pressure cooker and when my manual one finally bit the dirt ( changed gasket a lot in 30 years.. ) I decided to try since the Q had a very good buy... making the venison now and the smell is driving me crazy .. good smell... will be having a taste very soon.
Very tender but could use more seasoning but a keeper
Thanks for the feedback! Feel free to double up on the spices if needed.
I absolutely love that you can make this in the Instant Pot. It makes my life that much easier while still having a delicious tasting meal.
Love my Instant Pot!
In Canada's north, venison is an important part of our diet and will last in the freezer for the long winter season. This is a very handy recipe to have on hand.
Same here Michele. My husband harvested three deer this season, so we will be eating a lot of it! 🙂
Great recipe! Just upped the worcester sauce, tomato puree and salt a tad.
Glad you enjoyed it, Julie! 😊
What if my venison is frozen??
I would thaw the meat out first, as it should be cut into strips.
Could this be frozen after it's cooked? I think I"d like the convenience of having it ready to heat and eat.
I've never frozen this dish myself, but you could definitely give it a try. My only concern is that the onions and peppers might become mushy when reheated. Worth a try though. Let me know how you make out! 🙂
I want to half this recipe because I don’t know if it will freeze will. Does that change the cook time.
Hi Nancy! Great question. I don’t believe the cooking time would change any. If anything, the Instant Pot should take less time to pressurize. 😊
We have a freezer full of venison, so I'm always looking for new recipes. Unfortunately I don't have an insta pot. Would it work just cooking on the stove top? Or maybe in a crockpot?
Yes, absolutely - just extend the cooking time until the meat is tender! 😊
Can I do this with a venison roast instead of steak?
You could could adjust the cooking time for a roast. I would just add the onions and peppers back in at the end, so they don't end up being too mushy.
Can this be made any other way than in an instant pot?
You could absolutely make this on the stove-top or in a slow-cooker; it would just need to simmer for several hours to make it nice and tender!
Googled Elk Backstrap in instant pot and your recipe came up! Making it now yum! This recipe is definitely a keeper ! Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it, Debra! 😊
Love it. It has become a regular for me.
Glad you love it! Thanks for sharing! 😊
Added some jalapeños to give it some spice to it. Fantastic way to cook venison!
Oh my goodness this was so good! I do not have an instant pot, so I just made this in a skillet on the stove. I browned the deer meat and then set it aside because I am always EXTRA cautious about not overcooking the deer! I sautéd the peppers and onions and then added the sauce mixture until it was cooked to my liking. I added just a tad of a cornstarch slurry to the sauce to thicken it and then tossed the deer meat back in at the end to coat it in the sauce. I served it… Read more »
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Excellent recipe on its own!
I changed it up into an Asian/American fusion. I browned the seasoned venison, added four cups beef broth and a few tablespoons soy sauce. Set the instant pot for 15 minutes. I stir fried (in a wok) tri-color peppers, onions and broccoli until al dente. I added two packets of beef and broccoli stir fry powder to veggies according to directions and thickened the broth in the instant pot with cornstarch slurry. Served everything over long grain white rice and VOILÀ!!!
There were no leftovers.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed.
Amazing! I is hard to find good Venison recipes. I substitute Old Bay for the Cayenne. Cooked as instructed. What a hit! My husband thought the Pressure cooker would damage his precious Venison, but to his surprise loved every bite. Thank you for the recipe!
That’s fantastic, Carrie! Glad you liked it! 🙂
What would the addition of okra do to the current recipe besides thickening the sauce?
I have no idea! If you give it a try, let me know!🙂
This was delicious. The venison cooked up so tender. I did marinate the venison in red wine for 24 hours prior to cooking.
Ohh.. that sounds good! 🙂
This looks great! I’m going to try it soon!
I have some small moose chops and your recipe looks delicious. Any advice? Or any advice on cooking small moose ribs. Got a 500 pound cow last year. Gotta get cooking! Thank you
You could definitely substitute moose chops for the venison. Just slice them up. Enjoy!
I made the Instant Pot Venison Steak with Onions & Peppers. It is very good. I had to leave the garlic out, because it makes my husband sick. But it tastes very delicious and the venison is very tender cooked this way. thanks a bunch!
Glad you enjoyed it, Barbara! Thanks for sharing!!
Very good !! Don't normally leave a review..but this was excellent! The meat was tender and cooked perfectly
Thanks for sharing, Nora! Glad you loved it!!
Fresh deer given to me by a friend. Backstrap. Added mushrooms and baby potatoes with double the season as suggested. Cornstarch at end to thicken and served as a stew. WOW! So tender. So flavorful. This may be my favorite recipe of all times!!!
Sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing, Steph!!
My son did like the meal also, especially liked the onions & bell peppers. He did have to add more salt & pepper to the steak. I can’t have much salt because of high blood pressure tho. Your recipe didn’t call for very much & that was good for me.
Glad you liked it, Carol!
How thin are you slicing the venison?
Great question, Darlene! I slice mine about 1/2" thick.
I made this and cut into chunks and made my own tortillas so it is insta pot fajitas deeeliscious my husband loves fajitas served with rice I had left over or mashed potatoes and cauliflower blended together delicious both left overs and fried breaded cauliflower
Oh that sounds good, Fran! Yum!!
Used paprika as we are cayenne shy. This was delicious!
Oh good! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
It looks good my friend just got a deer 🦌 today and got some good meat to eat
We added mushrooms, small potatoes, Thyme, and a little brown sugar. This was the first time my wife actually enjoyed eating Venison! Great recipe!!! Thanks for sharing.
Those sound like some great additions! Thanks for sharing.
Venison is a meat of choice in my family so naturally I had to try your recipe - delicious! So of course, I had to modify it a tad! Smoked 3lbs of venison back strap for 2hrs then sliced it. Used snappy toms tomato juice instead of paste (4oz) (a little kick) added potatoes, carrots & jalapeños (a little more kick)! Yum .. another deer camp recipe!
Fantastic, Mike! Thanks for sharing.
It turned out delicious BUT way more liquid than anticipated. I wasn’t sure what to cook with it so I made white rice thinking I would serve the venison pepper medley on top but since the liquid also tasted so good, we served it in bowls over the rice and mixed it up like soup, adding some cheese of course!
I used venison stew meat and came out great. I was happy to find a new recipe for stew meat in instapot besides stew!