The Best Beaver Meat Breakfast Burrito
Beaver meat is amazing! I’ve created a few different American Beaver recipes over the years, but this Beaver Meat Breakfast Burrito is one of my favorites. That’s because breakfast burritos are easy to assemble and freeze ahead of time, making it one of my favorite weekday breakfast ideas. But I also love serving beaver meat breakfast burritos to my hunting buddies at our annual duck camp here in North Dakota. For this beaver recipe, I grilled up a marinated beaver loin (backstrap), but you can use this same process and fill these breakfast burritos with deer steak or venison sausage along with eggs, hashbrowns, peppers and onions, cheese, Pico de Gallo, and guacamole.WHAT DOES BEAVER MEAT TASTE LIKE?People will email me and DM me on Instagram and ask, "Can you eat beaver meat?" And the answer is absolutely yes! Most of my friends will attest that beaver backstrap tastes similar to venison backstrap, just as venison backstrap tastes somewhat similar to beef. The taste of beaver really does depend on how the critter was killed, butchered, and prepared. Grilled beaver steak will taste much different than beaver hindquarters that have been braising in a slow cooker with broth and onions for 8 hours like I do for The Cheesy Beaver Meat Sandwich. But after eating quite a few beavers over the years, and serving it to friends and family, the consensus is that beaver meat tastes like beef. That really shouldn't be a surprise based on a beaver's diet.WHAT DO BEAVERS EAT?Beavers are what we call semi-aquatic herbivores. That means they eat plants that grow on both land and water. A beaver's diet consists of leaves, bark, roots, and aquatic vegetation. ARE BEAVERS RODENTS?Yes. The American beaver is the largest rodent in the United States, growing from two to three feet long, and that is not including the tail. Beavers are also the second-biggest rodent species in the world. The biggest is the capybara, a South American creature that also lives in the water.If you would like to learn more about hunting and trapping beavers in North Dakota, visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website for the regulations and license information.MORE BEAVER RECIPESIf you are looking for another great idea on how to use some American beaver meat in your freezer, be sure and check out The Cheesy Beaver Meat Sandwich. You can find more great small game recipes here.CONNECT WITH ME AND JOIN OUR WILD GAME COOKING COMMUNITYIf you make this Beaver Meat Breakfast Burrito, I’d love for you to join our community and connect with me so we can all see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #wildgameandfishDid you enjoy this Beaver Meat Breakfast Burrito Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 beaver backstrap
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
- 2 green onions
- 2 large burrito-size flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup frozen hashbrowns
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- ½ cup Pico de Gallo
- ½ cup guacamole
Instructions
- Place the beaver backstrap on a cutting board and go over it with a Jaccard meat tenderizer a few times on each side.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, minced garlic, and seasoning. Add tenderized steaks to a 9 x 13 dish and pour the marinade on top. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Grill the steak, bell pepper, and green onions on a hot grill for about 5 minutes, turning often, until your beaver reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. Remove and keep on a plate to let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Meanwhile, in a cast iron or other nonstick skillet over medium heat, add the butter. Whisk together the eggs in a small bowl, add them to the skillet, and cook until scrambled, then remove and set aside. Add the other 2 tablespoons butter and the hashbrowns to the skillet and fry for 5 minutes until golden brown.
- Layout a large flour tortilla on a cutting board and spread ½ the sour cream evenly over one side. On the bottom ½ of the tortilla, add ½ the shredded cheese, ½ the scrambled eggs, ½ the sliced steak and peppers, ½ the cooked hashbrowns, and ½ the Pico de Gallo and guacamole.
- Fold the sides of the burrito over the filling and then roll the tortilla into a tight burrito. Repeat with the other tortilla and other ½ of the ingredients.
- If you are freezing the burritos, wrap each of them separately in aluminum foil before placing them in a freezer-safe resealable plastic bag. You can also use a vacuum seal bag here. Burritos will store well in the freezer for up to three months.
