Elk Meatballs in Red Sauce
Ground elk, parm, and a jar of sauce in a dutch oven. Camp dinner that eats like it took all day.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 47
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 60 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground elk | 1 1/2 lb | venison or lean beef works the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 2 | carry in a hard egg case |
| Grated parmesan | 1/4 cup | the shelf-stable green-can kind is fine here |
| Dried parsley | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 1/2 tsp | or 1 crushed clove |
| Salt and black pepper | 1 tsp total | |
| Jarred marinara | 24 oz | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | for the pot |
Method
- Get a bed of coals going, or set the stove to low. This cooks slow, not hot.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl or a gallon bag. Add the elk, parmesan, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Work it together with your hands until it just holds, then stop.
- Roll golf-ball-sized meatballs. You should get sixteen or so.
- Film the dutch oven with oil, pour in the sauce, and set the raw meatballs into it. Do not brown them first.
- Lid on. Hold a bare simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, turning the meatballs once halfway. Coals go under the oven only, not on the lid.
- Cut one open. No pink at the center means done.
Elk is lean enough that browning meatballs first dries them out. Dropping them raw into simmering sauce fixes that: they cook in liquid the whole time, and the fat and gelatin they do release stays in the pot instead of sticking to a pan. The eggs and parmesan are the binder, since lean game has no fat to hold the shape on its own.
This one needs a cooler, so it is a first- or second-night car camping dinner rather than a pack-in. Everything else travels dry. The long low simmer is the point — a hot fire will boil the sauce down and toughen the meat before the centers are through.
Packing
Mix parmesan, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into one small bag at home so camp is meat plus eggs plus one bag. Elk stays frozen in the cooler and thaws on the drive.
Variations
- Split leftovers onto rolls with more parmesan for lunch the next day.
- No cooler? Swap in a pouch of freeze-dried ground beef and skip the eggs — you get a meat sauce instead of meatballs.
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/elk-meatballs.215910