This versatile ground bison base is prepared in bulk and frozen in convenient portions to be added to future meals. It’s affordable, uses simple ingredients, and is quick and easy. I always try and keep a few bags of this savory base in my freezer for when I’m in a pinch, or just don’t have the energy to defrost and brown meat on the stove. As much as I love to take my time in the kitchen, more often than not we are getting in late from farm chores and I need quick and easy. This recipe can be used as a base for chili, spaghetti with meat sauce, sloppy joes, tacos, vegetable soup and more…

This base can easily be revised and played with. I try and avoid using too many seasonings for this base, because I’m never quite sure what it will be used for when I’m ready for it. I used diced tomatoes for this post, because they are what I had on hand, but I typically use marinara sauce. If you know you will be using this recipe for something like tacos or enchiladas, you can use a big jar of salsa. Have fun with it!

Ground Bison Base

Makes approximately 10 cups

3 pounds ground bison
1 bell pepper diced (any color will do)
1 large sweet onion, or 2 small/medium onions diced
2 cloves of garlic minced (I use 1 tsp of jarred minced garlic from the grocery store)
1 26 oz jar of marinara sauce (or 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Cook meat and veggies. Add ground bison, diced onion and bell pepper to a large skillet, dutch oven or stock pot. You will not need to add oil to your skillet. Cook on medium heat until bison is cooked thoroughly. Drain. (When browning ground bison, there typically isn’t much liquid and fat to drain because it is so lean. But in this case your veggies will release their own juices).

Simmer. Add your remaining ingredients, mix, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Drain. If using Marinara sauce, skip this step. You will have a nice creamy base. If you used diced tomatoes, drain off about half of your liquid.

Cool. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Store. Divide your base into (2) quart size heavy duty freezer bags. There will be enough base to add 5 cups to each bag. Store in your freezer laying flat; this makes for quicker thawing.

Ideas on how to use your Ground Bison Base:

Depending on what you are using your base for, you can choose how much liquid you want to drain from your base.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce: Simply add your thawed base to a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Sloppy Joes: Use your favorite sloppy joe recipe and add this base for your meat. Bison is a bit sweeter than beef, so you may want to reduce the amount of brown sugar that your sloppy joe recipe calls for.

Tacos: Thaw your base and simmer with a packet of taco seasoning or your favorite taco seasoning recipe.

Soup: If you’re making a soup that calls for ground bison or beef, use this. This base works really well with zucchini or vegetable soup with our “Bison Bone Broth”.

Macaroni: Thaw and heat, then add to buttered elbow macaroni. This works better if you used marinara sauce for this recipe.

Chili: Add to your favorite chili recipe.

This is all you need. Simple and healthy.