Hey pheasant guys out there – whats your favorite way to do pheasants? Got 2 the other day and have been thinkin bout doin em on the grill. I’ve done em in the slow cooker before, but not the best. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Nate
Brined overnight and smoked. It is the only way that I’ve had them turnout moist. If you decide to go with the grill, definitely brine them. Also, spatchcock (split down the back) them is an easy way to cook the whole bird.
Personally I like Pheasant Wild Rice soup, just use a chicken wild rice soup recipe and replace the chicken. Otherwise I like to coat in flour and braise them, then put in a casserole (I use a wild rice, tomato, onion, chicken stock one) of your choosing to cook low and slow until the meat falls off the bone.
I normally do wild rice soup or pheasant pot pie. I’ll be following this because I’m looking for new recipes, too.
Pheasant finger boneless wings! batter, deep fry and toss in your wing sauce of choice. I also enjoy a “dry rub” seasoning of just Lawry’s and pepper.
For me, it depends on if it’s a young of year bird or an older bird.
For a young bird, keeping it simple like roasting on the bone or pan frying deboned parts are what I like. Young pheasant is great in a light stir fry, too.
An older bird is relatively tough and I’ll only do some sort of wet cooking method like a soup or braise.
Since the legs on any pheasant are full of tendons/sinew, one great way to use them is to confit them – salt cure then oil poach on low heat. It’s not hard, it just takes time plus you can scale it for how many legs you have – I’ve made lots of batches with just 4 legs before. Just search for “salt cure duck legs” and you’ll get lots of good recipes/ideas.
Hope this helps, good luck.
Brined overnight and smoked.
x2
Personally I like Pheasant Wild Rice soup, just use a chicken wild rice soup recipe and replace the chicken. Otherwise I like to coat in flour and braise them, then put in a casserole (I use a wild rice, tomato, onion, chicken stock one) of your choosing to cook low and slow until the meat falls off the bone.
^^^
This. Best ive ever had was when it was used in a wild rice casserole type dish. Yum. That being said I wouldn’t doubt SuperDaves idea. That guy makes some tasty looking stuff
My father in law knows a guy that will marinated and then wrap in bacon. We cook them on the grill and they are great.
I’ve had pheasant & turkey breast on the grill. They work out fine. Just don’t overcook them.
Pheasant stroganoff.
Brined overnight, wrapped in bacon, then smoked to an internal of @150. I debone the thighs and breasts and do them this way (Ive about given up on the drummies, just too much tendon).
I’ve also filleted the breast/thighs into thin slices and dipped them in fry magic, then quick fried them in hot oil. They are like chicken fingers only better, and they tend to disappear as fast as I can cook them.
I’ve also deboned them and cooked them on the stove with butter, white wine and seasonings, then served them with mashed taters and a veggie, with a side of the au jus for dipping pieces in.
Headed out to NoDak in a couple weeks to try and put a few in the freezer even with the much tougher conditions this year.
Pheasant stroganoff.
My second favorite way to have pheasant but that might just be because I love gravy and noodles. LOL!
Take deboned breast and thighs wash well. take a cake pan layer with bacon, then dried beef, then pheasant, then dried beef, then bacon. Mix cream of chicken with sour cream layer gravy on top of meat bake at 325 for 4 hours and serve over rice or mashed potatoes. When Grandma makes this people come flocking to town.
Otherwise another way we do it for appetizers is soak in a coke and beer mixture then drain coat it in shorelunch Cajun fry up some pheasant nuggets.
Ducky.
I also like the pheasant stroganoff.
pheasant bacon
pheasant hot sticks
deep fried with your favorite beer batter
If its a game farm bird your options are a little wider in that they are usually fattier than wild birds. Enough so that frying them can be a good option as well. Not only that they but farm birds are almost assuredly young of the year birds.
Mix:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
Cube pheasant and wrap each chunk in 1/2 to full slice of bacon depending on sizes and stick a toothpick through to hold it together. Roll in the chili powder brown sugar mix. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
Mix:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/3 cup brown sugarCube pheasant and wrap each chunk in 1/2 to full slice of bacon depending on sizes and stick a toothpick through to hold it together. Roll in the chili powder brown sugar mix. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
I think a dog turd would probably taste good with this recipe.
It’s pretty hard to not have a delicious recipe for pheasant breast and thighs. I keep adding all of my legs and some thighs into a big ziplock in the freezer, when it’s full at the end of the season I’ll dump into a crockpot with onions, apples, garlic, seasonings and top off with beer. Set on low for the afternoon, strain, pull meat off and pull out those tenons add BBQ sauce and pulled meat back into the crock and make BBQ’s for the football game.
Pheasant pot pie is great. Tried many Google recipes and I haven’t made one that wasn’t good. Find one with some curry to change it up a little.
“Pheasant Supreme”
4-6 breasts laid out in the bottom of a casserole dish/pan
2 cans of cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, or cream of celery (whatever your preference) poured over the breasts.
1 1#bag of shredded mozzarella cheese sprinkled evenly over the top.
1 box of Stove top stuffing (or whatever stuffing you like best)
Bake at 375 for 1 hour covered, then take the cover off for 15 minutes or so till the stuffing gets a crispness to the top.
Remove from oven, let cool, and enjoy!
The cheese melts in with the soup, the breasts stay moist, and you have one awesome meal!
Thanks for all the tips, guys! Got em roasted in the slow cooker last night with some seasonings and they turned out great – was peeling all the meat off and couldnt help but eat a bunch! Anyway gonna add meat to some cream of wild rice soup that I’ll make this evening and it’ll be awesome!
Thanks to yall I’ll have to get out and shoot some more pheasants to try all these recipes! 
I have a broaster….a low pressure-pressure cooker and it does pheasant and grouse wonderfully. The cooker generates a maximum of 3 pounds of pressure and uses oil instead of water.
I always pick the birds when planning to cook this way. I wash and pat dry, quarter the critters, then toss in a bag of flour with pepper and seasoned salt….do plenty since its used twice. I then add the oil to the line on the pot and set it on the stove on a high heat, cover off.
Next I beat 3 eggs and a half cup of milk in a bowl. I shake off the meat a bit and dip each piece in the egg wash, then right back into the bag of flour and give a good shake to coat it well and then set aside. When all the pieces are coated they go into the hot oil and is allowed to seal up a couple minutes then the cover gets clamped down on the broaster. The weight is snapped on and I wait until the cooker starts generating some pressure and the weight rattles. At that point I cook the meat for 6 minutes and quickly remove the cooker from the stove and cock the weight to allow the pressure to come down quickly. When the hissing stops the cover comes off and the meat is served.
The meat will look like Colonel Sanders chicken, nice and golden brown and crispy on the outside. The meat inside will be dripping wet with moisture. I have never had a more tender pheasant or grouse or my favorite from years ago, Hungarian Partridge. Its not over spiced and the flavor is uncanny.
I’ve used this cooker to do chicken and domestic rabbit. I’ll buy turkey tenderloins and cook them in this thing and they are over the top good. I’ve made recipes using venison loin or tenderloin cut into 1″ cubes that are rolled in a seasoned flour using a little chili powder with the flour coat. I’ve done mourning doves this way too.
For oil I use equal parts of peanut and canola oils. When I have the oil cooled down I strain it into a quart canning jar and store it in the fridge and use it for fry fish so e the oil is a double duty component. I’ll get this cooker out and get a picture to show. I believe its a Mirro product.
I bought this cooker maybe forty years ago and still use it.
One of our current favorites is to chunk them up and deep fry with different dry batters just like fish. As long as you dont overcook they are tender and juicy. Different flavored mustard’s for dipping sauces.
My favorite way is just to simply bread and fry the breast and have a fried pheasant breast sandwich- one of my all time favorite foods. I am also a bit of a health nut, so I don’t do this too often. I’ve also breaded and baked the boneless breasts.
For legs and thighs I use the crockpot. Either make a creamy soup with whatever is on hand (cream of chicken, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, etc.) and the pheasant legs/thighs added in. Then when cooked, pull it all out and pull off the meat, sift through the rest for any other tendons. Mix it all back in.
An easier way to use the leg/thigh meat for whatever you want (tacos, stir fry, salad, endless possibilities) is to just do the meat in the crockpot, then pull it off the bones and shred it.
One way to limit the number of tendons in the legs and thighs is to use this very easy method when cleaning the birds, similar to this video.
Lastly, the most popular recipe I do- and it has turned into an annual tradition for a Christmas appetizer for our family. Cut pheasant into chunks, lay on piece of bacon, spread cream cheese on bacon, place jalapeno in bacon, roll it up, place a toothpick through it, bake for 1 hour at about 350, flip halfway through. Could certainly put your own twists on it by adding brown sugar, marinating meat, etc.
I have grilled them before, never with great luck. Generally because I haven’t planned ahead and marinated it at all, and am too hungry and want it cooked immediately so used too high have heat.
Just about any recipe you use for chicken and sub the pheasant for the chix…
Mark
Anyone do sous vide? They say it makes anything tender.
For the breasts, our favorite way is simply cubed, seasoned and deep fried,like chislic,
For thighs and legs, I season it, grille it, grind it and turn it into a pate’ and serve it as an appetizer with club crackers.
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Turned out really well! Even the lady liked it and she isn’t much of a meat eater let alone wild game. Thanks again everybody!
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