Venison Mince Sausage Plait

Have you tried venison mince? It's perfect with this old fashioned sausage plait, which is a real British favourite!

Did you know that venison mince is very low in fat? For this pie I'm using filo pastry too, to cut down the calories.

But, this recipe still gives you all the flavours, textures and comfort of a delicious pie.

This is really simple to make too and cooked in just 40 minutes.

This means that you can set the potatoes to roast at the same time, prepare the vegetables, or just sit back and enjoy the aroma coming from the oven.

Bon appétit! 

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Baking time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• More venison and pie dishes
• 📋 Recipe
• More beef, lamb and venison dishes to try
• 💬 Comments

This dish might look difficult to do, but it is really just a case of assembling it and putting it in the oven. It's really easy!

The bacon and onion in this recipe, helps to keep the venison moist and the egg binds everything together.

You don't need to be a whizz with filo pastry dough either. The dish is meant to be rustic, so there are no special skills involved.

Of course, there are plenty of meat and vegetarian fillings to try instead too.

Once it's made, it resembled a huge sausage roll and it's great to enjoy hot or cold.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Lower in fat filling and pastry.
• Easy to prepare and cook.
• Delicious hot or cold.
• Simple to vary the fillings.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Venison - vension mince, which is available online all year round in the UK fresh or frozen.
• Bacon - smoked bacon lardons, which are just chunkier bacon pieces, add a little fat to keep the ground venison moist.
• Onion - any brown onion to add extra flavour.
• Eggs - free range egg to bind the mixture together.
• Filo pastry - frozen and defrosted or fresh. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to use it, so it's easier to work with.
• Butter - salted or unsalted melted and brush the filo pastry layers.
• Salt - cooking or kosher salt.
• Pepper - fresh
• Water - freshly ground black pepper.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• baking tray 30 x 20 centimetres
• sharp knife
• chopping board
• frying pan or skillet
• baking parchment
• pastry brush
• mixing bowl

🔪 Instructions

Start by frying together the bacon pieces with the chopped onion for a few minutes over a medium heat, until the bacon is just cooked and the onion softened.

There shouldn't be any need to add oil as the fat from the bacon should be enough to fry the onion.

Put the venison mince, cooked onion mix, one of the eggs and seasoning into a bowl.

Mix well with a fork.

• I often find that ground venison mince can be quite wet when it come out of the package. If this happens leave it in a sieve for 30 minutes then pat it dry with kitchen paper. If the meat is too wet it will make the pastry soggy.

• If you have mixed the ingredients together and the venison still seems quite wet, add a tablespoon of plain or all purpose flour and check again.

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6.

Cut a large piece of greaseproof paper to line a baking tray at least 30 x 20 centimetres.

Lay out 1 layer, portrait style and quickly brush with butter or oil and then lay another sheet on top overlapping vertically by 2cm. Brush with oil and repeat with the remaining sheets.

• I've only used 4 sheets of filo pastry, but you could use more if you wish. Leave it wrapped in the packet until you are ready to cook, as it dries out really quickly.

Make the venison mixture into a long flattish sausage, about 8X24cm, and lay it on the filo pastry. There should be about 8-10cm gap at the top and bottom.

Now cut some diagonal slits in the pastry at the sides.

Fold over the top edge and trim any excess, then use the side pieces to plait alternate pieces of pastry over the ground venison.

Don't worry if the filo starts to dry out while you are plaiting.

⏲️ Baking time

Beat the remaining egg with the water to make an egg wash and brush the sausage plait pastry.

Bake for about 40 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

• If a little liquid comes out while cooking just use some kitchen paper to mop it up and then return to the oven to make sure that the bottom stays crisp

Slice thickly and serve with a rich, red wine gravy.

Absolutely delicious!

🥗 Side Dishes

Try some of these side dishes with the ground venison plait.

• Confit Potatoes
• French Potatoes Rissolé 
• Cavolo Nero Kale
• Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
• Easy Roast Potatoes
• Honey Roasted Swede
• Roast Savoy Cabbage
• Green Beans with Almonds
• Chateau Potatoes
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Potatoes Aligot - Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

🥙 Substitutions

• Lardons - use some streaky bacon slices and cut into small pieces.

📖 Variations

• Filo pastry - replace with a sheet of ready made puff pastry.
• Venison - instead of ground deer meat use beef, pork or lamb mince. Try adding chopped apples to pork mince and chopped mint with the lamb.

Make this dish a vegetarian sausage plait by using a combination of cheddar, breadcrumbs, lentils mushrooms and caramelised onions.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool, cover and store in the fridge for 3 days or cool and freeze for up to a month. Defrost then
• Freezer - cool and wrap then freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
• Reheat - wrap in foil and reheat in the oven until hot then peel back the foil and let the pastry crisp up for 5-10 minutes.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Prepare the filling in advance for up to 2 days but assemble the sausage plait just before baking.

🤔 FAQs

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More venison and pie dishes

• Venison Burgers with Bacon
• Chicken and Leek Pie
• Steak and Kidney Pie
• Pork and Peanut Moneybags
• Turkey and Pork Sausage Rolls

📋 Recipe

More beef, lamb and venison dishes to try

🍲 Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.

However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.

Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.

However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.