Pheasants might be Chinese chickens, but they aren’t like your everyday store-bought chicken. They fly around in the wild and use their muscles. This makes them a lot of fun to hunt but can make their very tendon filled legs hard to work with. I have been trying to come up with a recipe that does these delicious albeit “scarier” cuts of meat justice. After saving the legs from my past recipes I think I came up with just the recipe for them. Southern Sticky Pheasant!
Y’all! This dish is mighty good. This would be a classic Southern comfort food if there were any pheasants in the South! This low and slow method will tenderize your pheasant legs right up, and my goodness, the gravy is to die for! Because what good Southern recipe doesn’t include gravy??
Also, you might think this recipe calls for too much seasoning but let your Cajun flag fly and pour it all on there! The Cajun seasoning I used had a kick to it too, but if you or your family doesn’t like the spice you can always use a less spicy one.
This recipe would work for other upland game legs, but I love this for pheasant legs! The meat falls right off and while those tiny tendons are still there, they are way easier to manage! Mmmmm it’s good! And the leftovers are just as great! I hope y’all love it as much as my family did. Enjoy!
Southern Sticky Pheasant
Ingredients
- 3 lbs bone in pheasant legs 11-12 legs
- 4 yellow onions julienned
- 2 T Tony Chachere’s or favorite Cajun Seasoning
- 1 T garlic powder
- Flour for dusting
- 2 C chicken stock plus more if needed*
- 1 stick salted butter
Instructions
- Mix Cajun seasoning and garlic powder together.
- Coat legs evenly. It might seem like a lot of seasoning, but not only will it give the legs flavor, it will also flavor your gravy.
- Lightly dust each side of the legs with flour. You can use a flour sifter or mesh strainer for this.
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
- Once melted, add your pheasant legs. This will be a tight fit but make sure they are only in one layer. No stacking.
- Brown the legs on both sides. This will take approximately 6 minutes.
- Remove pheasant legs and set aside in a bowl/plate.
- Add the julienned onions to the pot. Mix in drippings left from pheasant.
- Sauté until browned, approximately 25 minutes.
- Once browned, add a dash of chicken stock to the pot. Use this to scrape up any crispy drippings. This will get your gravy tasting mighty fine.
- Add pheasant legs back in.
- Add remaining stock.
- Bring it to a boil, cover your pot, and reduce to a low simmer. Let cook for 1 hr and 30 min to 2 hours, flipping the legs every 20ish minutes.
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
I made this last night. I didn’t have 3 pounds so I had to make a couple of adjustments.
I thought it was really good and I ate the leftovers for my lunch. I’d definitely make it again.
I’m so glad to hear that! And adjustments are all good, because if it’s tasty what else matters?!
I made this a year ago. Today my next door neighbor gave me some pheasant legs. So I googled recipes and clicked this one as it was at the top. It appealed so I made it and it’s simmering right now. Then I scrolled further down and saw that I had used this recipe a year ago and had commented. I’d completely forgotten! I’m sure it’s going to be just as good. The sauce is fabulous! It’ll be ready in about 40.
Thanks again!
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