Warm, hearty, and bursting with flavor… this grain-free venison pasta soup is a staple on our homestead menu! The whole family loves it, it is bursting with nutritious ingredients, it’s super easy to make, and leftover can easily be frozen and saved for later. Made with homestead-sourced ingredients like home-harvested venison, homegrown vegetable and herbs, and homemade bone broth, this soup is truly a modern pioneer recipe! Perfect for a cozy, warm winter dinner or a nutritious and flavorful lunch… this soup will quickly become a favorite on your homestead menu too!
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Pioneer Recipe
This grain-free venison pasta soup is truly a pioneer recipe! It is made with simple ingredients that can easily be sourced or made from scratch on the homestead! Plus the ingredients are nutritious, flavorful, and easy to store or have on hand for making a batch of this soup whenever you need a quick and easy homestead meal for this week’s menu.
Here’s a quick guide to how you can source the ingredients in this soup right from your own homestead:
- Venison– home harvested venison can easily be stored in freezer after processing and then unthawed for when you need to make this soup
- Pasta– make your own homemade egg noodles to use in this soup instead of using chickpea pasta (more on that later)
- Onions, Carrots, & Celery– all these vegetable can easily be grown in the homestead garden and after being harvested, chop them up and store them in the freezer for soup recipes like this one
- Herbs– a homestead herb garden is essential for putting away dried herbs for winter recipes like this venison soup
- Bone Broth– making your own homemade bone broth using beef bones, chicken bones, or venison bones is simple when you folllow this Pioneer Resource guide!
- Salt & Pepper– salt and pepper are two spices that I always keep stocked in the homestead pantry
This simple venison pasta soup can easily be whipped up using ingredients you already have on hand in the homestead kitchen! I love all the home-based ingredients and making this soup completely from scratch. And since the ingredients are all so simple and nutritious, this soup is a great allergy-friendly meal for modern pioneers with dietary restrictions (like myself).
This venison pasta soup is…
- grain-free
- gluten-free
- nut free
- dairy-free
- corn free
- soy free
- sugar free
- egg free
Modern Pioneer Pasta Guide
Pasta was actually an easy food to make on the homestead. It required just a few simple ingredients like oil, flour, salt, milk, and an egg or two. However, I have yet to perfect a simple and fool-proof grain-free pasta or noodle recipe. It’s in the making, but not quiet there yet.
So, in the meantime, I choose to use other grain-free pasta alternatives for recipes like this venison pasta soup or this grain-free chicken noodle soup. There are actually quiet a few allergy-friendly pastas out there to choose from, but my favorite type of grain-free pasta is the chickpea pasta made by Banza.
Banza pasta uses just a few simple ingredients:
- chickpeas– high in protein & fiber, low in carbohydrates
- pea starch– a non-GMO and gluten-free starch derived from field peas
- tapioca– a naturally gluten-free, starchy flour derived from the root of the yucca plant
- xantham gum– an ingredient produced by the fermentation of sugar (Banza uses non-GMO corn as their source of xantham gum, although xantham gum naturally contains no corn proteins)
I like Banza pasta because it is easy to cook up, has a perfect pasta-like taste and texture, and Banza makes all different types and shaped of chickpea pasta and spaghetti noodles! If you have never cooked chickpea pasta before, there are a few recipe tips you need to keep in mind to prevent the pasta from being sticky or mushy.
Banza Pasta Cooking Tips:
- Test Timer– Test the pasta a few minutes before the cook time is up. How hard your water is boiling will determine how fast the pasta cooks. You don’t want the pasta to overcook because then it will be mushy and fall apart.
- Rinse It– Rinse the pasta while you drain out the pasta water after the cooking process. Rinsing the pasta will remove some the chickpea starch that can cause the pasta to be sticky after it’s cooked.
- Water Additives– Adding salt to the cooking water can help improve the flavor of the pasta. A splash of olive oil or butter added to the water can help decrease the foam that naturally forms while the pasta is cooking.
- Foam Management– A layer of foam will naturally form in the cooking water as the pasta boils. Keep the lid off the pot to prevent the foam from overflowing the pot. You can also scoop the foam off the water surface if it gets too close to overflowing your pot.
I also like using Banza pasta in recipes like this dairy-free mac’n’cheese pie or my homemade dairy-free mac’n’cheese recipe!
Recipe Tips & Questions
Can I use beef instead of venison in this soup?
Yes, you can use beef instead of venison in the soup. Venison roast or soup cuts work best in this soup recipe, so beef cuts that are similar would also be the best to use as an alternative to venison. When processing a deer, cuts from the front shoulder and neck often make the best soup cuts. I like to chunk the cuts up into bite size pieces prior to freezing the meat. Then all I have to do is unthaw a package labeled ‘venison soup’ to use in my recipe!
What type of bone broth tastes best in this soup recipe?
For this soup, any kind of bone broth can be used depending on your broth preferences. Beef broth tends to have a more distinct flavor than chicken broth. Venison broth has the most distinct flavor of them all. When added to this soup, the broth will lend some flavor but it won’t be the predominant taste in the soup thanks to the added vegetables and herbs.
I like to use chicken broth or venison bone broth in my venison soup.
Can I add other vegetables?
Yes! You can add whatever vegetables you want to this soup recipe! My classic go-to soup vegetables include carrots, onion, and celery. However, chopped kale, mushrooms, parsnips, peas, bell peppers, broccoli florets or even home-canned tomatoes would all make delicious additions to this venison soup!
Since I’m already using starchy pasta in the soup, I tend to leave out potatoes or sweet potatoes from this soup recipe. But for a potato-based soup, you will definitely want to try this dairy-free potato soup recipe!
Do I have to sear the meat before putting it in the soup?
No, technically you don’t have to sear the meat before adding it to the soup. Searing the meat speeds up the cooking process if you will be cooking the soup for a shorter amount of time. However, if the soup is put in the crockpot on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours, the meat has plenty of time to simmer and cook.
I also like to sear the venison before adding it to the soup to preserve the venison chunks. When the meat simmers in the soup without being seared first it tends to separate more and mix into the broth.
Can venison pasta soup be frozen? How long will it last in the fridge?
This grain-free venison pasta soup can easily be frozen for a quick and easy meal later on! Make sure you let the leftover soup cool completely in the fridge before freezing the soup. I like to freeze soups in wide-mouth glass canning jars. I leave the lids off the jars until the soup is completely frozen. Then I chisel off any soup that heaves upward during the freezing process. Leaving the lid off helps prevent the jar from breaking when the soup expands as it freezes. This soup can also be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days.
One thing to note is that the chickpea pasta will loose some of its form when the soup is reheated as leftovers. Essentially the pasta is being cooked twice, which makes it much softer and more likely to break. It still tastes delicious in the soup, it just won’t have its original pasta shape!
This grain-free venison pasta is a super easy homestead meal to make that the whole family will love! The tender chunks of venison combined with the flavorful vegetables and herbs and soft pasta makes for a delicious, warm winter meal!
Grain-free Venison Pasta Soup (gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. venison soup meat cut into bite size chunks
- 1 tsp. bacon fat or ghee
- 1 quart homemade bone broth (4 cups)
- 1 cup Banza chickpea pasta
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 medium organic carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 large organic celery ribs, chopped
- 2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 tsp. dried sage
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- sea salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a 10" cast iron skillet over medium heat and spread the bacon fat or ghee over the bottom of the skillet
- Once the skillet is steaming, add the venison soup meat and use a spatula to stir the meat until most of the pieces have been seared on all sides. Place the seared meat in a slow cooker.
- Add the broth, chopped onion, celery, carrots, crushed garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix all the soup ingredients together.
- Turn the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. About 10 minutes prior to serving, add the Banza pasta. Stir to incorporate the pasta.
- Serve the soup warm with your favorite bread product! Store cooled leftovers in the fridge or freeze them for later.
Where to Find the Ingredients
This grain-free venison pasta soup uses simple, wholesome ingredients to create a nutritious and flavorful soup. I like to serve this hearty soup with a side of grain-free baguette, homemade gluten-free coffee cake, or a delicious gluten-free chocolate chip muffin. The savory and flavorful soup pairs perfectly with a toasty bread product, whether it be a savory baguette or a sweet muffin! Full of flavor. Bursting with nutrition. Made from homestead-sourced ingredients. This pioneer recipe is one of my favorite soups to make on the homestead!
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by Alexa
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