Pheasant Stew Recipe - How to Make Pheasant Stew (2024)

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4.90 from 29 votes

By Hank Shaw

December 27, 2018 | Updated June 16, 2020

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Pheasant Stew Recipe - How to Make Pheasant Stew (2)

When you decide to make pheasant stew you can go in any number of different directions. But you might as well go classic French and make your pheasant stew a real-deal coq au vin.

Coq au vin simply means “rooster in wine,” and it has historically been made with an old, usually troublesome rooster chicken. And when I say historically I mean it: This recipe has been around since Roman times.

Most people make coq au vin with a store-bought chicken, and this is OK, but nothing like the real dish, which needs an old bird. A stewing hen is a good option for non-hunters, but a pheasant is better. After all, it’s a rooster, a coq.

Yes, you can make this stew all at once, but it’s better if you marinate the bird in de-alcoholized wine for a day or three. What’s that mean? Wine you bring to a simmer, then cool. Why bother? Fully alcoholic wine as a marinade can impart a weird, tinny flavor to the meat. It’s not so huge that you’ll hate your pheasant stew if you don’t do this, but it is noticeable enough to make the extra effort worth it.

What wine? Something you’d drink on a Tuesday, which is to say decent enough to drink, but not that $100 bottle of Châteauneuf du pape you have hidden in the cellar.

What if you don’t have a pheasant? Any white meat works. I’ve use grouse of various species, partridges, rabbits, even quail. Wild turkey would be OK, too, as would the aforementioned stewing hen, which if you’re looking are best bought in Latin markets.

This pheasant stew, unlike some of my other recipes on this site, is easy-peasy to make and needs only your time to be wonderful. Be warned: If you are actually using really old chicken roosters, as I’ve done before, they can take a powerful long time to get tender. I once made this with a five-year-old chicken rooster that took nearly 7 hours to get tender. Your pheasant should take about 3 hours.

And keep in mind this is a hearty stew, where the broth is cooked down to make a sort of hybrid broth/sauce. Serve it in shallow bowls.

Serve your coq au vin with a nice red wine, crusty bread, maybe a salad.

4.90 from 29 votes

Pheasant Stew

This is a simple pheasant stew based on the French coq au vin, which means rooster in wine. Make it on a lazy weekend day in winter. Serve with more wine, lots of crusty bread and a big green salad.

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: French

Servings: 6 people

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 or 2 whole pheasants, skin-on or skinless
  • 1/3 pound diced bacon
  • 1 pound mushrooms
  • 1 large sweet onion, sliced thick
  • 2 large carrots, sliced into coins about the thickness of your pinky finger
  • 1 head garlic, cloves peeled but whole
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced fine
  • 1 bottle decent red wine, something you would drink
  • ½ cup brandy
  • Pheasant or chicken broth

Instructions

  • Marinate the pheasant in wine, bay leaves, and thyme for a day or two in the refrigerator.

  • When you’re ready to cook, cook the bacon over low heat in a heavy, oven-proof pot, ideally a brazier or a Dutch oven. When it’s crispy, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat up to medium.

  • Pat the pheasant pieces dry and brown them in the bacon fat. Take your time, and do this slowly but surely. It could take 15 minutes. Remove pheasant pieces to a bowl as they brown.

  • Brown the onion and mushrooms. Once they’re just turning color, add the carrots and garlic. Cook another 2 minutes.

  • Sprinkle the flour over everything and stir to combine. Cook this, stirring often, until the raw-flour taste cooks away, about 10 minutes.

  • Pour in the brandy, and stir it in to incorporate. The stew will become very thick. Add the wine from the marinade, and stir that in, too. Return the pheasant to the pot, along with any juices that accumulated. If you need it, add enough broth to cover everything by an inch or so. Stir in the herbs and add salt to taste.

  • Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for at least 90 minutes, then start checking to see if the leg/thighs are tender. You want them almost to the point of falling off the bone.

  • When the meat is tender, remove it, along with the mushrooms and onions, and put them in a bowl. Put foil over them to keep them warm.

  • Turn heat up to high in the pot. Boil down the liquid by half or until it thickens to the point of being a sauce or loose gravy. I like to put everything through a food mill’s medium plate for a smooth and silky sauce, but that's not strictly necessary. You could strain it to get the loose bits out if you wanted.

  • Return the vegetables and meat to the sauce and serve at once.

Nutrition

Calories: 434kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 231mg | Potassium: 538mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3625IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Featured, French, Pheasant, Grouse, Quail, Recipe, Wild Game

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Pheasant Stew Recipe - How to Make Pheasant Stew (2024)

FAQs

How do you prepare pheasant? ›

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add pheasant legs and thighs and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Cook until golden brown and no longer pink inside (roughly 8 minutes per side).

How do you make stew better? ›

If it tastes off-balance, add some finishing flavors to bring it to the next level. Try adding soy sauce or Worcestershire for extra savory (or umami) flavor, a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness or chili powder or smoked paprika for spice and depth.

Which cooking method is best for pheasant? ›

Along with whole birds, our butchers prepare boned and stuffed pheasants for easy cooking and carving. We recommend roasting these in oil or fat for one hour at 180ºC.

How to cook pheasant stew in slow cooker? ›

Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2min, then gradually stir in the hot stock and the cider and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Carefully pour the mixture over the pheasant pieces in the slow cooker, season well, then cover and cook on Low for 6-7hr until the pheasant is tender.

What is the cooking time for a pheasant? ›

To cook: Preheat the oven to 220C, gas mark 7. Place the pheasant in a roasting tin and cook in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes. Baste frequently during cooking. Cook thoroughly until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork and there is no pink meat.

What are two preparation techniques would you use to cook pheasant? ›

While pheasant meat is versatile, it has less fat than other meat, so care must be taken during the cooking process to ensure that the meat stays moist, otherwise it will dry out and overcook quickly. Pheasant can be prepared in many ways, but roasting and grilling are the most popular cooking methods.

What is the secret to tender stew? ›

If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours. Chuck meat is your best bet for beef stew, but it's also a pretty tough cut so it needs time to break down and become tender.

How to make stew nice and thick? ›

The flour helps to thicken a stew as it cooks. Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil.

What can I add to stew for taste? ›

Add Vegetables For More Flavour

Try baby marrows, diced carrots, red onions, cauliflower, and sweet potato for a hearty stew flavouring with a lot of personality. In this Beef and Red Pepper Stew we used red pepper for sweetness, but any pepper will add flavour to your stew recipe.

How do you prepare pheasant before cooking? ›

What is the best way to cook a wild pheasant? - Quora. Pluck it and gut it. Then using a small sharp knife cut off the breast fillets, the legs and the wings and strip off any other meaty pieces. Season to taste and quick fry the meat pieces in hot rapeseed or vegetable oil taking care not to overcook.

What pairs well with pheasant? ›

For pot roast or braised pheasant

More robust rustic reds from southern France such Saint Chinian or a Côtes du Rhône Villages like a Vacqueyras, Bandol. Rioja reservas and similar Spanish reds (especially with a dish like this pot-roast pheasant with chorizo and butter beans from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Should I soak pheasant before cooking? ›

Completely submerge one pheasant in brine and soak overnight, approximately 12 to 14 hours. Thoroughly rinse pheasant upon removal from brine and pat dry. Let sit in refrigerator, uncovered, for a couple hours to dry. For dry brine, mix all spices and rub down pheasant inside and out with entire spice mix.

Is stew better in crockpot or stove? ›

While you can make a beef stew on the stovetop or also in the Instant Pot, I'm partial to using my slow cooker for beef stew, to give the ingredients that long, unattended time they need to become really tender and delicious.

Do you need to brown stew before slow cooker? ›

Slow cooker recipes don't always instruct you to brown meat before adding it to the pot, but there are some advantages to doing so. If you sear meat to a crusty brown with a little oil in a hot skillet, the meat develops more complex flavors and improves the dish.

How long to cook stew to make it tender? ›

Cook over medium-high heat, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add the beef, beef broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cover and cook, skimming broth from time to time, until the beef is tender, about 1½ hours.

Are pheasants good eating? ›

Light and Mild: Pheasant

Pheasant is known for its light-colored breast meat—much like chicken—and its mild flavor is ideal for introducing new and non-hunters to wild game. Still, pheasants are easy to overcook. One complaint I hear often is that pheasant meat can be dry and tough.

Why do you soak pheasant in milk? ›

I did some reading on how to get the best tasting results from a wild pheasant, and learned the following helpful tips (all of which I can vouch for!) Soak the meat in saltwater or milk to remove any gamey taste: Some people don't mind the “wild” flavor in pheasant (or duck or deer or what have you).

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