Minnesota Wild Rice Hot Dish
One can’t get more Minnesotan than hot dish, wild rice, and venison. My husband hails from Minnesota so we buy authentic Minnesota wild rice (sorry Uncle Ben’s) by the case, serve up venison several times a week, and eat hot dish (or casserole for us Wisconsinites) on a regular basis!
We actually have three freezers for all our venison. We also eat a pound of wild rice a week, either plain, occasionally in wild rice soup, and frequently in wild rice hot dish, a recipe handed down from my husband’s parents.
Ready in minutes
Although I prefer most of my recipes from scratch, this one uses cream of mushroom and cream of chicken (or celery) soup (usually a requirement for a “hot dish”). As a result, I can whip up this recipe in minutes. Wild rice hot dish is the only casserole that I don’t douse with cheese. This means something since I am a real Wisconsin Cheesehead.
If you prefer to prep the day before, you can take the hot dish (or “cold” dish) out of the fridge, throw it in the oven for 30 minutes and have a great casserole ready in a jiffy after work! To expedite the prep process, I make the wild rice as a side for a meal the day before, stick the pot in the fridge with the leftovers, and use the pot as my mixing bowl for the next day’s casserole.
And flexible
Another perk of this hot dish is that the cook time is forgiving. Have starving kids on the verge of transforming into hangry monsters? Just sneak them a plate early (plus they won’t have to wait for it to cool down!) Since there’s no eggs or anything else that needs to cook you can pull it out of the oven at a moment’s notice. Or need some extra time to wrangle up the gang or finish up a project before dinner? Just turn the oven off a few minutes early and it’ll stay toasty for another 30 minutes. And if the hot dish gets a little crispy along the edges, add a little extra water and give a mix.
Acquiring a taste for venison
Since I was raised eating beef rather than venison, I usually prefer beef. I eat venison because I know it’s much more sustainable and healthier than beef. Plus I want to serve as a role model to my children so they develop a taste for venison. Despite my preference for beef, I’ve never made this recipe with beef, as it would be an injustice to its family roots!
Finding venison
Even if you’re not a hunter, it’s pretty easy to get venison in the Midwest. Despite my husband deerless during this past hunting season, we have no shortage of venison. How? The combination of generous hunters and the luck of coming across several deer hit near our home.
With 26,000 deer killed by vehicles each year in Wisconsin, it’s not hard to find some "fresh” venison. We’ve lost very little meat on each deer, except we did pass up one deer since it looked too much like “hamburger” along the road. Just make sure the deer was killed recently (feels warm in winter or wasn’t there before you ran your errand) and report it to the DNR.
Admittedly eating roadkill doesn’t have much curb appeal (pardon my pun!), but it’s far better than smelling it a week later. Plus no one has yet to notice a difference. Or just make a friend with a hunter!
Minnesota Wild Rice Hot Dish Recipe
1 pound ground venison (or hamburger)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup diced onions
1 stalk chopped celery
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken (or celery) soup
1 cup water
2 cups cooked wild rice
Sprinkle salt and pepper and cook venison on medium heat with onions and celery. Mix all the ingredients together and place in a 9”x13” pan. Cover and heat through in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes. Enjoy with a side of veggies.
Serves our family of five one Minnesotan meal!
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Proudly serving himself a full plate.
Minutes later enjoying the last bite!
Perfectly complimented with some winter squash.
Frying the venison, celery, and onions in a cast iron pan brings even more nostalgia.