Venison Taco Skillet Pasta
Ground venison, rotini, and taco seasoning cooked down in one skillet at the truck.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 2000 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground venison | 2 lb | frozen solid at home, thaws in the cooler on day one |
|---|---|---|
| Rotini | 16 oz box | |
| Yellow onion | 1 large, diced | dice at home to save a cutting board |
| Taco seasoning | 2 packets | |
| Jarred jalapenos | 1 cup | tamed slices if you want it mild |
| Cherry tomatoes | 8 oz, halved | |
| Shredded cheese | 4 cups | block cheese grated at home keeps better |
| Chipotle ranch dressing | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Shredded lettuce or shredded cabbage | 8 oz | cabbage survives a cooler for days, lettuce does not |
| Corn chips | 1 bag | |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil a big pot of salted water. Cook the rotini to the time on the box, drain it, and set it aside in the pot lid or a bowl.
- In the skillet, brown the venison and onion in the oil over medium-high heat until no pink is left and the onion has gone soft.
- Stir in both seasoning packets and about a half cup of water. Drop the heat and let it simmer until the liquid thickens onto the meat.
- Add the pasta back in with the jalapenos and tomatoes. Stir until everything is coated and hot.
- Kill the heat, fold in the cheese, and let it melt off the residual heat. Stir in the dressing last.
- Top each bowl with the shredded greens and a handful of corn chips at the table.
This is a car-camp dinner because of what it needs: two burners’ worth of heat, a colander moment, and a cooler holding cheese and dressing. It feeds eight or nine people off one skillet and one pot, which is the reason to cook it at a trailhead camp rather than at home.
The dressing goes in after the heat is off. Hit it while the pan is still hot and it breaks into oil and grit. Cheese is the opposite — it needs the residual heat from the pasta to melt, so add it before the dressing and stir. Shredded cabbage in place of lettuce is the one real trail change here; lettuce turns to slime by day two in a cooler and cabbage does not.
Packing
Venison goes in the cooler frozen and acts as an ice block for the first day. Cheese, dressing, and greens ride in the cooler; pasta, seasoning, jalapenos, and chips live in the dry bin.
Variations
- Swap the jalapenos for diced bell pepper if anyone at the table dislikes heat.
- Ground beef or turkey works the same way if you did not fill a tag.
- No cooler space for dressing? A pouch of shelf-stable salsa and a squeeze of lime does the same job.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/venison-taco-warm-pasta-salad