Bison Pasta - Easy weeknight dinner coming your way! This tasty recipe is made with ground bison, tomato sauce, onion, and Italian seasonings. So Good!
Ground Bison is a tasty, low fat protein that is an excellent substitute for ground beef in any recipe. Be sure to check out our Ground Bison Chili or Instant Pot Mexican Casserole for inspiration.
Bison Pasta
Recently, we were craving pasta and needed an easy weeknight dinner option. So, I pulled out a frozen brick of ground bison and made this quick and easy pasta recipe with a few simple ingredients. Super easy and tasty! Have dinner on the table in 30 minutes!
Jump to:
- Bison Pasta
- Here's What You Need
- Notes on Ingredients
- Making the Sauce
- Tasty Tip: Have the pasta water ready before you begin making the sauce.
- Why Bison?
- Protein Substitutions
- Make Ahead Meal Prep
- Watch How to Make this Recipe
- Substitute Ground Bison in These Tasty Recipes
- More Bison Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Community
Here's What You Need
Notes on Ingredients
- Ground Bison - Usually sold in vacuum sealed package in the meat section of the grocery store.
- Tomato Sauce - Choose the best tomato sauce without added additional flavors.
- Italian Seasoning - We use our Homemade Italian Seasoning Recipe for here! It's super tasty and easy to make. Give it a try!
Making the Sauce
Tasty Tip: Have the pasta water ready before you begin making the sauce.
Bison Pasta is super quick and easy to make. So, make sure you have your well-salted (should taste salty like the sea) pasta water heated to a low boil before you start. I usually put in a palm full of kosher salt into 8 quarts of water. You'll begin cooking the pasta once the sauce has started simmering.
Why Bison?
Bison meat is leaner than beef. It has fewer calories, more protein when compared with beef, making it a frequent choice of athletes and health conscious consumers.
Bison tastes very much like beef, but milder and somewhat sweeter, making it an easy substitution in recipes calling for beef.
Bison is really versatile and goes well with many of the common seasonings you have on hand like Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, or Rosemary. Good rule of thumb: If you would use a spice with ground beef, then give it a try with Bison as well. You might like it!
Protein Substitutions
This recipe will work well with any other ground protein that suits your preference, like the following:
- Beef
- Turkey
- Venison - for the hunters out there!
- Pork
- Italian Sausage
Make Ahead Meal Prep
Ground Bison Pasta is a great meal prep idea you can make ahead and freeze to pull out later for that easy weeknight dinner. We love to use these convenient Restaurant Storage Containers.
We hope you enjoy our super simple, super tasty ground bison recipe for Bison Pasta. Try it and let us know how you like it in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you!
xo ~ Seanna
Watch How to Make this Recipe
Substitute Ground Bison in These Tasty Recipes
More Bison Recipes
- 10 Best Ground Bison Recipes - Check out this Bison Recipe Roundup from InsanelyGoodRecipes.com.
- Bison Meatloaf - from Food.com.
- Best Ever Bison Burger - from Delish.com.
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📖 Recipe
Ground Bison Pasta Recipe
Equipment
- frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 lb ground bison
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 32 oz tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons salted butter cold
- 1 lb pasta
Instructions
- Have the Pasta Water Simmering Before You Begin. Bison Pasta is super quick and easy to make. So, make sure you have your well-salted (should taste salty like the sea) pasta water heated to a low boil before you start. I usually put in a palm full of kosher salt into 8 quarts of water. You'll begin cooking the pasta once the sauce has started simmering.
- Dice and Sauté Onion: Dice a small onion and sauté it in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until just translucent.
- Add Ground Bison and Brown. Next, add 1 pound ground bison, along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon ground pepper. Break up the meat and mix it in with the sautéed onions until meat is browned. Taste the meat at this point to make sure that it is well seasoned. It should be tasty!
- Add Tomato Sauce, Seasonings and Simmer. Now, stir in the tomato sauce and and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes.
- Cook The Pasta. Toss the pasta into the water right after you have the sauce simmering. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Approximately 8-10 minutes. Try to time the pasta so that you don't have to drain it when it's done. Ideally, it's best to transfer the pasta directly from the water to the sauce using a slotted spoon.
- Taste Test and Adjust Seasonings. After the sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, it's time for another taste test and to adjust the seasonings as necessary.
- Add the Cooked Pasta to the Sauce. When the pasta is ready, use a slotted spoon to transfer it directly from the water into the simmering sauce, bringing with it some of the starchy pasta water. The starchy pasta water is the secret flavor booster for Italian sauces! It's also a great way to loosen a sauce that is too thick. So, always reserve a cup just in case it comes in handy!
- Finish the Sauce. Final step is to turn off the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of butter. Finishing a red sauce with cold butter will reduce the acidity of the tomatoes and smooth out the texture of the sauce.
- Serve Immediately or Save for Later. Enjoy this easy weeknight meal right away, or separate into meal-prep containers and freeze.
Raquel
Cannot wait to try this - sounds delicious!
Seanna
Thanks Raquel. Hope you like it!
Emily Flint
I need to find bison ASAP so I can make this pasta, it looks amazing!
Seanna
Thanks Emily! You should be able to find it near the packages of ground beef at your local grocery store.
Jeri
This was awesome! Thanks for the recipe!
Seanna
Thanks Jeri. So glad you liked it!
Amanda
I love bison steaks but haven’t used ground bison in pasta. It came out so great!
Seanna
Thanks Amanda! We use ground bison in any recipe calling for ground beef. So much less fat! and still so tasty!
Sue
I'm seeing ground bison more frequently these days in my local grocery store. I'll have to give this a try!
Seanna
It's so good. Used it for tacos the other night and it was amazing. Great healthy option!
Laura
I love this recipe! The bison tasted so good in the marinara sauce. I love that it's leaner and higher in protein. The seasoning where perfect. Thanks!
Seanna
I'm so happy to hear! Bison is such a great substitute for beef! Thank you so much!
Paul Crosby
Really good! Everyone really liked it.
Seanna
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear!
Misha
made this tonight and it was so easy and delicious! thank you for this recipe
Seanna
Thanks Misha. Glad you enjoyed it!