Here at Red Meat Lover, you know we love our beef. But we decided to try something a little different. We did a taste test comparing elk and venison filet mignon steaks. Our good friends at Meat N Bone sent us some beautiful big game sourced from New Zealand. You can order your very own elk, venison, beef and much more on their website.

We cooked both of the steaks exactly the same. First, we got two cast iron skillets nice and hot, then added avocado oil. We have found from a previous experiment that avocado oil provides a really nice sear. We’ve also found out through some other experiments that the meat tastes better when it’s salted at least an hour ahead of time. So, both filet mignons were salted for at least an hour before cook time. We tried to cook the filet mignons to a nice medium rare, but they ended up being more of a medium temperature. You can’t be perfect all of the time, but we try!

One important note: as always, we let our steaks rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Resting allows for the juice to redistribute within the steak, so when you cut it open you get a sexy, juice steak. Regardless which animal it comes from!

Elk vs. Venison Taste Test

• This steak had a nice, crispy crust.

• It seems to have a similar texture to beef.

• At first bite, we noticed a sweetness to the meat. You can definitely tell you are eating wild games, not beef.

• This steak was very tender even though it is such a lean steak.

Overall, the elk filet mignon was a delicious, tender steak that had a similar texture to beef but was sweeter in taste.

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• This steak also had a decent crust on it.

• It was also very juicy (remember our resting tip? it works).

• At first bite, it tastes just like a beef filet mignon steak. But after a few chews we notice a different flavor profile.

• It has a bit of an earthy or gamey taste. Definitely a bolder taste than beef.

Overall, the venison steak was juicy and flavorful. It reminded us more of beef but had a gamier taste to it.

Wild Game, Wild Results

So the million dollar question- which wild game filet mignon steak is best? Personally, we would go with the elk steak! Compared to the venison steak, it had a better overall flavor profile. We really loved the sweetness and tenderness of the elk steak. What’s your favorite wild game? Let us know if the comments! We look forward to trying different meats and need your suggestions.

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