30 Best Pheasant Recipes (2024)

Home Dinner 30 Best Pheasant Recipes

By Heather

Jul 18, 2022, Updated Mar 13, 2024

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Pheasant truly is the other white meat. While it is darker in color, it’s considered white meat and is leaner than chicken or turkey. Pheasant recipes are similar to other poultry recipes. While pheasant at times can have a hint of a gamey flavor, how you prepare it is key.

30 Best Pheasant Recipes (2)

We’ve rounded up a variety of some of the best pheasant recipes. We’ve got the best pheasant breast recipes, wild pheasant recipes, and diverse methods for cooking this wonderful bird.

You don’t have to be a seasoned culinary extraordinaire to create fabulous meals with pheasant. There are plenty of simple, easy recipes to flex those culinary skills.

1. Pheasant And Dumplings

You’ve heard of chicken and dumplings, but did you know pheasant and dumplings can be even better? This delicious meal is a labor of love and well worth the time.

A savory broth, a stew full of wonderful veggies, and the lightest, fluffiest homemade biscuits make this dish a perfect Sunday dinner. It’s comfort food at its best.

2. Pheasant Piccata

Piccata is known for its succulent buttery, lemon, and caper flavors. Pheasant piccata has all the flavors you love in a beautiful piccata dish with tender, juicy pheasant breasts. Serve with pasta or mashed potatoes for an amazing meal.

3. BBQ Pheasant Pizza

Pizza night just got a thrilling makeover with this incredible recipe. It’s a quick and simple recipe to whip up any night of the week. The flavors of the tangy BBQ sauce, red onion, fresh cilantro, creamy smoked gouda, and diced pheasant breast are what dreams are made of.

4. Pressure Cooker Pheasant

Cooking your pheasant in a pressure cooker is quick and easy. If you’re using a wild pheasant, you’ll want to thoroughly clean and soak the bird first.

Utilizing a pressure cooker ensures juicy, tender meat that’s perfect for shredding. You can use it in a multitude of recipes. It’s great for meal prepping and having lean protein on hand.

5. Bacon Wrapped Pheasant

We all know bacon adds so much flavor to whatever it’s cooked with and pheasant meat is no exception. These bacon-wrapped bites are so flavorful and delicious, that you can’t eat just one.

Once cooked, they are dipped in a tangy peach barbecue sauce. They’re tangy, crispy, juicy, and will be the hit of your next cookout!

6. Pheasant Schnitzel

Chicken fried pheasant is a fun take on chicken-fried steak. Whether you gobble it up for breakfast or make a nice dinner out of it, either way, it’s a quintessential dish that is as palate-pleasing as the original.Try serving with a side of roasted vegetables or salad for a full meal.

7. Pheasant Sticky Fingers

Forget chicken fingers and make these appetizing pheasant sticky fingers instead. Pheasant breast is cut into strips and fried until nice and crispy.

Once done, they are drenched in a sweet and spicy wing sauce and then finished by baking. These are kid-approved and a great, tasty dish.

8. Slow Cooker Pheasant Nachos

This recipe takes your game-day nachos to new heights. Tender, juicy pheasant breasts are slow cooked in an array of seasonings and then shredded.

The nachos are built with layers of chips, bacon, guacamole, a creamy homemade cheddar cheese sauce, and pheasant. These nachos are a go-to party favorite that will wow your friends and family.

9. Braised Pheasant Legs In Morel Sauce

This recipe is a down-home favorite. Whether you have a wild pheasant or store-bought, the earthy, rich flavors are to-die-for. The pheasant legs are braised in a creamy sauce that is rich and inviting creating a delectable dish. It’s a recipe that feeds your soul and fills your belly with loving, earthy comfort.

10. Pheasant Breasts With Mushroom Sauce

This is an easy recipe even the most novice of cooks can follow for a restaurant-quality meal. It hits all the right notes with a sublime flavor profile.

The white wine and mushroom sauce is an earthy and rich complement to the light pheasant breasts. This is one of the best pheasant breast recipes due to its ease and a short time to prepare.

11. Grilled Pheasant With Polenta

This recipe is a go-to recipe for a light meal that isn’t too rich. Pheasant breasts are grilled and served atop polenta that has creamy, tart goat cheese infused in it. Fresh vegetables are sauteed and added to the plate.

It all gets fresh gremolata drizzled over it. The result is a dish that is bright, light, refreshingly delicious, and an all-around delight.

12. Smoked Pheasant And Wild Rice Soup

Smoking wild pheasant is common and a tasty way to enjoy the bird. This soup is a great way to enjoy that smoked pheasant. It’s full of wonderful flavors including onions, carrots, mushrooms, celery, fresh thyme, and smoked pheasant meat.

The secret ingredient is bacon grease adding to the depth of flavors. It’s a hearty comfort soup perfect for cooler days.

13. Smoked Pheasant

This is a fabulous recipe to use when you want to wow your guests at your next party or to enjoy the tasty difference of smoked meat. It’s easy to smoke the pheasant after it swims in a tasty brine overnight.

Serve your smoked pheasant meat with some fresh sides like sweet potatoes or green beans, a little red wine, bread, or any other culinary creation your heart desires.

14. Orange Honey Pheasant

This whole roasted pheasant is a divine creation. The pheasant is stuffed with earthy herbs of rosemary and sage and accompanied by a juicy orange.

When it’s almost done cooking, a sweet and citrus sauce of orange, honey, and butter is drizzled over the top and baked in as the bird finishes cooking. It’s a delightful recipe sure to please everyone.

15. Baked Pheasant In Gravy

This wonderful recipe is an impressive one that guests love but is still easy enough to enjoy on busy weeknights. The pheasant is dredged in flour and brown sugar and then browned in butter.

It’s finished cooking with the creamy gravy mixture in the oven. It’s a high-level comfort food everyone enjoys.

16. General Tso’s Pheasant

This takeout classic gets a makeover with this homemade fowl version. The pheasant meat is brined first for full flavor. Once brined and chopped, this spicy, savory, favorite takeout dish comes together quickly. It’s a restaurant-quality meal you can enjoy any day of the week in the comfort of your own home.

17. Honey Mustard Pheasant Wings

The sweet and tangy flavors of honey mustard elevate the pheasant meat in this simple recipe. Honey mustard is a beloved dipping sauce; however, it really shines as a coating on the pheasant. It gets baked into the pheasant for a truly blissful bite every time.

18. Creamed Pheasant Skillet

In the ranks of the best pheasant breast recipes, this one is at the top. It’s a traditional, down-home cookin’ comforting meal that harkens back to days gone by.

The pheasant breasts are seasoned, dredged, and fried to a crispy golden brown. Then it’s simmered in a savory, creamy onion soup mix until done. The result is tender, juicy, flavorful pheasant and a tasty, hearty meal.

19. Roast Pheasant

This recipe is what slow Sundays and fall days are made of. A whole pheasant is seasoned with herbs and roasted to perfection. You can add your favorite ingredients such as carrots, seasonal squash, or potatoes for a complete one-pot meal. It’s a wonderful, juicy, and tasty meal.

20. Pheasant In Mustard Sauce

This is a quick and easy recipe perfect for a weeknight or busy weekend meal. The pheasant breast is cooked in a pan with tangy mustard, onions, garlic, lemon, and broth. It’s beautiful in its simplicity without sacrificing flavor.

21. BBQ Grilled Pheasant

Grilling your pheasant is a delightful way to enjoy it. It’s a quick, simple, and no-fuss recipe. Simply season your pheasant pieces, brush with melted butter, grill, and baste with your favorite tangy BBQ sauce. It’s sure to be the hit of the party at your next cookout.

22. Garlic Wine Pheasant

Garlic and wine make every recipe better in my opinion and this one is no different. The wine, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and seasonings all marinate the wild pheasant.

Then it’s grilled while continuing to be basted as it cooks. The result is a bright and delicious flavor profile that complements the juicy pheasant meat.

23. Red Pheasant Curry

Curry has a bold and spicy flavor that is a favorite around the world. This pheasant red curry is an aromatic, spicy dish that will please your senses. You don’t need to go to your local restaurant to get quality, flavorful curry. This recipe is easy to make at home in under an hour. It’s bold, spicy, and a mouthwatering delight.

24. Wild Pheasant Breast

Wild pheasant is a wonderful protein to enjoy, especially if you have a family member who loves to hunt. This recipe seasons and sears the pheasant breasts first, then finishes the cooking process in the oven.

The result is ultra-juicy, tender pheasant meat. It’s served with a delectable blend of red cabbage, onions, and herbs. It’s a winning combination for an appetizing meal.

25. Pheasant Pot Pie

This is homemade comfort food at its best. Pot pies are amazing, hearty meals to enjoy, especially in the colder months. This magical recipe infuses all the wonderful flavors of traditional pot pies with cubed pheasant meat and a homemade pie crust. It’s a savory, mouthwatering delight that will satisfy even the heartiest of appetites.

26. Pheasant Soup With Egg Noodles

Who doesn’t love soup season? There are endless creations to be made to warm your heart and fill your belly. This egg noodle pheasant soup is a nutritious and filling meal.

Similar to chicken noodle soup, this recipe has all those savory, magnificent flavors we know and love using pheasant breasts and egg noodles. It’s a classic, warm-hearted, and loving soup.

27. Pheasant Green Chili Enchiladas

These enchiladas are a spell-binding culinary creation. They may take a little extra effort but these incredible, luscious enchiladas are worth every minute it takes to create them.

Spicy hatch green chilis make the creamy green sauce. It’s an abundance of flavor in every bite that’s so good you’ll have this recipe on repeat.

28. Pheasant Casserole

Pheasant casserole is a superb dish. It’s great to enjoy during a slow, autumn weekend. Braised pheasant, bacon, cider, and apples are all cooked together and served in a light sauce. This is an old-school classic that’s great for novice cooks to learn how to cook with pheasant.

29. Braised Pheasant Casserole

This wonderful British casserole dish creates a flavorful, fun meal. Apples pair well with pheasant and add delicious flavor to the dish. As the pheasant is cooked with onions, apples, seasonings, broth, and other ingredients, it’s finished with more apples. The sauce is delectable which adds to the rich flavor of the tender pheasant.

30. Roasted Pheasant Jalapeno Poppers

Take your appetizer game to the next level with this sublime recipe. Pheasant breasts are sliced and stuffed into the jalapenos with an herby cream cheese filling.

Then wrapped in bacon strips and roasted, the poppers get a good basting with red pepper jelly. These fantastic little poppers are sure to be a hit. They’re so good, you can’t eat just one!

More poultry recipes

  • Leftover chicken recipes
  • Ground chicken recipes

What pheasant dish will you be making?

30 Best Pheasant Recipes (3)

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30 Pheasant Recipes

By Heather

This collection of pheasant recipes are great ways to prepare this game bird.

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 40 minutes mins

Servings: 4

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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Choose your pheasant recipe.

  • Gather necessary ingredients and cook according to instructions.

  • Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 100kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

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30 Best Pheasant Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Which cooking method is best for pheasant? ›

Along with whole birds, our butchers prepare boned and stuffed pheasants for easy cooking and carving. We recommend roasting these in oil or fat for one hour at 180ºC.

Do you have to soak pheasant before cooking? ›

I personally like a little bit of the natural flavor, so I only soak for 12 hours before cooking. Leave as much of the skin on the meat as possible: Pheasants typically have very little fat on them, especially around the breast meat, so they can dry out quickly during cooking.

Should you soak pheasant in milk? ›

Roberts said prior to cooking the bird, the gamey taste can be pulled out by soaking it in milk and the blood can also be extracted. "I normally soak them (pheasant) overnight in a salt water ... it pulls the blood out," Roberts said.

How do you make pheasant not tough? ›

Many people use heat that's too high or cook pheasant too long, Hill said. A slow cooker is a great way to help avoid that trap. Another method: marination. For his award-winning sandwich, Hill marinated his pheasant in Burgundy for about two days before cooking.

What are the methods of cooking pheasant? ›

The bird can be roasted, smoked, fried or cooked in a slow cooker. Popular seasonings choices for pheasant include rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and soy sauce.

Why do you soak pheasant in salt water? ›

Brining -- the process of soaking meat in a saltwater solution -- provides a good deal of protection against the undesirable effects of overcooking. Also, like marinating, brining gives you an opportunity to impart extra flavor into the meat.

How long does it take a pheasant to cook in the oven? ›

To cook: Preheat the oven to 220C, gas mark 7. Place the pheasant in a roasting tin and cook in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes. Baste frequently during cooking. Cook thoroughly until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork and there is no pink meat.

What should I soak pheasant in? ›

For wet brine, add sugar and salt to water. Stir until dissolved. Add peeled, smashed garlic cloves and smashed ginger, along with peppercorns. Completely submerge one pheasant in brine and soak overnight, approximately 12 to 14 hours.

What are two preparation techniques would you use to cook pheasant? ›

While pheasant meat is versatile, it has less fat than other meat, so care must be taken during the cooking process to ensure that the meat stays moist, otherwise it will dry out and overcook quickly. Pheasant can be prepared in many ways, but roasting and grilling are the most popular cooking methods.

How long do you soak pheasant in salt water? ›

Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hrs (overnight is best to make for dinner the following evening). Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove pheasant from brine and discard brine. Pat dry with paper towel; place breast side up in roasting pan.

Can you eat freshly killed pheasant? ›

For such an elaborately plumaged bird, the flavor of pheasant can be underwhelming—I fully expect to receive grief from several of you for saying that. But let's be real: A freshly-killed pheasant can be described as neither tough nor tender, and flavor-wise, there are more interesting game birds I'd rather eat.

How do you get blood out of pheasant meat? ›

Soak grouse, pheasant, quail, and partridge carcasses in cold water for one to two hours to remove excess blood.

What pairs well with pheasant? ›

Cranberry Sauce: The tartness of cranberry sauce can provide a delightful contrast to the rich pheasant meat. It's a classic pairing that many enjoy. Green Vegetables: Steamed or sautéed green vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, or green beans add a fresh and vibrant element to the plate.

Why is pheasant so tough? ›

Pheasant is a meat that has a tendency to become very dry if it is not cooked with a bit of care. The breasts of the bird are very lean and shallow. By contrast, the leg meat is tougher due to the amount of work it gets through — remember, pheasants can't really fly, so they spend quite a lot of time running around.

Can you eat pheasant pink? ›

Do not be alarmed if the thigh meat is pink. As long as the internal temperature is at least 154° and the meat is not translucent, the thighs will be perfectly safe to eat and much tastier than if overcooked! Farm-raised or wild pheasant can be treated more as a red meat rather than a white meat in the kitchen.

What cooking methods are used for game birds? ›

Because farm-raised game birds are usually young and tender, they can be roasted, sautéed, grilled, and barbecued. The most important thing to remember about them is they are usually very lean. Therefore, they are best served slightly rare. If cooked to well done, they become dry.

How should most game birds be cooked? ›

Heat all game bird meats to 165°F (74°C) to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Use a calibrated food thermometer to ensure proper cooking temperature is reached. If you will be stuffing birds, stuff just before cooking.

How should you cook game birds? ›

Moist cookery methods, such as stewing or braising, are appropriate for older birds. To decrease the distinctive taste of some wild game, trim off as much of the fat as possible. Older or skinned birds may become dry during baking. You may want to wrap the birds with bacon to prevent them from drying out.

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