Pasta with a hearty meat sauce is a time-honored classic that never goes out of style. While many bolognese recipes start with ground beef, veal, pork, or a combination of ground meat, this one uses ground bison (buffalo meat). Pick up some ground bison and try this meaty marinara, my bison bolognese. It's not a traditional bolognese sauce, but its healthy, rich tasting and has a lot of flavor.
We eat a lot of chicken and turkey, so my first test of this recipe was with ground turkey. While it was very good (and you can use dark meat turkey), I wanted something different. Something richer. Bison was just the thing.
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Bison Nutrition
Bison is a leaner choice compared ground beef and a healthy choice for meat eaters that you can find at most markets. Another health benefit, bison are raised on pasture, not in feedlots or on factory farms. If you want to swap bison and use ground beef, use pasture raised beef as the best choice.
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Chopped onion
- Chopped celery
- Chopped carrot
- Large cloves garlic
- Dried Italian herb blend or use basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary
- Large bay leaf
- 1 pound ground bison 10% fat
- ¾ cup dry white wine optional
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- 1 28 ounce can whole or crushed tomatoes (see note below for fresh tomatoes)
- 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
- Ground nutmeg
- 1 bay leaf
- Half and half or canned coconut milk
- Red pepper flakes (pizza pepper)
Instructions
Start by cooking the vegetables, garlic and herbs until soft in a tablespoon of olive oil. Use a heavy pot for even heat distribution like a medium Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Next, add the ground bison, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon. Cook the bison until no longer pink. Next, add tomatoes, dried Italian seasoning, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Stir and scrape any small pieces off the bottom of the pan.
Next, add the tomatoes. Two options: fresh or canned.
Fresh or Canned Tomatoes?
For this batch of sauce, I used fresh organic heirloom tomatoes while end of summer tomatoes are plentiful at the market for a good price. You can easily use canned tomatoes because they are a pantry staple. Do what works best for you.
Using Fresh Tomatoes
To skin tomatoes, cut an "x" in the bottom of the tomato with a sharp paring knife. Plunge tomatoes into boiling water for one minute, the into a bowl filled with ice and water to shock them. The skins will peel right off. Cut the core out of the top.
Lastly, pulse tomatoes in a food processor or blender to break them up. You should have 4 cups.
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Using Canned Tomatoes
If your are making this when good fresh tomatoes are not available, canned tomatoes work great (and are a pantry staple). Buy whole tomatoes and seed them, then chop, or use diced or crushed tomatoes (easier and faster). You will need 1-28 ounce can plus 1-15 ounce can of tomatoes.
Adding Milk
Most Bolognese recipes add milk or cream for added richness. If you are dairy sensitive, use full fat coconut milk. It won't taste like coconut. I was out of milk when I made this batch, so I used canned coconut milk and it came out great.
Simmer to Develop Flavor
To develop rich flavor and thick texture, simmer your sauce at least one hour, and if possible, two. The simmering sauce will fill the house with wonderful fragrance. Everyone will be asking when dinner will be ready.
Another tip for creating a delicious sauce, add a Parmesan rind to the simmering sauce and let it melt in. It adds a fantastic savory flavor. Before serving, fish out what is left and discard.
Freeze Extra Sauce
Extra sauce freezes well, so if you you have extra, freeze it. Better yet, make a double batch and freeze it for an easy weeknight dinner.
Sauce Adjustments
If you need to stretch the sauce quantity to feed more mouths, add a can of tomato sauce. If you want it thicker, add a two tablespoons of tomato paste. Too thick? Thin with a little water.
To Serve
Serve bison Bolognese meat sauce over pasta of your choice. For pasta shapes, use spaghetti or a wide, flat noodle to catch all of the delicious meat sauce. Penne works well too. Be sure to top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
For low carb or Paleo eaters, use zucchini noodles, cassava noodles, or spaghetti squash. For how to make zucchini noodles, check out this post.
📖 Recipe
Bison Bolognese Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion ½ of a large
- 1 cup finely chopped celery 3 ribs
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot 2-3
- 2-3 large cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb blend or use basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary
- 1 pound ground bison 10% fat
- ¾ cup dry white wine optional
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 28 ounce can whole or crushed tomatoes see note below for fresh tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg or more
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 cup half and half or canned coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (pizza pepper)
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Instructions
Cook the Vegetables
- To a large heavy pot (5 quart) over medium heat, add olive oil. When oil is hot add the onion, celery and carrot. Turn heat down to medium low and cook the vegetables slowly until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the garlic and dried Italian herbs and cook 1 minute longer.
Add Meat and Continue
- Add the ground bison and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until it is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Add the wine and cook until wine is reduced, 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper, then stir in the tomato paste and your tomatoes. Add nutmeg, bay leaf and milk. Turn the heat up and bring sauce almost to a boil, then turn down to low and cover.
Simmer for Flavor
- Simmer sauce 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until thick and rich. Serve over pasta or noodles of choice. Extra sauce freezes well.
Matt says
Trying the recipe tonight. Very excited
Jen says
Hello, I’m excited to try this recipe! One quick question. Is 2tsp of the dried herbs listed combined? Or, 2 of each? Thanks!!
Sally Cameron says
Hi Jen. 2 teaspoons of a blend or if you don't have the blend use a total of 2 teaspoons of the other herbs listed. I usually use a little more too. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the question.
Donna says
Hi- do you simmer with the cover on or off?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Donna, I usually simmer with the cover off so that it thickens. If it splatter, you could try leaving the cover partially ajar and monitor it. Hope that helps. Please let me know.
Sam says
Made it this evening. Wonderful. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
Sally Cameron says
Love to hear that Sam, thanks for commenting.
Stephanie says
Instead of bison I had some ground elk from a hunting neighbor and used that and it was excellent! Went to start chopping vegetables and, oops—no carrots. So I threw in some diced sweet peppers instead for the carrots and it worked okay. Since it’s winter I used three pints jars of my own fresh canned tomatoes. Excellent bologese that would go well with just about any meat or game.
Sally Cameron says
Sounds amazing Stephanie! Good swap.
Angela Piaskoski says
Can I use red wine instead of white?
Sally Cameron says
Absolutely if you'd prefer! And if you want to try white wine, but are not a white wine drinker, you can use the mini airline sized bottles for cooking. Hope you enjoy Angela. Thanks for the question.
Andrea M. Franklin says
Ever since I've met my soldier fiance, I've had to train his palate to enjoy real food--not the MREs he got in the Army. Before he met me, he thought salt and pepper were the only seasonings. He recently came home with frozen ground bison and loaded the freezer with pounds of this stuff. I found your Bison Bolognese Meat Sauce Recipe and decided to give it a try. (In all honesty, I did have a jar of conventional Ragu just in case). I followed your recipe. When he got home, he and one of his soldiers were exhausted and starving--as expected. He looked down at the dutch oven full of bison and made himself a small plate--he doesn't waste food and he doesn't want to offend, so he politely portioned a small bit for himself and for his friend. Within minutes, he was up for seconds. As he walked into the kitchen, he said, "Wow, baby, this is delicious." Midway through the second plate, he looked up and said, "I know what it's missing! Red pepper flakes!!" I laughed, but truthfully, he was so spot on right about that. I thought I'd share the anecdote and let you know that we think red pepper flakes make this meat sauce absolutely phenomenal. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this amazing recipe!!
Sally Cameron says
Oh Andrea, thanks for your story! Makes my day and makes me smile. I'll always think of you two when I make this! He must really appreciate your fantastic home cooking after enduring army food. Please thank him for his service to our country. And yes on red pepper flakes! God bless you two on your upcoming marriage.
Traci says
Hi, does it need to simmer for 2 hours? :/ Can I cook it for less time?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Traci. The flavors will be richer and more developed the longer it goes, but yes you can simmer it for less time. Taste it and see for yourself while it is in progress.
Hi says
I made it for my boyfriend tonight and he enjoyed it, and he's a picky eater ???????????? Thanks so much!
Sally Cameron says
Love to hear that!
Hi says
When do you add the blended tomatoes and how much nutmeg?
Sally Cameron says
Add the tomatoes after the tomato sauce, and I use about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, maybe a little more. I use the whole nutmeg and a microplane zester for the best freshness.
Susie Perry says
Thanks - can' t wait to try it!
Susie Perry says
You did not say how much garlic to use
Sally Cameron says
Ha, forgot to list. All fixed. Thanks Susie. about 3 cloves is good!
ronnie says
Great recipe and good tip to use zucchini as noodles. I always use spaghetti squash but I hear now that its quite high in carbs. I'm sharing this recipe with my peepers
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Ronnie. While zucchini is lower in carbs (about 6 grams in 1 medium zucchini), spaghetti squash is a little higher but certainly not like eating real pasta. 100 grams, about 1 cup cubed, has 7 carbs. Pasta is more like 40 grams in 2 ounces (57 grams). Google the nutrition on the squashes and see for yourself. Hope you will make the recipe and report back.