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Best Ways to Cook Pheasant Breasts

Delicious recipes for cooking one of the most hunted game birds.

Best Ways to Cook Pheasant Breasts
Pheasant is a versatile game bird with many great preparation options. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

I’ve cooked pheasant breast just about every way, and it’s one of the most versatile cuts of game meat you can have in your freezer. Pheasant is on the light and mild side—a blank canvas for all the combinations of herbs and seasonings you can think of. The breasts, more so than the legs and thighs, can be a good swap-in for virtually any chicken recipe.

However, for the best table fare, make the effort to age your birds, if possible. Aging will result in more tender, flavorful meat.

Also, remember that pheasant breasts don’t take as long to cook as chicken breasts, simply due to their size. Get yourself a meat thermometer. Shoot for an internal temperature of 155 degrees for a slightly pink, juicy center.




popcorn-pheasant
Pheasant fried for Taiwanese popcorn pheasant. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

Deep Fried

A benefit of deep-frying pheasant is that it’s more difficult to dry it out. Whatever crust you choose—whether flour, panko, corn starch, tapioca, etc.—and the shock of hot oil will help to lock in juices. The key is to make sure the oil is hot enough before adding the meat.

Shoot for an oil temperature of 350° Fahrenheit when frying food and keep a close eye on it with an oil thermometer. Too cool and you will end up with oily crust, and possibly overcooked meat because it had to fry longer to achieve a brown crust. On the other hand, oil that is too hot will burn the coating quickly, probably before the meat comes to temperature.

When deep frying any kind of wild game, it’s always a good idea to serve it with some kind of sauce. It’s a good trick if you’re not going to serve immediately or expect people to nosh on it casually, because as fried game meat cools, it will eventually dry out.

Taiwanese popcorn pheasant is probably my favorite fried pheasant recipe. I serve these crispy pheasant bites with sweet chili sauce on the side.


I also love my fried pheasant and honey biscuit sandwich. The addition of creamy coleslaw ensures that you don’t end up with a dry sandwich.



pan-seared-pheasant
Pan seared pheasant peverada. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

Pan Seared

I think pan-seared pheasant breast is the purest way to enjoy this bird. I like to pan sear breasts with no bruising from shot, and I leave the skin on, meaning that it was a bird I probably painstakingly plucked and aged. When I vacuum seal these cuts after aging, I even label them accordingly to note their specialness. Not including aging time, pan-seared pheasant is a two-day affair for me. Some of you reading might think I’m going overboard—but it makes a difference.

In addition to aging, there a couple steps you can take to make this meal a knock-out. Brining shines here. The combination of salt and water does wonders to enhance the juiciness and texture of poultry, while also safeguarding the meat from drying out in the pan. My go-to brine recipe is 4 cups water, ¼ cup kosher salt, and ¼ cup brown sugar—multiply as needed. When brining the breasts only, a couple hours will do.

After brining, I then place the breasts skin side up on a plate overnight in the refrigerator, uncovered. One downfall of brining poultry is that the skin gets soggy, inhibiting the Maillard reaction when you cook it. Refrigerating meat uncovered overnight will dry out the surface just enough for you to achieve a nice brown crust in a hot pan with fat.

I like to serve this kind of meal with some kind of elegant pan sauce and roasted or sautéed vegetables on the side. Don’t forget a nice bottle of wine.



pheasant-marsala
Pheasant marsala cooked in a simmered cream sauce. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

Simmer Sauce

These recipes are usually on the rustic and hearty side, the kind where seared meat is simmered for a short period of time in a rich sauce. They taste delicious with whatever starch you have, such as potatoes, pasta, or rice. Skin on or off, it doesn’t matter here, as you’ll lightly coat the meat in flour anyway to help with browning. Brine or don’t brine, the simmer sauce will compensate for dryness if you overcook the meat a tad.

One classic example is pheasant with mushrooms and cream, which I make from scratch. There’s absolutely no reason to use the canned stuff. Add lots of fresh mushrooms for an extra hearty dish.

Also, my take on the Cajun or Creole method of “smothering” meat can be seen in my recipe for pheasant with sage and brown butter gravy.



pheasant-pad-thai
Pheasant is great in a stir fry such as pad Thai. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

Stir Fry

Stir frying is a no brainer. It’s a versatile cooking method for using lesser-quality strips of meat. I’m more comfortable using shot-up pheasant breasts in these kinds of recipes because there’s so much going on with all the sauces, colorful veggies and possibly noodles that the flaws are hidden. And yes, shot up, bruised pheasant meat does taste different than a bird hit in the head. The former situation is unavoidable, and we should still endeavor to waste as little as possible.

I’ve found that pheasant swaps in easily with any stir-fry chicken recipe. It’s a fast and hot cooking method, perfect for wild game.



pheasant-skewers
Pheasant skewers marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, cilantro, and parsley. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)

Grilled

If you plan on grilling pheasant, the best way to go about is to utilize a marinade, which will help inject flavor, juiciness, and help with browning. Grilling tends to dry out game birds more easily, and a marinade will help safeguard against this problem.

If cooking with coals, set up your grill with hot coals on one side and no coals on the other. The hot side is for direct-heat cooking for searing and color, while the cooler side is for indirect-heat cooking, which allows meat to cook the rest of the way without burning and drying out.

You can cook pheasant breasts whole, but my favorite way is skewers. After slicing pheasant breasts into thick strips and marinating, I tightly string them onto a skewer—no spacing between pieces of meat. This tight weave allows the meat to stay moist.

I place the meat on the hot side of the grill first, and when I’m happy with the color on all sides, I check the internal temp with a meat thermometer. If it’s still short of 155° Fahrenheit, I move the meat to the cooler side of the grill and close the lid. I take them off immediately when the internal temperature is where I want it.  

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