Paleo Venison Chili (grain-free & dairy-free)

A hardy bowl of warm, flavorful chili is just what is needed on cold winter days! Or any day for that matter! This paleo venison chili is bursting with nutritious ingredients that will keep you healthy and fueled for busy days on the homestead. Paleo venison chili is one of my favorite soups to make! I don’t know about you, but when I think of chili, I think of a thick, chunky, and flavorful soup. This venison chili has all three of those characteristics! It is packed with nutritious ingredients and has the perfect flavor to satisfy chili and soup lovers alike!

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Pioneer Recipe

I think it’s pretty safe to say that this paleo venison chili is a pioneer recipe. The early pioneers probably didn’t have spice blends labeled ‘chili powder’, nor did they have cacao powder available to them. However, they probably had a few spices on hand to use for flavoring dishes, or they foraged for their own flavoring herbs.

Nonetheless, this chili has all the other ingredients that a traditional pioneer soup probably contained! From the venison to the homemade bone broth to the nutritious vegetables, I love all the pioneer ingredients in this chili! Many of these ingredients can be sourced right from your homestead garden or home-harvested.

Since the ingredients are so simple and wholesome, it would only make sense that this chili is also a great modern pioneer recipe in the fact that is allergy-friendly and fits into many clean-eating diets! This paleo venison chili is…

• gluten-free
• grain-free
• bean free
• corn free
• sugar free
• nut free
• egg free
• dairy-free

Also, this chili recipe is a super simple recipe to make and is perfect for busy modern pioneers! I make this chili right in my slow cooker. In the morning I can prep all the ingredients, throw them into the slow cooker, and not have to worry about dinner! This recipe can even be made in a Dutch oven over the open fire! Just allow 2-3 hours of simmer time to allow all the flavors to combine and create a flavorful chili.

I love having soups on the homestead menu several times a week during the winter months! Make sure you check out some of my other favorite soup recipes like this dairy-free chicken and wild rice soup or this dairy-free potato soup recipe!

What Does Paleo Chili Have In It?

Since this venison chili is a clean-eating recipe, I thought I’d go over some of the amazing health benefits that the ingredients provide. From the nutritious vegetables to the protein-packed venison and bone broth, the benefits that this chili provides are well-rounded and perfect for keeping you healthy!

Benefits of Celery

• Celery contains a unique compound that helps lower cholesterol.
• It is also antioxidant rich which helps prevent inflammation.
• Celery helps improve liver health, which helps detoxify your body.
• Celery seeds are antibacterial and also improve digestion!

Health Benefits of Carrots

• Carrots are very high in vitamin A (beta-carotene).
• They are also a rich source of antioxidants.
• Carrots help boost the immune system, which helps prevent you from getting sick.
• They can help prevent cavities and promote dental health.
• Carrots help lower oxidative stress on the brain which improves brain health.

Benefits of Onions

• Onions contain phytochemicals and vitamin C which help build up the immune system.
• They are also great for reducing inflammation.
• Because they are a good source of vitamin C, which helps build and maintain collagen, onions improve skin and hair condition.

Health Benefits of Garlic

• Garlic’s bioactive sulfur compounds help prevent cancer.
• It contains anti-viral, antifungal, and anti-microbial properties.
• To top that, it’s also antibacterial and can help purify the blood!

Benefits of Homemade Bone Broth

• Bone broth is one of the best sources of collagen, which helps joint and bone health.
• It helps good probiotics grow in the gut and it is an easily digestible food.
• Bone broth supports a healthy immune system and is a low inflammation food.
• It also contains potassium and glycine which helps with liver and cell detoxifying.
• Learn how to make your own homemade bone broth with this free Pioneer Resource!

Benefits of Venison

• Venison is a good source of vitamin B12 and B6, which helps with bone, blood, and heart health.
• It also contains a good amount of iron which helps the growth of red blood cells.
• Venison contains healthy amounts of  saturated fat and sodium.
• Venison can be home-harvested to provide you with a meat source free from growth hormones, antibiotics, and other harmful chemicals.

For more venison based recipes, make sure you check out Crockpot Venison Stew or this Simple Grilled Venison Backstrap recipe!

Serving Paleo Venison Chili

I don’t know if you ever have a hard time figuring out what to serve with soup, or if you see soup as a stand-alone meal, but I like to throw ideas out there anyways. In my family, we traditionally have a bread product to pair with our soup meals. So I grew up knowing that when I made a soup recipe, I should plan on a bread product to go with it. Which was no problem for me, since I love bread products! And being gluten-free and grain-free has not changed that!

For chili, you often think of serving it with cheese, crackers or chips, and a more seasoned or savory bread product. Luckily, all those items are easily available in allergy-friendly forms and can even be pioneer recipes!

Here are some of my favorite chili side ideas:

• Daiya cheddar cheese shreds (dairy-free, nut free, grain-free)
• plantain chips (my favorite chips of all time!)
• Against the Grain baguette (with butter and garlic salt)
• homemade bread made into garlic bread slices
• homemade sourdough bread
• Chebe garlic and onion breadsticks
• grain-free herbed cheese rolls

Paleo Chili Recipe Tips

This paleo venison chili is fairly straightforward to make. It makes a super easy meal to prep quickly, and is healthy and hardy to boot! However, to make preparing this meal as simple as possible, here are a few tips that I made a note of:

• Cooking the Meat: The ground venison doesn’t have to be cooked completely before you put it into the soup. It will cook completely as the soup simmers. You can even cook up the meat ahead of time and store it in the freezer until you need it for making this chili.
• Chopping the Vegetables: The vegetables can be finely chopped or just chunked, depending if you have picky vegetable eaters in your family. As with the meat, the veggies can be chopped and frozen ahead of time too until you have chili on the menu.
• Canned Goods: Having canned homemade tomato sauce on hand and either canned bone broth or frozen bone broth is especially helpful for making this chili simple and easy! Just pull the ingredients out of the pantry or freezer to throw into the chili.
• Cacao Powder?: Yes, the cacao powder does enhance the chili flavor. However, if you don’t have cacao powder on hand, you don’t have to add it to the chili in order to enjoy the flavors!

Paleo venison chili is a warm, hardy, and nutritious pioneer dinner meal! It is bursting with flavor and is thick and chunky, just like a chili should be. Go ahead and give this simple chili recipe a try!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Organic tomato sauce
• Organic tomato paste
• Simply Organic onion powder
• Simply Organic garlic powder
• Navitas cacao powder
• Simply Organic chili powder
• Simply Organic paprika
• Supplies: Cuisinart food processor, 6 qt slow cooker crockpot, 12″ cast iron skillet

Paleo venison chili is easy to make, bursting with nutrition, and super flavorful. What more could you ask for! Not to mention it is a pioneer recipe that uses simple, wholesome ingredients that you may even grow, can, or harvest right on the homestead!

I love that this chili recipe is the perfect meal for reflecting the pioneer life skills that I want to grow in: harvesting my own meat, growing my own produce, canning my own tomato juice and bone broth, and making meals from scratch! Even the seasonings can be made from scratch if you grow the right herbs! While I’m not quite to the point of growing all my own food on my homestead, it definitely gives me something to strive towards every time I enjoy a bowl of this chili!

Do you have the same desire to become a modern pioneer, live more sustainably, and learn pioneer life skills? Then make sure you are a part of our modern pioneer newsletter community! Get our Modern Pioneer starter package plus weekly tips on homesteading and living sustainably! We’d love to have you along!

by Alexa