Easy Eats: Spicy Bison Ragu

This is a recipe that actually came about accidentally! A few weeks ago we faced the standard “what’s for dinner?” conversation which immediately turned to “what do we have left in the fridge?”. It was cold, and we wanted something nourshing, comforting and somewhat healthy. Enter: ragu.

Typically we make a mean meat sauce with beef, but we only had bison in the fridge. I hadn’t cooked with bison much until this past year – turns out, pandemic grocery store shopping has made us adventurous! We take what we can get, which is how we ended up with quite a bit of bison. If you’ve never cooked with bison before, you should. Bison is leaner than beef and has less fat overall. Its softer, more tender, a little sweeter, high in iron and doesn’t have a gamey aftertaste. Overall, it makes for a delightful ragu!

The other thing that makes this ragu is the sauce. We use our favorite Rao’s Arrabbiata sauce plus red pepper flakes to give this a bit of a kick! If you’re not into spice, you can easily use any marinara and skip the pepper flakes.

We make the sauce in our favorite Our Place pan (use this link for $20 off) and it doesn’t require any fuss or draining! It has vegetables, protein and fiber to boot and is a perfect weeknight meal. We put it over Banza pasta for an extra boost of protein and fiber, too! I didn’t take many pictures, but the next time we make it I’ll try to remember to take a few more!

RANKING: 1! This is LITERALLY the easiest recipe. It requires minimal ingredients and not a lot of chopping.

I hope you enjoy this family favorite! If you make it, don’t forget to share on social and tag #purelynoracooks – I can’t wait to see your plates!

Spicy Bison Ragu

A nutritious, delicious and comforting sauce perfect for easy nights in!

• 1/2 tbsp grass fed butter or ghee
• 12 oz mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (we like baby bella, but use what you got!)
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 lb ground bison
• 5 oz spinach (use as much or as little as you want, we typically use a small container)
• 28 oz Rao's Arrabbiata (this is the larger container – you can use marinara if you can't find the spicy one :))
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 box banza pasta, or other pasta of your choice (any brand or shape will do! zoodles work too.)

1. Heat pan to medium and melt butter. Cover the entire surface of the pan.

2. In a separate sauce pan, boil water for pasta.

3. Add mushrooms to the buttered pan and cook until soft and browned – about 5 minutes. Add garlic and shallots and cook another 5 minutes.

4. Add bison to the mushroom/garlic/shallot mix and cook until browned – around 7-10 minutes.

5. While the bison is cooking – cook your pasta. Banza takes around 10 minutes!

6. Add another splash of wine to the bison mix and top it with spinach. Cover to pan and steam for a few minutes until spinach is wilted.

7. Uncover, mix spinach into the rest of the meat mixture and add the arrabbiata sauce and pepper flakes. Mix and let simmer for a few minutes until well blended.

8. Serve the sauce over pasta, zoodles or veggies!