Deer Sausage Casserole is a pasta dish fit-for-the-gods. It’s full of delicious venison sausage, Italian seasoned tomatoes, onions and peppers, pasta and ooey-gooey mozzarella cheese. Are you drooling yet?
I love to make Deer Sausage Casserole on a Friday because we have enough leftover to eat the next day, too. Of course, I have to double the ingredients. I always plan to hunt Saturday morning and Saturday evening and I love coming home from a hunt and not having to cook dinner.
I just reheat the casserole, make some fresh garlic bread or cheese sticks, and throw in a salad and dinner is done. Honestly, that still sounds a little like cooking to me, but it’s so easy I feel like I’m not really cooking.
OK, before someone points out that this is not really a casserole because all of the ingredients weren’t cooked slowly together like a traditional casserole, I just want to say, I know it’s not a real casserole. It’s in a casserole dish, though so I call it a casserole 🙂
This is one of our favorite deer sausage recipes. Who knows, it might end up being your favorite, too!
Feel free to print our recipe card:
Ingredients
- 1 lb of venison sausage, ground (country/breakfast sausage)
- 1/2 of a green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 of an onion, diced
- 2 14.5 oz. cans of diced Italian tomatoes
- 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cup of dry elbow macaroni
- 3 cups of finely shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Get out one frying pan and one kettle. Put the elbow macaroni in the kettle with enough water so the water covers the macaroni about 2 inches above it or just prepare the macaroni by the instructions from the package.
- Fry the deer sausage in the frying pan until done and then add the bell peppers and onions and let it cook until tender.
- Add all of the tomatoes and the tomato paste and mix it well. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- After simmering, remove it from the heat.
- After the macaroni is done, drain it and set it to the side.
- Preheat the oven at 350. Then in a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish put a thin layer of macaroni in the bottom of the dish and sprinkle it with mozzarella cheese.
- Then add a layer of the deer sausage mixture. Sprinkle again with a layer of cheese.
- Continue these layers until all ingredients are used and then sprinkle with a final layer of cheese.
- Place the Deer Sausage Casserole into the oven. Do not cover the casserole with foil. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted well.
- After removing the casserole from the oven, let it sit and cool for at least 10 minutes.
If you’re looking to spice it up a little, you can add some Italian seasoning, such as oregano and basil to your venison sausage and sprinkle a little on top of the cheese, too. YUM!
This is great with garlic bread or mozzarella sticks and a salad. This dish is great as leftovers, too, but if you don’t double the ingredients and you have teenagers, you won’t have any leftovers. That’s why I always double it.
The good, the bad and the delicious…
- Deer Sausage Casserole is high in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and Iron and is very high in protein and calcium.
- It’s also, unfortunately, high in fat, especially saturated fat, and high in sodium.
See my tips below for making this a more diet-friendly recipe.
Deer Sausage Casserole Nutrition Facts
| Yields: 6 Pieces | Serving Size: 1 Piece |
| Calories 450 | Calories from fat: 38 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 19 g | 29% |
| Saturated Fat 9 g | 46% |
| Monounsaturated Fat 0 | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 0 | |
| Trans Fat 0.0g | |
| Cholesterol 30 mg | 10% |
| Sodium 1197 mg | 50% |
| Potassium 590 mg | 17% |
| Total Carbohydrates 37 g | 12% |
| Dietary Fiber 5 g | 22% |
| Sugars 8 g | |
| Protein 31 g | 62% |
| Vitamin A 23% | Vitamin C 27% |
| Calcium 85% | Iron 16% |
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA, but were calculated by MyFitnessPal, Inc. by Under Armour, Inc.
To make this dish more diet-friendly…
- To lower the saturated fat, use fat-free mozzarella cheese, less cheese, or omit it altogether.
- This will also cut out a lot of sodium, calories, and cholesterol.
- To lower the sodium, cut the cheese (no pun intended), and use no salt added tomato paste and diced tomatoes.
- Whatever changes you make, you can recalculate the nutrition facts at myfitnesspal.com
Bon Appétit
