The Ultimate Dove Recipe - Grilled Doves La Mancha | Hank Shaw (2024)

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4.98 from 41 votes

By Hank Shaw

August 31, 2014 | Updated August 14, 2022

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Often imitated, this is the ultimate dove recipe: doves la Mancha, Spanish style grilled doves with herbs and smoked paprika. It has become one of my signature dishes. Easy to make, fast and lip-smacking good!

The Ultimate Dove Recipe - Grilled Doves La Mancha | Hank Shaw (2)

This has been called the ultimate dove recipe by several outdoor magazines over the years, and it very well might be — although dove poppers could give it a run.

I’ve been making doves la Mancha for nearly 20 years, and it’s still my favorite dove recipe. Super simple, this lets you get all primal with your Labor Day bag of fat, juicy doves. Why? Because you pluck ’em, gut ’em and then grill and eat the birds whole.

Pluck a dove? Seriously. Doves are the easiest bird to pluck, and I can do one in about 90 seconds once I get my groove on. The feathers practically fall off, which is why your dog hates retrieving them. (Here’s a video we did on how to pluck a dove.)

Not only does plucking make the bird look nicer — like a little baby chicken — but you also get to eat the legs, which are fantastic, if a bit small. I normally leave one digit on the wings because it keeps the breast meat moister, but you don’t have to.

The Ultimate Dove Recipe - Grilled Doves La Mancha | Hank Shaw (3)

How to Make Doves la Mancha

Doves la Mancha is crazy easy. Once you have your plucked doves, you smear melted butter or olive oil all over the birds, then salt them, inside and out.

Stuff the little cavities with fresh herbs: I use rosemary, thyme, sage — often the native sages that live where I hunt — and sometimes fresh or dried bay leaves. Side note: Don’t use sagebrush for this dove recipe because it’s too bitter, and it’s not actually sage. You can burn some sagebrush while you are grilling, and that lovely aroma will bathe your birds.

You’ll grill your doves over a very hot fire, ideally charcoal or wood. Gas is OK, if a bit boring. The general idea is to grill them breast side up for most of the time, with the grill cover down. This smoke roasts your birds.

As they grill — and remember this will only be for a few minutes because you want to serve dove meat medium, not well done — you paint the doves with olive oil or bacon fat, and sprinkle with smoky Spanish paprika; regular paprika is OK, too.

Give this dove recipe a go this dove season. But fair warning: If you do, you might never go back to breasting out your doves again…

The Ultimate Dove Recipe - Grilled Doves La Mancha | Hank Shaw (4)

Other Great Dove Recipes

I have 25 dove recipes here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, ranging from bacon-wrapped doves to dove enchiladas. Some great Labor Day grilling or barbecue options include:

  • Grilled doves Cajun style. Super easy with a Louisiana flair.
  • Smoked doves bathed in a Mexican guajillo sauce. Rich and only moderately spicy.
  • Grilled doves with an Arizona desert inspired barbecue sauce.
  • Slow and low barbecued doves.

No doves? This dove recipe works with pigeons or squab, teal, woodco*ck, rails, quail, or yes, even Cornish game hens.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me athuntgathercook.

4.98 from 41 votes

Grilled Doves a la Mancha

This is a really easy dish to make, but you do need fresh herbs, and Spanish smoked paprika is important to this dish. Many good supermarkets offer it, and you can also buy it online. If you can't find smoked paprika, regular sweet paprika is OK.

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Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Spanish

Servings: 6 people

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 doves, or 4 to 8 squab or teal
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 12 bay leaves
  • 12 to 24 sage leaves
  • 2 sprigs rosemary, cut into short lengths
  • About 1/4 cup melted bacon fat, butter or duck fat
  • Spanish smoked paprika
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Coat the doves with olive oil and salt them well. Stuff each cavity with sage, rosemary and a bay leaf.

  • Get your grill hot and clean the grates. Set the doves breast side up and cook them over medium-high heat, with the grill cover closed, for 6 minutes. Open the grill cover and turn the doves over so the top of the breast is wedged between grill grates. Paint the birds with some bacon fat. Let them cook this way for a minute or two, just to get a little color. Turn the doves on their sides and grill for another minute or two — for each side. Paint with more bacon fat.

  • Dust with the smoked paprika and the black pepper and move the birds to a platter. Let them rest for 5 minutes. Eat with your fingers and serve with a bowl to put the bones in. A simple tomato salad is a good accompaniment, as is a loaf of crusty bread.

Notes

Figure on 2 doves per person for a light lunch or an appetizer, or 3 to 6 for a main course.

Nutrition

Calories: 63kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.2g | Protein: 0.02g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 0.2mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 13IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Appetizers and Snacks, Featured, Recipe, Spanish, Wild Game

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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The Ultimate Dove Recipe - Grilled Doves La Mancha | Hank Shaw (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat dove rare? ›

A dove is a very lean, dark-meat bird that most wild game chefs will recommend you cook until medium rare in the 130 to 135 F window, similar to duck or goose.

What is the best way to cook a dove? ›

Grilled or Barbecued Dove Recipes. Grilling is by far the best way to cook doves. It's the only way to get the skin crispy without overcooking the breast meat, which should be eaten medium, i.e., still pink.

How to make dove food? ›

What should I feed doves?
  1. Corn on the cob.
  2. Crushed egg shells mixed into their food bowl (this helps them digest their food better)
  3. A small amount of cat food now and then (just don't overdo it—it's not good for them).

What to do with doves? ›

Dove poppers are an obvious favorite, especially on opening day. However, when I really want to savor my quarry, I make a simple roast. Since dove is a red-meat migratory bird, it is best served medium-rare. A proper roast should crisp the skin but never cook the meat inside past medium-rare.

Can you eat a dove egg? ›

In fact, almost all bird eggs are edible.

What temperature is safe to eat doves? ›

Safe Preparation

Fully cook game birds to an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

How much meat can you get from a dove? ›

A dove breast yields about 3 ounces of meat. A whole dressed dove yields a little more. 10. The edible portion of one dove equals 10 large shrimp, one chicken leg, two chicken wings, 2 1/2 wieners, three sausage patties or one bratwurst.

What do you soak dove meat in? ›

Most Texans let their game meat soak in milk to get the gamey taste out. Place your dove breasts in a bowl of milk in the fridge for at least two hours. In another bowl, mix flour with garlic powder, salt and pepper (add as much as your taste buds allow).

Does dove taste gamey? ›

If you cook a dove breast until it is medium-rare, and I'm talking no more than 130 to 135 degrees, it doesn't taste the least bit funky. It's actually very mild and much like any other lesser-cooked dark-fleshed game meat. If you cook it past medium-rare, it starts to get agamey edge to it.

What are all the ingredients in dove? ›

Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Sodium Oleate, Water (Eau), Sodium Isethionate, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Fragrance (Parfum), Sodium Laurate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, Kaolin or (ou) Titanium Dioxide.

What is dove meat called? ›

The word "squab" probably comes from Scandinavia; the Swedish word skvabb means "loose, fat flesh". The term formerly applied to all dove and pigeon species (such as the wood pigeon, the mourning dove, the extinct-in-the-wild socorro dove, and the now extinct passenger pigeon,) and their meat.

Can you feed doves oats? ›

Yes, birds can eat raw porridge oats. Oats are a very nutritious grain and good for birds in moderation, especially in the winter months. Many birds enjoy oats, especially blackbirds. Never served cooked oats as they are sticky and may glue a birds beak closed as they dry.

How to prepare dove for cooking? ›

Instructions. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel, then season the dove breasts on both sides with the Hardcore Carnivore Camo. Place a stainless steel or cast iron pan over high heat, and add the olive oil. Once oil is hot and shimmering, add the dove breasts and cook without moving for 2 minutes.

Is dove a red meat? ›

Doves have red meat like a duck, but no fat. They are best served medium or medium-rare, and because they rarely live very long, are almost never tough the way pigeons often are.

Can you eat pigeon meat? ›

Pigeon meat has quite high nutritional value, 9 times more than chicken meat. The dishes made from pigeon meat have a very good effect on nourishing the body, especially for women who are pregnant, malnourished children, or people who have just woken up. .

Is it safe to eat wild doves? ›

Dove is a lean meat that has a high protein content and tastes great. The lure to eat dove comes partly from the act of harvesting the bird in the wild. It is organic, free-range meat, depending on how good of a shot you are.

Can you eat pigeon rare? ›

Unlike chicken or turkey, squab is often cooked until medium-rare or medium-well, leaving the interior slightly pink and keeping the meat from drying out. The risk of salmonella and other pathogens is much lower in pigeons; however, the spread of disease is still possible.

How rare is a dove? ›

The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America. Every year hunters harvest more than 20 million, but the Mourning Dove remains one of our most abundant birds with a U.S. population estimated at 350 million.

How to take gamey taste out of dove? ›

The distinct game flavor of either birds or animals will be milder after soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in either a salt or vinegar solution.

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