Venison and Sausage Dirty Cabbage

Groceries are expensive these days. If you regularly cook for a family, you don’t need me to tell you that. What if you could feed a family of four for about $10 using your ground venison? And what if it cooked in one pot so there wasn’t a ton of mess when the meal was ready?

Inexpensive and delicious, this venison recipe is a great way to feed your family. Images by author.

You can. This popular online dirty cabbage recipe is packed full of flavor and is easy to make. Not counting the cost of procuring your ground venison (we don’t speak of such things in mixed company), you are looking at a pound of smoked or andouille sausage, a medium head of cabbage, a couple of bell peppers (hopefully from the garden), and an onion. Add some beef stock and a few seasonings and you have everything you need.

Start with the sausage, because it’s full of pork fat, and pork fat adds flavor to everything else that will go into the pot.

Smoked sausage or andouille add tons of flavor to the recipe.

In a large pan or dutch oven with a lid, add the sliced sausage over medium heat. Render the sausage in the pan until it is browned and some fat has rendered into the pan. When it’s done, remove the sausage from the pan and add the “free” ground venison. Brown the meat and break it apart into crumbles as it cooks.

After the venison is about done, move it to the outer edge of the pan and add a tablespoon of bacon grease. (Just get it out of the jar you keep in the fridge. Don’t have a jar of bacon grease in the fridge? Remedy that soon.) If you must, you can use the same amount of vegetable or olive oil.

Add the peppers and onions, and cook them until softened — about eight to 10 minutes. Now blend in the ground venison with the peppers and onions, and return the sausage to the pan. Add the garlic and continue to cook another minute or two. Add the beef stock and seasonings, and stir well.

After the meat has cooked, add the peppers and onions to the pot.

Add your seasonings.

Add your seasonings to the pot.

Remove the core from the cabbage and slice it thinly.

Core and slice the cabbage.

Add the cabbage to the pot, and turn everything to combine. Don’t worry if the cabbage fills your pot. As it cooks, it will deflate like a giant buck’s antlers as you're walking up to it after the shot.

Add the cabbage to the pot.

Place the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes. Stir the pot every 10 to 15 minutes. When the cabbage is completely wilted and cooked down, the dish is ready to serve.

Serve the dish with a slice of good bread.

I like to pair it with a slice of good bread for a full meal.

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