What's the Deal With Bison Meat?

If you're a beef eater but are concerned about the fat and cholesterol, bison meat can be a terrific alternative. Available in the same cuts as beef, bison can be used in pretty much all preparations where you might otherwise use beef. It just has lower fat, cholesterol and calories:

On a recent visit to Lone Star Bison Ranch near Lawrence, Kansas (where the buffalo roam), I had the chance to taste their grassfed bison meat in the form of a burger prepared by the rancher himself. The meat is definitely leaner than hamburger, which you notice in the texture. But the meat is quite flavorful and not unlike beef.

The health benefits of bison over beef are significant. For instance, a serving of bison has only 2.5g of fat versus over 10g in beef. It's also substantially lower in calories (140 vs. 215) and somewhat higher in iron.

For much more on bison, check out this fact sheet from the USDA.

Have you tried bison. How do you like to use it?

(Images: Valerie Shaff via Apartment Therapy New York)

Comments (22)

I like the idea of bison, and I'm really not a picky eater, the only things on my 'absolutely not' list are jello and ham. But when I've tried to eat bison, I can't get past the smell of it. There's just something so very unappetizing about it.

I love bison! I used to live really close to a farm and my family always got fresh elk and bison from the guys. Whenever I go home I break my vegetarian rule for the stuff. I've found the fresher cuts don't smell quite as strongly but it can have kind of a funky oder when it gets old.

I like bison. I have only cooked with it myself once, but it has gotten somewhat common in restaurants. To be honest, it seems pretty close to lean beef to me.

I love bison. I use it all the time.

Never noticed any offputting smells.

I don't buy ground beef these days, I buy bison. My farmer's market has a pound of bison for $6, just about as much as a grocery store pound of lean ground beef. I don't notice a difference in the taste and both my fiancee and I don't have the digestive difficulties we do with beef.

I made the beef & barley stew posted last week with bison on Sunday and it is heavenly!

Oh bison :'( I'm not a big red meat eater but after seeing bison burger on a menu lately I've been dying to try some. Just last week I attempted to google for local bison. Still looking

I buy bison for burgers instead of beef. Its very lean so I like to add some sauteed mushrooms (chopped fine) to the meat and then grill them. We're lucky to have a great meat purveyer where we can get bison ribeyes which are heavenly!

Horse meat has all the same benefits, I've heard.

If you cook it when it's fresh, there is no strange smell at all, but if you leave it in the fridge for a couple of days, it can develop a kind of funk. I'm not sure if it's actually gone bad at this point but I haven't tried eating it either cause funk is funk and I'm really down with eating any funky meat.

The fresh meat itself is great though, very lean with good flavor. It does tend to dry out a little faster because it's lean so don't cook it as long as you would the same cut of beef.

I do agree that bison is the way to go!

I have read that grass-fed beef has a similar nutritional profile to grass-fed bison. The difference comes from the animal's lifestyle (most cattle are corn-fed in feed lots) as opposed to coming from the different species. Don't quote me on that though, I don't have a source.

I tried a bison burger in a pub a little while ago and absolutely loved it! Anybody here know how bison stands up to beef in terms of being produced sustainably?

I cook with bison often. We make chile beans, tacos, fajitas, even bison lettuce wraps. Quite delicious.

What a coincidence, I just picked up some ground bison and spicy bison sausages from my co-op today! I haven't tried it yet, but it looks fing delicious.

@lynell: perhaps Bison is a bit game-y for you? If you don't like the smell, well, that's a tough hurdle to get over.

We substitute bison for beef all the time. Bison makes great burgers and our local farmer's market sells fresh, grass fed, free-range, Colorado bison... it's real, real good.

Good God that photo is beautiful and another reason why I cannot eat meat.

Artist of this photo? I've seen it before so stunning.

Looks like someone has already taken a bite out of that fellow. Shouldn't he have four legs?

too gamey for me. although my cousin loved it the one time I cooked it and she wants me to cook it again.

I picked up a couple bison steaks a while back when I visited a bison farm for work (I'm a food editor for a regional magazine). I put them in the freezer and haven't made them yet. For some reason, I'm a little squeamish about it.

What if we had just kept or restored the bison herds instead of importing european cattle?

When I was growing up, we'd periodically drive to the bison farm a couple towns over and have them do lab work on milk samples from my mom's dairy farm. They are so majestic and delicious.

The first time I had bison, I dove in head first.
The boyfriend brought home a bison tongue from the co-op. We spiced it, slow cooked it, shredded it, and made tacos. I had never had bison or tongue before. Delish!

I loves bison. The best part of SK life was it's everywhere. I don't eat beef because it gives me massive indigestion almost immediately, but bison agrees with me. Probably 10000 years of eating it sitting in my genes.
@ Art, exterminating the bison was a crucial move in the United States and Canada for subjugating us prairie tribes and forcing us to sign treaties through sheer starvation. Bison also isn't quite as adaptable as Bos taurus is - now that I'm in Ontario it's harder to find bison because they just don't have a lot of prairie for them and at least in Canada they're not raised in feedlots yet.