Bison-The Other Red Meat | Diet and Exercise | Real Life Fitness | PhitZone

Call it bison. Call it buffalo. It’s all good!

A number of years ago we would frequent a restaurant near our house. Their specialty was a buffalo burger. I kept telling myself that I was going to try it, but I would always chicken out.

One day I broke down, and made the order. I have to tell you, it was really good. While very much like beef, it had a sweeter flavor to it. From that moment on, I was hooked. Not to say that I don’t still love beef, but whenever we can get our hands on some buffalo meat, we’re all over it.

Like with beef, bison is the best when it’s grass-fed versus grain-fed. Bison is very nutrient dense. The number of calories for a 3 oz. serving is approximately 90 calories, with 18 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fat. Compared to lean beef, which is 240 calories, 23 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat.

As I mentioned, the flavor of bison is sweeter, and the texture is very tender. It is very similar to a prime cut of beef.

There are bison ranches across the country. You may have a farmers market, butcher, or grocery store that carry  bison. Many of the ranches have websites that you can order directly from. We get our orders filled at Thunder Heart Ranch, located in San Antonio, TX. We are not affiliated with Thunder Heart in any way, shape or form.

Recipe

Grilled Bison Burger

I was going to go with a steak here, but I love this burger. There is little in the world that is as good as a properly prepared grilled burger. The flavors are savory (my mouth is watering just thinking  about it), and don’t require a chef’s touch.

When it comes to meat, I like to let it talk for itself. Mild seasoning is okay, but if you have to add too much flavor, what’s the point? That said, you’ll notice in today’s recipe that there isn’t much in the way of seasoning.

Be sure to check out Bison Basics for some great information about grilling bison.

Ingredients

2 lbs. bison, ground

Sea Salt

Pepper

1 medium tomato, sliced

1 medium red onion, sliced

Whole wheat buns

Steps

Loosely break up the ground bison in a bowl.

Salt and pepper to your liking.

Form the meat into 5-6 patties. A word of warning-Do not over pack the meat. Try to leave them as loose as possible while maintaining the patty shape.

Preheat your grill. Sear both sides of burger (about 5 minutes on each side).

Finish cooking on the cooler side of the grill for another 6 or 7 minutes per side, until an internal temperature of 155° F.

Move burgers to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes.

While the burgers are resting, toast the hamburger buns on the grill until golden brown.

Plate the buns, top with a burger patty. Add a slice of tomato, and onion.

Bon appetit

By adding in a tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce into the burger mix, you can add a great flavor, while only adding less than 12 calories to the entire mix (about 2 per burger).

A thin slice of sharp cheddar cheese makes for a fantastic cheese burger.

Nutrition Info

Cals 334.7

Fat 5.7 g

Saturated fat 1.9 g

Polyunsaturated fat .3 g

Monounsaturated fat 1.5g

Cholesterol 93.7 mg

Sodium 380.3 mg

Potassium 608.4 mg

Carbohydrate 32.2 g

Protein 39.6 g

Nutritional information was calculated using SparkRecipe.com .

Also check out the following:

Thunder Heart Bison – San Antonio, TX

Full Circle Bison Ranch – Williams, OR

Bison Ridge Ranch – Montello, WI

Observatory Rock Bixon Ranch – Jefferson, CO

Straight Arrow Bison Ranch – Broken Bow, NE

If you know of any more, please link to them in the comments below.