The Best Bighorn Sheep with Chimichurri Recipe
This Bighorn Sheep with Chimichurri Recipe is the Bomb!Juicy and delicious, this Bighorn Sheep Steak served with a colorful and flavorful Chimichurri Sauce is a match made in heaven! When it comes to bighorn sheep recipes, this is one of our favorites. This herbaceous and vinegary sauce from Argentina is traditionally paired with grilled meats, especially beef, but it's also great with venison. It’s quick to make and will take your next wild game steak dinner to a whole new level!BIGHORN SHEEPBighorn sheep were first recorded by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805 along the Yellowstone River in what is now North Dakota. The bighorn’s dramatic history includes reaching near extinction and making a significant recovery with the help of conservation efforts. The North American bighorn population was estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 million in the nineteenth century, but today less than 85,000 remain. They are the rarest big game species here in North Dakota, with only 347 animals currently living in the grasslands on the western part of the state.It's important to point out that hunters, not taxes, pay for bighorn sheep conservation and restoration efforts. Funds are derived from the purchase of hunting licenses and tags and indirectly through an excise tax on sporting goods. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department issued five Bighorn Sheep hunting licenses in 2022 and all hunters were successful in harvesting a ram. I was lucky enough to be able to tag along and photograph one of the North Dakota Bighorn Sheep hunts during the last weekend in October 2022, and was gifted some of the delicious meat I used to create this bighorn sheep recipe.WHAT DO BIGHORN SHEEP TASTE LIKE?The mature bighorn sheep ram used for this recipe tasted like mutton. Mutton is another word for lamb, but it's different. Lambs are younger, mutton are older and yield more meat, and have more fat. If you have ever eaten lamb your experience most likely was that it was juicy and tender. A mature bighorn sheep, like mutton, is older and not as tender as domestic lamb.HOW TO COOK BIGHORN SHEEPBighorn sheep ewes will yield tender, lean meat. In fact, it's tender enough to be cooked using the same methods as those for lamb or beef. Mutton is tougher, fattier and gamier than lamb. If you’re cooking any cut of a mature bighorn sheep ram, I highly recommend taking the time to dry age or wet age for two weeks before freezing. Like most venison, your best bet is to braise all cuts from the front quarters.If you do take the time to wet age or dry age your bighorn sheep, the backstrap, as well as the steaks found between the top of the hind leg and the loin, can be tender and delicious. As always, my secret to making an amazingly tender and juicy steak for clients, family, and friends is to start by tenderizing it with a Jaccard Meat Tenderizer.For this bighorn sheep recipe, I cooked 2 pounds of Bighorn Sheep Backstrap using my Cast Iron Venison Steak recipe, then served it up with this delicious Chimichurri Sauce.MORE VENISON STEAK RECIPESIf you love venison steak as much as we do, you can also check out Our 15 Best Venison Steak recipes!If you'd like more information on how to visit our great state of North Dakota, check out the North Dakota Tourism website. And stay tuned for more Bighorn Sheep recipes!If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #wildgameandfishDid you enjoy this Bighorn Sheep with Chimichurri Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!
Ingredients
Chimichurri Sauce
- 3 green onions, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, combine two of the green onions with the parsley, cilantro, garlic, oregano, red pepper and salt and pulse until it reaches a finely chopped consistency.
- Add the red wine vinegar. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil until well combined. Transfer half of the Chimichurri sauce to a serving bowl, and mix in the other chopped green onion. Refrigerate the remaining half of the sauce for another use, up to two weeks. It will lose its bright green color, but it will improve in flavor with time.
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