Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

holly's honkin' deerballs and tomato sauce

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Holly Grier- Wallace
OTISCO, IN

I use deer-meat for almost every dish that I cook. This "deerball" recipe is easy to make, and healthy! You can, of course, substitute hamburger or even ground turkey for the deer meat!

(1 rating)
yield 4 -6
prep time 20 Min
cook time 45 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For holly's honkin' deerballs and tomato sauce

  • 2 lb
    deer meat (you can substitute hamburger or ground turkey)
  • 1/2
    onion, diced
  • 3/4 c
    bread crumbs, seasoned
  • 1 tsp
    garlic, diced
  • 1 tsp
    oregano, fresh
  • 1 tsp
    italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp
    thyme, dried
  • 1/2 tsp
    seasoned salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp
    olive oil, extra virgin
  • 1 tsp
    salt and pepper

How To Make holly's honkin' deerballs and tomato sauce

  • 1
    Add the diced onion, garlic and remaining ingredients in a large bowl with your ground meat (my recipe for homemade breadcrumbs is below). If you are using deer meat, I recommend adding approximately 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture (no needed if you are using store bought hamburger). Deer meat is so lean, you must add some type of oil to keep the meat from being too dry when cooking it.
  • 2
    Form the meat mixture into medium to large sized balls and place on a non-stick baking pan. If you like to make extra large deerballs (as shown in my picture), increase your cook time by 15 minutes or so. I spray a layer of olive oil spray on the pan prior to baking in order to keep them from sticking to the pan.
  • Holly's Honkin' Deerballs!
    3
    Place in a 425 degree pre-heated oven for 35-45 minutes, turning the deerballs over after about 15-20 minutes, then turn again after approximately 30 minutes in order to brown each side. The deerballs are done when they are brown and crispy.
  • 4
    We love them served with a mushroom and tomato sauce and fettuccine pasta. They are also delicious on sub buns with some tomato sauce, provolone and Parmesan cheese!
  • 5
    SEASONED BREAD CRUMBS: I love to make my own breadcrumb mixture. I typically use whatever crackers and croutons I have in the pantry, however I've found the best mixture for the deerball recipe is as follows; 1/2 cup Cheese and Garlic croutons, 8-10 ritz crackers, sprinkle some garlic salt, pepper and table salt in a ziplock bag, then beat the mixture to fine crumbs with the smooth side of a meat mallet.
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