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Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Venison Pie

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.71 from 116 ratings
My recipe of Venison Pie used to be a favourite among the guest I have cooked for in my Chef Career. And now with the winter month moving closer to us here in South Africa I would like share my Venison Pie recipe with you. I am sure you will enjoy this delicious winter pie a lot. During my time at Augusta Kleinbosch Guest Farm– sadly burnt down and not operating as a Guest Farm anymore – I used to make this a lot for the locals and the international guests. Our international guests loved to explore other dishes, like for instance kudu, eland, gemsbok, and springbok dishes.It is your choice which venison you prefer, but from my experience Kudu or Springbok meat works best. With the crackling fire in the  background, the chimney smoking and your hungry family, this could definitely become a new favourite in the house! If you would like to try out another South African traditional dish, Bobotie with Yellow Rice is a good suggestion.  
A hearty, golden brown baked venison pie with a flaky puff pastry lid shell.
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 h
Total 1 h 20 m
Serves 8

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Ingredients

  • 30 ml oil
  • 1 kg venison meat of choice(marinated for 24 hours in ideal milk/evaporated milk)
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 5 ml mixed spice
  • 500 ml meat stock
  • 3 ml cinnamon powder
  • 5 ml ground coriander
  • 5ml paprika
  • 1 can(400g) whole pealed or Italian tomatoes
  • 250ml dry red wine
  • 2 carrots, pealed and chopped
  • 1 punnet button mushrooms(250 g)
  • 2 handful of spinach leaves, thoroughly washed and chiffonade
  • 1 roll of puff pastry(400g)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180° Celsius

  2. Heat the oil in a large pot, brown the meat and keep aside

  3. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes

  4. Add the garlic and sauté further for 2 minutes

  5. Add all the spices and stir well

  6. Add the meat, tomato can, red wine, meat stock, carrots, mushrooms and spinach

  7. Simmer for 45 minutes on low heat and add water if necessary

  8. Stir every 10 minutes

  9. Roll the puff pastry out on a flour surface and cut out the pastry in the seizes of the individual dishes or 1 large dish you want to bake it in

  10. Use the left over pastry to cut out garnishes for the top of the pie

  11. Move the stew from the pot and pour it over in the baking dish carefully

  12. Press the puff pastry onto the stew and make sure it sticks

  13. Cut a small hole in the pastry for the steam to escape during the baking time

  14. Brush the pie with egg white on top

  15. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown in the pre-heated oven

  16. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, baked beans, sweet potatoes(by far recommended ) or cheesy broccoli and cauliflower

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