BBQ Backstrap Sliders with Pickled Onions
Grilled venison medallions, sauce, and quick-pickled red onion on slider buns. A car camp appetizer that eats like dinner.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Venison backstrap roast | 1.5-2 lb | trimmed of silverskin at home |
|---|---|---|
| Wild game rub | 2 tbsp | any coarse salt-and-pepper BBQ rub works |
| BBQ sauce | 1 cup | a sweet, smoky one; decant into a squeeze bottle |
| Slider buns | 12-15 | |
| Butter | 1 stick | for the buns |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | minced at home |
| Red onion | 1 large | thinly sliced, for pickling |
| Apple cider vinegar | 1/2 cup | |
| White sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Kosher salt | 2 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/2 tsp | optional |
Method
- At home, a day or two out: stir the vinegar, sugar, and salt together until the grit is gone. Pack the sliced onion into a pint jar, add the pepper flakes, and pour the brine over. Lid it, leave it on the counter an hour, then put it in the fridge until you pack the cooler.
- In camp, build a hot bed of coals and set the grate a few inches above it. Rub the backstrap all over and let it sit while the fire settles.
- Grill the backstrap 5 to 7 minutes a side, turning once, until the center is still pink. Venison has almost no fat and goes to leather fast, so pull it early.
- Rest the meat ten minutes on a plate while you melt the butter with the garlic in a small pan on the grate and brush the cut buns. Toast them face down for under a minute.
- Slice the backstrap into thin medallions across the grain. Toss the slices with the BBQ sauce or spoon it over.
- Pile meat on the buns and top each with a fork of pickled onion, drained.
Backstrap is the leanest cut on the animal, which is the whole problem and the whole point. There is no fat to render, so every minute past medium-rare costs you. Cook it hot and fast, pull it while the center is pink, and let it rest before slicing. Sauce goes on after the slice, not before the grill, or the sugar in it burns.
The pickled onions do the work the fat cannot. Sweet BBQ sauce on lean meat is one-note, and acid cuts through it. They need to sit at least overnight, so make them at home and let the jar ride in the cooler. This stays car camping because of the cooler and the buns; there is no way to make raw backstrap shelf-stable.
Packing
Onions travel in their sealed jar. Backstrap goes in the coldest part of the cooler, double-bagged, on the bottom under ice. Rub, sauce, and buns ride in a dry box so the buns do not get crushed or soggy.
Variations
- No fire? Sear the backstrap whole in a cast iron pan over a two-burner stove, same timing.
- Beef sirloin or tri-tip subs in one for one if venison is not in the freezer.
- Skip the buns and serve the medallions and onions over instant rice for a gluten-free version.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/bbq-venison-backstrap-and-pickled-onion-sliders