Pot roast pheasant recipe

This pot roast pheasant makes a special roast dinner.

Learn how to cook a pheasant with our classic pheasant recipe. You might be thinking roast pheasant sounds rather fancy, but this tasty bird usually costs the same as chicken. One bird serves 2-3 people (male birds are usually larger than females). Add in the delicious flavours of smoky bacon and fragrance garlic and you have a really impressive dinner. A portion contains only 290 calories and 7g of fat so it’s a surprisingly healthy family meal (opens in new tab) too.

Ingredients

• 200g smoked bacon lardons
• 1 tbsp oil
• A brace of oven-ready pheasant (a cock and a hen)
• 2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery sticks, chopped
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• About 300ml hot chicken stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée or ketchup
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A few parsley leaves

To serve:

• 400g small potatoes
• 2 leeks, trimmed and cut into chunks

Method

1. Set the oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3. Put the bacon and oil in a frying pan and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. 
2. Add the birds to the pan and cook them for a few mins on each side to brown the breasts. Put them in a casserole dish with the bacon.
3. Add the onion to the pan and cook for a couple of mins. 
4. Add the garlic and celery and fry for 2-3 mins, then pour in the tomatoes, stock, purée, Worcestershire sauce and sugar. Bring to the boil, season well and spoon into the casserole. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 45 mins. 
5. Take the lid off, baste the pheasants and cook for another 15-25 mins, until the meat is tender. 
6. Leave for 10 mins before serving. Sprinkle with parsley leaves and serve with potatoes and leeks.

Top Tip for making pot roast pheasant

If you don’t want to use game, cook this recipe with a 1.5kg chicken, adding an extra 30-40 mins cooking time.

How do you carve a pheasant?

For ease of serving, take the birds out of the dish and when cool enough to handle, take the legs, breasts and all the meat off the bone. Put the dish on the hob, put the meat back and warm it through.

Does pheasant contain shot?

Some game birds like pheasant can contain shot or fragments of shot as they are hunted with guns. It's rare to find shot in the meat, but not impossible.

Does pheasant taste gamey?

Pheasant has a distinctive flavour with a hint of gaminess, but overall, it tastes quite similar to chicken.

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