Dove hunting has to be my favorite type of hunting, I get out as much as I can each fall, and I've been fortunate to have many successful hunts the last few years. So what do you do when it comes to cooking up a bunch of dove if you're stacking them up in the freezer? Sure poppers are quick and easy, they're practically a staple of Texas dove hunting, but when you're bringing in limits of dove and my family will only eat a few poppers before getting tired of them, I've had to look elsewhere for creativity.

I've checked the original Texags thread from 2009 for a few ideas (linked here: The Dove Recipe Thread), but I figured 17 years has been long enough it was time for a little bit of an update and discussion. Here are a few of my own creations, plus some from Texas Dove Hunters Association and Meat Church that I've tried over the years and found to be good.

I'd like to hear any of yall's recipes that you've cooked up or tried over the years, and welcome any feedback or ideas on the various recipes.


Dove Casserole

About a limit of dove (breasts from 12-15 birds)
1 cup evaporated milk
3 cups of cooked rice
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mushrooms
1 package dry onion soup mix
Salt, Pepper, and Garlic to taste

1) Cook rice like normal. 2) season, then sear/brown dove breasts in a pan for 1-2 minutes on each side, let cool and cut each one into fourths. 3) mix all ingredients in a bowl and then add to a casserole dish. 4) cook for about an hour at 350. 5) top with a little more cheese and cook another 10 minutes. 6) eat and enjoy

Dove Chili (basically take any chili recipe and make it 2/3 dove, 1/3 beef. I use a simplified version of AustinAgChef's well known recipe here on Texags)

2 lbs ground dove breast, 1 lb ground beef
1 large yellow onion diced small
3 jalapenos diced small
2 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 large cans tomato sauce
1 large tomato can of water
3 each dried ancho, New Mexico and guajillo chiles
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. ground chipotle powder
1 tbsp. chile powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper, to taste


1. Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles and place in a small saucepot with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, place lid on pot and turn off heat. Allow chiles to steep for 15 minutes and then puree.

2. Grind dove breasts through the coarse die. Season meat with kosher salt and set aside. Meanwhile heat some bacon fat in a cast iron skillet and brown meat in batches to ensure even browning. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. In a separate stockpot, heat about 3 tbsp. of bacon fat and add onions and jalapenos. Season with some salt and cook for 3-5 minutes and then add garlic and continue cooking for an additional 3-5 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic.

4. Once the aromatics have cooked, add meat and pan drippings to pot. Now add all of your spices and tomato paste. Let this cook for about 5 minutes to allow the spices and tomato paste to toast. Be sure to stir often to prevent burning of the tomato paste.

5. Once that spices have had time to toast, add your tomatoes, tomato sauce, chile puree and water.

6. Turn heat to low and allow the chili to simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender. Adjust seasoning with salt to your liking and serve however you'd like.

Dove Sliders (credit to Meat Church)

1) Grind up a limit of dove breasts alongside a half pound of raw pork belly (Matt's version calls for 5 pieces of bacon, but I think it needs a little bit more fat than that. Plus I like to have a strip of cooked bacon on the slider).

2) Form smallish balls of ground meat (should be around 10ish of them) and smash them down on a hot griddle and season with meat church blanco. Flip and melt a slice of pepperjack cheese on the top.

3) Toast your buns and carmelize some onion.

4) Assemble your slider with everything and your burger condiment of choice, add a strip of bacon if you'd like.

Dove Quesadillas (Also Meat Church)

10 Tortillas
Breast of 9 dove
16 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
10 oz queso fresco, crumbled
3 poblanos
1 sweet onion
1 baby bella mushroom, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2T minced garlic
2T butter
2T olive oil or tallow

1) Smoke the dove at 250F for about 25 minutes then remove and slice thin like fajitas. 2) Sautee all the vegetables in a pan. 3) Melt butter in the skillet. Add a tortilla, a handful of both cheeses, the veg and some dove. Top with more cheese and another tortilla. Once the cheese on the bottom is melted, flip using a large spatula. Once the cheese is melted throughout you can flip a few more times until you reach the desired color on the tortillas.


I've even ground up dove meat with pork belly, added cheese, jalapenos, bacon, seasonings, and stuffed it into hog casings, then cold smoked on the pit just like any other sausage link. Turned out decent but probably isnt going to take the world by storm.

Dove nuggets are pretty damn good too.

Cut the breast meat away from the keel, lightly batter and fry in beef tallow, put on top of rice and smother in homemade brown gravy and sauted onions. My kids will eat 10-12 nuggets a piece at 3 and 4 years old.

Awesome thread!

I did this one it and they turned out great!

Fried Dove with Jalapeños: https://www.texasmonthly.com/recipe/dove/

I had seven doves, decided I would pick and spatchcock the birds, easy to clean out the innards, and decided on the "simmered in gravy" route.
Rolled in seasoned flour, browned, sauteed some onion, made gravy.. cooked for about 45 minutes. Gravy turned brown, as it cooked. Delish.

edited to add: bonus points for using a Wagner cast iron skillet...

I'll share this one from my very Czech grandparents, but you're going to have to pick your doves like a man. This recipe doesn't work without the skin on the birds.

My grandmother would serve them for breakfast cooked this way. Bonus points if you save the hearts and gizzards and add them to the cook.

Salt and pepper enough birds to cover the bottom of a cast iron skillet in a single layer.

Add water to the skillet about half way up the birds. Add a stick of butter to the top and, bring to a simmer and lid up.

It will take 45 minutes to an hour for the birds to become fork tender. The cook will take longer if they're late season birds and are tough. This is great for tough birds. Add water if needed.

Once the birds are tender, the water should be about gone. If not, remove the lid and let it boil away.

Once the water is gone, turn the birds until they are brown on all sides.

Remove the birds from the skillet and place in a bowl.

Add a little flour to the skillet and build a roux. Brown the flour to your liking, then add only water to build a fairly thin gravy. Season to taste.

Pour the gravy over the birds in the bowl and serve with rice or over bread.

This recipe will prevent breasting birds in the future and my mom would still hit me with a broomstick if she caught me executing such an act.

Enjoy!

We use dove in gumbo.

We made this last night.

**Ingredients**

* 12 doves, dressed
* 1/4 cup beef tallow
* Salt & black pepper, to taste
* Garlic powder, to taste
* Paprika, to taste
* Any additional seasonings of choice
* 3 Tbsp flour
* 1 yellow onion, diced
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 1 red bell pepper, diced
* 4 celery stalks, diced
* Minced garlic no limit
* 1 jalapeño, diced (optional)
* 2 cans French onion soup
* 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
* Green onions, sliced, for garnish
* Cooked rice, for serving

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**Instructions**

1. Wash the doves and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Heat the beef tallow in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
3. Generously season the doves with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and any other seasonings you like.
4. Add the doves to the hot Dutch oven and brown well on all sides. Remove and place on a rack or paper towels to drain.
5. Add the flour to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and free of lumps.
6. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, minced garlic, and jalapeño. Cook until the vegetables are softened and wilted.
7. Pour in the French onion soup and chicken broth. Stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
8. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer.
9. Place the browned doves back into the Dutch oven, nestling them into the gravy.
10. Cover and simmer for about 1 hours, or until the dove is fork-tender.
11. Leave the doves whole, or remove them from the pot, shred the meat from the bones, and return the meat to the gravy.
12. Taste the gravy and adjust the seasonings as needed.
13. Spoon the smothered dove and gravy over hot rice. Garnish with green onions and serve with garlic bread and a side salad.

There's fried dove, dove gumbo, grilled dove, dove poppers, dove and dumplings,………..We can sleep in a tent to save money, and eat all the dove we want.

Dad taught me this one when I was a kid. Probably when he realized he had to feed me when mom was away.

1) Pick your dove like a man.
2) In a microwave safe bowl, put 3 dove in a circle with their breast facing inwards.
3) Season generously with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
4) Cover the bottom of the bowl in water.
5) Microwave 3 dove for 3 minutes.

Delicious.