Southwestern Smoked Pheasant Tacos combine a super juicy and delicious smoked pheasant recipe with all your favorite taco ingredients, making it perfect for your next Taco Tuesday!
Why You'll Love These Pheasant Tacos
If you’re looking for a way to transform your pheasants into a meal your whole family will love, this is it. These Southwestern Smoked Pheasant Tacos are packed with smoky, tangy, and bold flavors that will have everyone coming back for seconds. Plus, once you get the smoked pheasant done, the rest is easy to prepare, making them perfect for busy weeknights. Let me guide you through the process, from how to smoke pheasant to assembling the ultimate pheasant taco.
Pheasant Tacos For An Easy Meal
Pheasant can sometimes feel like an intimidating protein, but this recipe makes it approachable and fun. Smoking the pheasant gives it a depth of flavor that pairs beautifully with the taco ingredients. Even better, these pheasant tacos come together quickly once your pheasant is smoked and shredded. This pheasant dish is a real crowd-pleaser, whether you’re feeding your family or impressing friends at your next potluck.
How to Smoke Pheasant
Smoking pheasant might sound complicated, but I promise it’s easier than you think. All you need is some patience, a good brine, and a smoker. Here’s how you do it:
Smoked Pheasant Ingredients
- 1 Whole pheasant
- 6 cups water
- ⅓ cup kosher salt
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup honey
Smoked Pheasant Instructions
1. Prep the Pheasant: Cut the legs and thighs away from the pheasant. Leave the breast meat attached to the ribcage and remove the backbone using game shears.
2. Make the Brine: In a large pot, whisk together the water, kosher salt, and brown sugar. Add honey, bring the mixture to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover. Let the brine cool completely.
3. Brine the Pheasant: Submerge the pheasant pieces in the chilled brine. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.
4. Dry the Pheasant: Remove the pheasant from the brine and place it on a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 4 hours or overnight. This step helps develop a pellicle, which is key for good smoke adhesion.
5. Smoke the Pheasant: Preheat your smoker to 200°F and prepare your preferred wood chips (I’m partial to hickory). Smoke the pheasant, basting with honey every 45 minutes. The breasts are ready when they hit an internal temperature of 150°F, and the legs and thighs are done at 160°F.
6. Shred the Meat: Let the smoked pheasant cool for about 20 minutes. Use your fingers or two forks to shred the meat, discarding the bones.
Assembling The Pheasant Tacos
With your pheasant smoked and shredded, you’re just minutes away from enjoying this pheasant tacos recipe. The combination of smoky pheasant, creamy sauces, and fresh cilantro makes every bite irresistible.
Pheasant Taco Ingredients
- Smoked and shredded pheasant meat
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 15-ounce can of black beans
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Taco Bell Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cumin
Pheasant Taco Instructions
1. Combine Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix the smoked pheasant meat with cooked white rice, black beans, green onions, and cilantro.
2. Make the Sauce: In a separate bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, chipotle sauce, lime juice, salt, sugar, and cumin. Pour this creamy sauce over the pheasant mixture and stir until well combined.
3. Serve: Warm your favorite tortillas and spoon the taco mixture onto each. Add toppings like shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, or guacamole if you like. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Tips For Busy Parents
- Plan Ahead: You can smoke the pheasant up to a day in advance and store it in the fridge.
- Shortcut Rice: Use pre-cooked rice or microwaveable packets to save time.
- Customizable Toppings: Let your kids choose their toppings for a fun and interactive meal.
North Dakota: A Pheasant Hunter's Paradise
Another North Dakota pheasant season is just around the corner. Hopefully, you can find some birds, make good shots, and bag a few roosters for the freezer. But then what?
After 20 years of hunting pheasants in North Dakota, I have learned one important lesson. There are many ways to ruin a game bird, turning it into a dry, tough disappointment at the dinner table. Fortunately, brining and smoking have become my go-to methods in recent years. These techniques have transformed pheasant into something my family loves.
My wife now insists that a smoked pheasant recipe is her favorite way to go, and I couldn’t agree more! Since we enjoy a touch of sweetness with our smoked dishes, we rely on North Dakota honey for the brine. This process creates a flavorful result that we savor in salads, sandwiches, soups, and pheasant tacos like these.
Pheasant Hunting In North Dakota
In my opinion, North Dakota is home to the best pheasant hunting in the country. With plenty of public land hunting opportunities including PLOTS, pheasant hunters have access to some of the most amazing spots to chase birds and work their dogs. If you would like to visit North Dakota for some amazing pheasant hunting, check out the ND Game and Fish website here. You'll find all the information you need on the upcoming North Dakota pheasant season and how to obtain a North Dakota hunting license.
More Pheasant Recipes
If you are looking for more great ways to use pheasant in your diet, be sure and check out my Pheasant Fritters and Pheasant Gumbo and Pheasant and Potato Gnocchi Soup.
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The Best Southwestern Smoked Pheasant Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
Smoked Pheasant Ingredients
- 1 Whole pheasant
- 6 cups water
- ⅓ cup kosher salt
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup honey
Pheasant Taco Ingredients
- Smoked and shredded pheasant meat
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 15-ounce can of black beans
- 2 green onions
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons Taco Bell Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cumin
Instructions
Smoked Pheasant Instructions
- Cut the legs and thighs away from the pheasants. Leave the breast meat attached to the ribcage but cut away the backbone using game shears.
- Allow to cool completely, then place pheasant pieces in the chilled brine. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.
- Take pheasant out of brine and place on a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Smoke pheasants at 200 degrees F over the wood chips of your choice – we prefer hickory. Baste the pieces with a little honey about every 45 minutes. I usually do this the same time I am adding new wood chips to my electric smoker.
- Take pheasant breasts out when internal temperature hits 150 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. Take legs and thighs out when their internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Baste them with honey one last time and let them cool for about 20 minutes.
- Use your fingers or two forks and shred the pheasant meat off the bones. Keep the meat and discard the bones.
Taco Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, black beans, green onions, and cilantro.
- In a small bowl, make the sauce by combining the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, Taco Bell sauce, lime juice, salt, sugar, and cumin.
- Add the smoked pheasant and sauce to the large bowl with the cooked rice mixture, and toss everything together until well combined.
- Serve right away on warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings such as shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, or guacamole. The mixture will also keep well if covered and refrigerated for a day ahead of time if you want to bring it along to your next potluck.
