Grouse Tenders - A Ruffed Grouse Recipe - Four Kids and a Chicken (2024)

A Story With Every Meal

I love cooking wild game because there is a story with every meal. Today’s grouse came from a quick trip up north with the boys for some family bonding and quality time together. In a life filled to the brim with sports, school, and other activities, these moments out in the woods are extra special.

This trip, Jackson drove a car and shot a real shotgun for the first time. We scavaged enough sticks from some fallen pine to make a fire in the sauna before staying up way too late playing dryland poker (which is betting with exercises). And trust me, when 100 pushups are in the pot, you don’t want to lose that bet.

The Grouse Hunt – Special Time Together

Why We Hunt With Our Kids

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article for LiveDan330 on why we hunt with our kids.

“Hunting can be an exciting and educational adventure for kids. It builds relationships and teaches character traits like patience, discipline, respect, and self control. Hunting also provides a hands-on, safe, active learning environment where children can experience nature, the outdoors, firearms, and get a bit of exercise in the process. By making a hunting experience interactive with children, you not only create an environment of learning, you teach them respect. Sure wehunt for food or fun. But ultimately, when we include our children, we are developing leaders. The bottom line for us as parents is that children will get out of this what we are willing to put into it for them. This is an experience that only we as parents can give our children and we can do it one on one with them.”

The Hunt

We arrived in the vast wilderness of Northern Minnesota with winding dirt trails and rivers in a landscape spotted with many pristine lakes. After the long car ride, a short walk on a wilderness trail was very welcome at last light.

A Chance To See Some Natural Beauty

As morning came, we woke early to hunt some familiar woods that has always been a good producer of grouse and deer. Our time together started in a nearby gravel pit with some gun safety review and other life lessons as we prepared for our hunt. Soon, we trekked off to a nearby hill with an abandoned fire tower and nearby rapids to enjoy some of the natural beauty of the area

Grouse Hunting On The Trails

Plenty of time was spent road hunting as well as walking the miles of untouched trails. That night, we stayed up late and got to enjoy the stars before finally going to sleep.

The next afternoon, after hours of walking, we came upon a covey of ruffed grouse. We chased these birds in and out of the spruce hearing their drumming and warbling as we played a serious game of hide-and-seek with them. We finally bagged a couple and field dressed them before heading home.

How to Field Dress a Grouse

Grouse are a surprisingly easy bird to field dress. The meat that is worth keeping is the breast and the legs. Honestly, the easiest way to get the breast is to stand on the wings and pull on the feet. It will separate the wings and the breast from the rest of the bird. Then just clip off the wings. Tear the skin at the base of the leg and pull down skinning the leg. Cut the hip joint and keep cool until cooking. Jackson has a video demonstrating this technique on his YouTube Channel.

This grouse recipe takes wild ruffed grouse and makes them into a perfect appetizer or simple meal that even the kids will love. In the end, this grouse recipe makes perfect strips of meat coated with breadcrumbs you can eat as a finger food.

I put a video together demonstrating this recipe. Watch it below, or you can read the recipe further down.

Debone the Grouse Breast

The first thing you need to do is to debone the grouse breast. This is easy with a fillet knife. Cut down the breast laterally where the sternum would be and work the breast offof the ribs. Then, cut the breast into strips.

Coat the Grouse Strips

First, coat with flour.

Then make an egg wash with 1 egg and a little cream. Dip the strips into the egg wash. Letting any excess drip off before coating with Panko.

Fry in Oil

Fry the breaded grouse tenders in oil until fully cooked and golden brown on both sides.

This meal is not only delicious, but it is also full of memories too. It’s a reward for hard work, a chance to think about time together as a family, and an opportunity thank Jesus for the blessing of fresh food, His beautiful creation, and our time together.

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

This article is part of a series called Foraging Minnesota. Here are other native foods you can eat.

Wild and Native Fish and Game

• How To Smoke a Turkey Breast
• Rainbow Trout Recipe
• Classic Minnesota Fish Fry
• Bacon Wrapped Pheasant Poppers

Wild and Native Plants

• Morel Gnocchi Mac and Cheese
• Homemade Maple Syrup
• Herb Tea
• Strawberry Jam
• Chokecherry Jelly
• Crabapple Jelly

Drinks Made From Foraged Foods

• Sumac Tea
• Sumac Old Fashioned
• Rhubarb Mojito
• Cider Mimosa
• Blackberry Shrub

YouTube Videos with Wild Game Recipes

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