Bacon-Wrapped Venison Tenderloin with Garlic Cream Sauce

6.13.2020 - This is the second time I’ve made this. This time I used a different cut of venison since I was out of tenderloin. I pre-fried my bacon somewhat before wrapping as the first time I made this it didn’t crisp up at all. It only took about 20 minutes in the oven in my cast iron to get to medium. The sauce on this is delicious.

Actually I combined this recipe with another. I used another recipe for the marinade of red wine and apple vinegar ,garlic ,rosemary and thyme. I marinaded the two loins and 8 small steaks overnight. Reduced the marinade and added two tablespoons of grape jelly to tone down the tang of the vinegar. I seared the loins in a black iron skillet with ghee and then wrapped the loins in the bacon,took more like 15 minutes to get the bacon right at 350 in the oven. I then sautéed 2 shallots,3 cloves of garlic 1 sweet onion and 3 cups of mushrooms in the bacon drippings. Placed the mushrooms in a baking dish with the bacon wrapped loins and baked for about 40 minutes. Seared the steaks in bacon fat. I removed the bacon ,diced it and crisped it up in the skillet while the loins rested. Plated the sliced loins atop the mushrooms along with the steaks. Drizzled sauce over meat and garnished with bacon and scallions. YUM!

Superb...simply delicious. I sliced the loins into 1 inch thick medallions, modifying the cooking time accordingly, and using a cast iron skillet to bake them. Place the empty skillet in 375 oven, next to a parchment lined pan of singly layered bacon(1 slice for each medallion), and bake for 15 minutes. During that time rinse the venison medallions in cold water, pat dry with paper towel. At 15 minutes open the oven, remove pan of bacon, leave skillet in oven. Allow bacon to cool. On one side of each slice of bacon, lay a venison medallion, sprinkle with seasonings,and fold bacon over top. Carefully remove skillet from oven. Pour excess bacon drippings into skillet, arrange medallions in drippings, and return skillet to oven. Bake 375, 20 minutes medium rare. While medallions are baking, saute vegetables. I used 1/2 medium sweet onion (instead of green onion), 8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms, and 1 tbsp minced garlic in 4 tbsp butter. Keeping heat at medium while sauteing to prevent burning. Did not use cream. Towards the end I added 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1 tsp parsley, sprinkle of salt, grate of pepper. Remove skillet from oven and allow venison to set 8 minutes. I baked some medium golden potatoes as a side dish and served the sauteed vegetables over both meat and taters. I've also made this recipe using pork/beef loin. And added many vegetables to the saute' such as spinach, summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, etc. This recipe is simply stellar.

Followed the recipe exactly. Ended up being overdone. I would definitely not leave it in the oven for a full hour. I read the other reviews as well and they all said the same thing. This was my first time cooking venison.

It was so good! It was done in 35-40 minutes and that was overcooked. The bacon was under cooked. Cook the bacon longer than 15 minutes and don't be shy the more bacon the better. The cut of venison I used was very tender. I also did not use the heavy cream as I am allegeric to dairy and it was a healthier alternative. Thank you KGora for the review. It was spot on. The bf wants more.

Huntmom is my new hero! This recipe is fabulous! This was my first time ever cooking a venison tenderloin and I was super nervous and anxious to get it right. This came out super tender and downright moist. After reading the other reviews, I used one tenderloin instead of two, but still used the same amount of bacon. I cut the tenderloin in half and stacked it so that I was more closely following the recipe, but again, it was my first one, so I don't know if that was necessary. Also, because of the comment about the "runny" sauce, I added about a half tablespoon of cornstarch to it (put the cornstarch in a small cup or ramekin, then stir in a teaspoon at a time of the heated cream sauce until it goes from paste to liquid and then add it back to the sauce). It was a wonderful, thick sauce that was a perfect compliment to the tenderloin. BTW, the crimini mushrooms were exactly the right choice. The "earthy" flavor is perfect with the game taste of the venison...and the game flavor is toned down by the cream sauce. As far as cooking time, because of the comments I started checking temp at twenty minutes. It actually took the full hour for mine to cook completely. Great, great recipe.

SUCCESS! I moved the backstrap from the freezer into the refrigerator last night, when I went to cook it tonight it was still partially frozen. I cooked it for 45mins, skipped the olive oil and put the spices on top of the bacon after i wrapped the venison in it. husband said, "write down every step you made so you can duplicate it!!" thank you for sharing!

Delicious, wouldn't change a thing about this recipe! We have made this with venison and pork tenderloin. They work equally well.

My darling son brought me some tenderloin and I wasn't too thrilled--my experience with venison is meh. But this recipe sounded good, so I made it. Oh my goodness!!! It's delicious! The sauce takes it to a whole new level, and it looks so very elegant on a plate! I sauteed some asparagus in butter and garlic to go with. I did overcook it a tiny bit (45 minutes was too much for the ones I had) but it was still quite edible and not dry like other venison I've had. I slathered on the olive oil, and was generous with the seasoning; the same thing I do with beef. I plan to experiment with cooking times and temps to get the bacon to crisp up more while not overcooking the meat, and also maybe doubling and tying up the skinny part so it cooks more evenly. I will definitely make this again (sending son out hunting now...)!!

Wonderful recipe, will make this again for sure. I was afraid of overcooking, don't care for leathery meat, so I checked it on 5 min. increments after 25 minutes. I had 2 backstraps, one large and one small, so I removed each when they were at the "med/rare" touch test. Tented in foil and they kept cooking, almost like a prime rib where the smaller side was more medium and the fatter side was more med/rare. LOVED the mushroom cream sauce, added a spoonful of flour to thicken it up a touch. THANK YOU love this!!

Great recipe!! My family was licking the plate! My 4 year old said "Daddy I love reindeer!" Hahah :) Cooked for only 1/2 hour on 375 with one tenderloin then let sit in foil and it came out perfect!

Fantastic recipe! My husband and I don't like mushrooms so we left those out and used the pan drippings from the venison in the sauce for extra flavor. Only cooked for 30 minutes and temp was 155. I would reduce the cooking time unless you really have a large piece of meat. Typically venison loin is small. Otherwise made as suggested. This is staple for us now with a freezer full of venison. We made with tenderloin, but will try with back strap too. We served with sauteed green beans and a baked potato. We put the sauce on the potato in lieu of butter and sour cream and will adapt that to other recipes. Thank you for sharing!

Wow what a recipe !! My husband is a hunter and just came home with some venison he loves the tenderloin , and when I saw this recipe,knew he would love it !! Very simple and was delicious we both loved it !! It's a keeper ! The cream sauce was so delicious , we will use it in other dishes I'm sure !! Only item deleted was mushrooms ( he hates them )

This is absolutely divine! One of the most elegant, yet super easy venison recipes I've made. I've been fortunate enough to have an inner tenderloin every time I've made this. If you don't have one, no worries. The cream sauce would work for any kind of venison steak. I question the one hour cook time. Mine have been done in 15 - 20 min. I use the inner tenderloin which is the true tenderloin. It is a very narrow strip of meat that is approximately 1 - 1.5 inches in diameter. Some people, myself included, also refer to the backstraps as the tenderloin even though it's not. Backstraps are much larger in size and would take longer to cook. Don't go by the cook time stated on the recipe. Cook according the size of meat.

Excellent recipe! I usually double the mushroom sauce though

My husband has made this twice now and it was delicious both times! The bacon keeps the venison moist and the sauce is so flavorful with the mushrooms. Will be making it again with this year's venison most likely!

375 for one hour produces a very well done tenderloin. there should have been a disclaimer. i followed the recipe to a T, and didn't like it at all. i did like the garlic cream sauce though. i did have to add a thickener at the end. 10 minutes was not nearly enough reduction time to be finished when the T-loins would be done. again, this recipe ruined my venison back-straps. i didn't read any reviews, i just read it through and wanted to give it a try. big mistake. lesson learned the hard way. i will try this again, but instead of oven baking, i will wrap in bacon and charcoal grill to my preferred done-ness (rare/medium rare).

My version required using a gas barbecue. I used indirect heat for most of the cooking, so since I had move it around a bit the bacon did not stay put. Not a problem though: I broke the bacon up at the end and added it the sauce. It was sooooo delicious. A keeper!

This was delicious. Will definitely make it again.

This was delicious!!!!

I made this recipe last night and it turned out delicious and tender. I used an internal probe thermometer and pulled it from the oven at 146 degrees. It took about 35 minutes and the bacon was nice and crispy. Served it with oven roasted brussels sprouts . This one will definitely go in my recipes.

This was very delicious! I would definitely make this again and recommend it to others. It was tender and juicy. Also full of flavor. And the leftovers the next night were just as good.

Delicious. Made the recipe as written, except reduced the cooking time. I did use peppered, thick cut bacon.

Loved it! I follow the recipe almost to a t. I have only deglazed the pan with some white wine before adding the cream. Listening to some of the advices I cooked the bacon longer and I roasted the tenderloins for 20-25 min trying to achieve a medium rare texture.

My husband loved this! I followed the advice of another reviewer and cut the loin into medallions. I wrapped each one in bacon and cooked for 20 minutes--you could actually even cook it for less than this once it was cut into medallions. Great flavor!

This was a delicious way to use venison, very tender and med. rare @ 145 degrees. Also didn't have any cream so I just went with sauteed onions and mushrooms (used the bacon grease)over the top. I read to always soak your game meat in 3 or 4 changes of water to get the blood out... it really works to get rid of that gamey taste.

The loins that I used were cut into medallions. So I did the oil and seasoning on both sides of the medallions and then stacked them against each other and wrapped them as tightly as I could with the bacon... Cooked for about 25 minutes and they were PERFECT!! Definitely holding onto this recipe!!

WE LOVED IT!

Absolutely wonderful! Followed instructions exactly, was perfect.thank you

I love love this recipe!

Made this with elk backstraps since that was what I had on hand... Other than that I followed the recipe exactly.... SO GOOD!!!!!!

This recipe was amazing.. Even my young children (6, 8 and 9) loved it! It was a hit and we have made it multiple times since I found it. Very easy and yummy!!!

Fantastic! I used one 8oz tenderloin and at 20 minutes, it was at 157 degrees. Not pink, but definitely not overcooked. Added a bit of white wine to the sauce, only because I had some opened, and it turned out really nice. Great recipe that we can't wait to make again.

Made this for the crew at the firehouse tonight and BAM, what a hit. I had a much larger tenderloin I cut in half and bought extra bacon. I wrapped each half completely around in bacon and it was perfect!

I am new to cooking venison, so I can make my husband a little nervous cooking up his hard earned deer meat. He didn't have much to say when eating this until he was finished. OMG! That was amazing! I was a bit nervous with the color as it was still quite red inside even though the cooking thermometer had the correct temperature on it. I cooked this with new potatoes from this site, and a dinner roll to soak up the garlic sauce. He was a very happy man!!! I will be keeping this one for sure!

Super easy to make and smells amazing! Cannot wait to share it later with my significant other who also tried the recipe and recommended it.

Absolutely delish

LOVED IT!!!

Made this for New Year's Eve dinner 2015. Minor changes made the loin very tender and juicy. Cooked for 30 min at 300 degrees (inside temp 135 degrees, checked every 10 minutes) Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Loin ends up to be medium rare and delicious!!!!!!

This recipe is fantastic! Like the others, I cooked my tenderloin medium/rare, so it stayed in the oven only 25-35 minutes. The meat with tender and mimicked filet mignon- DELICIOUS. The most amazing part was the mushroom cream sauce, though. It was delightful.

My husband liked this very much. I used a bit more cream and a half tsp of flour to thicken the mushroom sauce a bit more. An hour in the oven is way too long, I think I had it in there 40 min and it was medium well, only a hint of pink left and fully cooked. So cook it less if you want a medium or a medium-rare. Knowing that, increase you pre-cook time of the bacon for a min or so.

I am new to cooking venison, so I can make my husband a little nervous cooking up his hard earned deer meat. He didn't have much to say when eating this until he was finished. OMG! That was amazing! I was a bit nervous with the color as it was still quite red inside even though the cooking thermometer had the correct temperature on it. I cooked this with new potatoes from this site, and a dinner roll to soak up the garlic sauce. He was a very happy man!!! I will be keeping this one for sure!

I loved this! The sauce was good enough to eat on its own as a cream of mushroom-type soup! It "made" the dish.

This recipe is a crowd-pleaser. My entire family loves it. I would recommend keeping the bacon in the oven initially for a little longer than the recipe says, because it isn't always all the way cooked when the venison is done. I've made it several times now (with both tenderloins and round steaks) and it tastes great every time.

This is one of my favorites and I break it out after every deer season. Following another reviewer, I use an Asian-style marinade (heavy on the soy sauce and brown sugar). An adjustment of my own: after trying with bacon a few times, now I roll out some sausage and then wrap it around the tenderloin. It’s my favorite way to do it. I use cast-iron as well, and it does seem to lower my cooking time. Peace and have fun cooking!

We will definitely make this again. Husband says this is a keeper.

This was the first time I ever cooked venison and it came out delicious tender and moist! My husband and I absolutely loved it!!

need to pre bake bacon untilcooked almost

This was amazing! I only used one tenderloin for our small family and it was done in about 30 minutes. There were no leftovers!!

deer is a staple with my family and i have been cooking it for years. I did make a few adjustments as i have a dairy alergy. I swapped the cream for marsala wine ( sweet). I did marinate in soy and garlic overnight . It was chef quality if I say so myself!

My family really enjoyed this

Very good! 30 to 40 minutes would have worked. I used some one else's oven (my sons) so paying attention to the internal temperature is recommended. Everyone love the sauce.

great recipe. wish that I would o have left it less time in the oven

This was an excellent recipe. My whole family loved it. I did make a roux with the sauce and added just a small amount of beef granules. Next time I will cook the bacon by itself longer. My cooking time was about 20 minutes but the cooking time really is dependent on the size of the tenderloin. Start checking every 20 minutes and you will be fine.

Amazing! You can never go wrong with bacon! It helps to have toothpics if you need to double-up on the tenderloins. I added some extra chopped garlic and freshly minced rosemary with the rub. You can go paleo subbing Ghee and coconut cream for the butter and heavy cream.

I have been using the AllRecipes AP for a few years now, and have used many of the recipes. But NEVER have I been moved to write a review until now!!! This was the best venison I have ever made! Since I was working with what I had on hand, I used morel mushrooms, and didn't add heavy cream. Instead I added red wine to the mushrooms, then some A1 and water. I want to thank the earlier reviewers for their advice about the time in the oven. The recipe must be written for an ELK or something larger than a Michigan Whitetail. I cooked it for 18 minutes and the temperature was 145. This Recipe will be used again and again, my husband loved it too!

I made this to the T. I had small tenderloins so they did not take as long. I was not expecting the taste to be what it was! This is a must to make and the sauce is outstanding!!!!!

FANTASTIC, hands down. We modified just a bit, read on.
We had 2 slim tenderloins so we just wrapped them together.
Based on previous comments we started to check it at 30 min and it reached 145, but was still a bit rarer than we liked, so we cooked another 10 minutes and it was med rare in the middle, and med well on the ends, BUT all of it was super tender and juicy as the bacon diagonal wrap kept in all the juices.
I did a diagonal weave for the bacon, didn't pre-cook it, and cooked on a raised wire rack. In retrospect, I should have put tin foil on the pan for easier cleanup. The bacon was done nicely after a brief 3 minutes under the broiler at the very end.
I used a full cup of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of white cooking wine, and use baby bellas as they have a nice substance to them and the sauce was delicious!

This is very good. I used the par-cooked bacon, which didn't need to be precooked. Cooked in about half the time recipe calls for. Substituted evo for half the butter and left out the cream.

Only bake in oven for 37 minutes. Perfect

my fiance and I thought it was great...i overcooked the venison unfortunately but the recipe was delicious.

Cooking times will vary, folks. No recipe is gospel. Use your brain and your thermometer. The sauce was a great base. I added a little wondra and parmesan. I will use this method and sauce with all kinds of proteins. I applaud the author. Thank you!

Awesome! It was very good. Easy recipe to follow did not change a thing. Always can find a tasty recipe from all recipes for venison and other foods .

It was fantastic. I used shallots instead of onion and added the drippings to the sauce. I have to agree with the others, start checking the temp after 20-25 minutes. Mine was ready to rest at 25 minutes and it was a big tenderloin.

Best venison recipe ever! I used a meat thermometer instead of cooking it for the entire hour. Cooked perfectly!

Just got done with dinner and Wow! My tenderloins were just over 1 lb. total weight and 45 minutes had it well done. I know most reviews want medium or medium rare, but I like wild game well done. Other than the cooking time, I followed the recipe exactly for the meat. For the sauce, I used wild mushrooms, (Hen of the Woods also called Maitake) that I picked this fall and froze, more butter than called for, and didn't have heavy cream so I used evaporated milk. The sauce wasn't really "sauce" but was yummy. I'm not going to complain any more about my husband's deer hunting. Best venison I've ever had.

Delicious! You need to follow the recipe and the SPECIFIC direction of length of time based on the thickness of the meat. I had two loins at about 10 ounces each. WHATEVER YOU DO, do not cut it after cooking until it is room temp or cooled down a little. Rule is 5 minutes. Venison is lean and the fat needs to stay inside if you want the best taste. Mine was fully defrosted and room temp before I wrapped it. Mine turned out Medium well at about 40 minutes mid rack NON convection. I used a thermometer as recommended. I also watched it closely. Also followed the pre light cook of the bacon at 5 minutes and it was perfect advice. OMG, the sauce was amazing! I was bummed because I forgot the shrooms shrink a lot and I didn't use the full package of baby bellas. Use the whole package of shrooms and a bigger pan to saute them down to size. They were about half the size when I added the heavy cream. I also removed the stems and used minced garlic, added a dash of onion powder to the sauce and a dash of salt. I also made a surf and turf and added shrimp on top of the bacon and sauce over all. I cooked it for my wife and 2, 7 and 9 year old. All my kids and wife loved it!!! Cooked it with a wild rice and it was a perfect pairing. Also cheddar broccoli which was an OK pairing. Also paired with a Pinot Gris. Next time I am going to try to sear the meat first to trap the juices in and give a crispy texture.

The recipe ti easy to follow and the results were amazingly delicious. The sauce is so tasty though I thickened mine with a bit of masa and I was in heaven while eating. Outstanding!

I didn't have heavy cream so I used whole milk and added a 1/4 tsp of corn starch to thicken it up and I used portabello mushrooms. Deliciously yummy

This was absolutely fantastic! The bacon eliminated any gamey taste and it turned out flavorful and tender. The only change I’d make is maybe a little more season in the sauce—even just a pinch of salt helps. I will be making this again!

I have been cooking venison for years and was looking for something a little different. It was perfect. My husband said it was a $90 meal. I did not change a thing. I did reduce the cook time to 30 minutes.

This turned out amazing for our dinner party! Even those who said they didn't really like venison came back for seconds. I followed the recipe all except for the cook time since others said 1 hour was too long. I cooked it for 45 mins and it turned out perfect for those that like their meat done thru the center (no pink)... it was not overdone, however my husband said he would have liked it a little more pink in the middle. Next time I would cook for 40 mins and do the bacon about 10 minutes in hopes it would crisp up a bit more (I pre-cooked it for 8 mins). Overall I was super pleased with this meal. One thing though that was driving me nuts is this website kept kicking me off as I was trying to read the recipe and directing me to some Walmart add - so super frustrating as I had to keep closing out and going back into the site.

Thank you for sharing this Huntmom, I used several of the other tips in mind as I prepared our venison roast. It was very moist with a close watch on the temp. But the sauce was what I was truly curious about. I had baby portabellas and no green onion. I would like to try a little white wine in sauce next time!

It is wonderful! I did marinate the strip in apple cider for several hours first and added thyme to the sauce

I think the ingredients and flavors in this recipe are awesome! I have to disagree about the 1 hour cook time though. Although the recipe is pretty spot on about the 145 degrees, someone without a meat thermometer would cook it the hour indicated and end up with a very dried up piece of venison. The cream sauce is delicious, but PLEASE use a meat thermometer with this recipe or cut down on the cooking time by A LOT.

Makes a fat boy sing. Defining need to use oven thermometers to prevent overcooking.

Wow. I could never see the allure of backstraps because whenever I made them either on the grill or in a skillet they were always tough. It was entirely my method of cooking. This was awesome! So tender, like filet mignon. I cooked the bacon for 15 minutes to get it cooked along with my cast iron pan and then wrapped them around the tenderloins and put them in the already hot pan. With a in meat thermometer it reached 145 within 25 minutes. Took it out and tented with foil for 10 minutes. Perfect!!! Served with horseradish sauce. Didn't bother with the mushroom sauce. Thank you so much!

We all loved this recipe. You could not even tell it was venision. It was so tender and delicious.

It was delicious!! Turned out great! Wouldn't change a thing.

Definitely requires less cook time than listed but it was delicious! I'll be making it again.

This was delicious! I will definitely make it again, but shorten the cooking time as it was slightly overdone. But that was likely because I cook with propane which tends to burn hotter.

OMG! Awesome! I do not cook venison much. Mostly ground in chili (which is wonderful by the way). Have some nice cuts of venison in the freezer from a friend so I decided that I needed to learn how to do it. The package said tenderloin so I decided on this recipe. When thawed and unwrapped I discovered that the roast I had expected was cut into four cutlets. I decided to season one side, roll them, wrap them in the bacon and proceed from there. I decided to only roast for 45 minutes which was easily 5-10 minutes more than ideal but still a bit pink. The flavors were beyond wonderful. I let the cream sauce simmer for a bit which reduced it and thickened it just enough to be perfect. I agree with others that the cooking time listed is too long, otherwise this is a perfect recipe.

The only thing I would say to change is just the same as a lot of others have said. I cooked it at 375 deg for only 45 minutes not the 1 hour that it called for and it could have been about 35 minutes honestly. Loved the creamy sauce and thought it was a great compliment to the meat as it is sometimes a little dry due to the no fat content. Yes I will make this again. Family loved it.