This easy and delicious ground bison meatball and spaghetti recipe is served in an Italian marinara sauce and garnished with grated Parmesan cheese. Meatballs can be made with ground buffalo or ground bison.
Who doesn't love a simple meatballs and spaghetti recipe? This is a kid and adult friendly dish.
Potato / Potatoe - Bison / Buffalo
FYI - American bison are commonly called buffalo but they are really two different animals. However, ground buffalo meat in the U.S. grocery store comes from the American bison. It can be confusing.
Ground buffalo is ground bison for the purpose of nearly all American recipes.
The ground bison is interchangeable with ground beef or even turkey and chicken so switch it up if you're not feeling buffalo.
Bison Meatball Tips
Gluten free? Use gluten free noodles (or "zoodles" - zucchini noodles) and gluten free bread crumbs to substitute for the bread crumbs. Slurp away.
If you don't like red wine, just go purist and leave it out.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Splatter guard - to cover the pan so marinara don't pop on my face or stove.
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Easy Buffalo (Bison) Meatball Spaghetti And Marinara
EatSimpleFood.com
This easy and delicious ground bison meatball and spaghetti recipe is served in an Italian marinara sauce and garnished with grated Parmesan cheese. Meatballs can be made with ground buffalo or ground bison.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop / Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2lb ground buffalo / bison (or beef, chicken, or turkey)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped & divided
- ~1 ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¾ cup onions, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 28 ounces chunky tomato sauce or pasta sauce
- ⅔ cup red wine
- 1 lb spaghetti, regular or gluten free or zucchini noodles
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese - optional as garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- In a large bowl mix: ground beef, salt, pepper, ¼ cup basil, eggs, and bread crumbs or food processed oats. Roll meat mixture into 1 ½" balls and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (no oil is necessary). Bake ~ 12 minutes. The meatballs don't have to be fully cooked as you will be cooking them some more in the sauce.
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add 1lb pasta. Boil for ~ 10-12 minutes or until pasta is too desired tenderness. Strain and set aside.
Make the marinara:
- Bring a large pan to medium high heat and add enough vegetable oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add onions and cook ~ 4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (~ 1-2 minutes).
- Add red wine, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered ~ 5 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, bring to a boil, add meatballs, and cook uncovered on low simmer ~ 15-20 minutes.
- Serve meatballs and sauce over drained pasta.
- Garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese to taste.
Notes
- Bison meatballs can be frozen cooked or uncooked and used later.
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Serving Suggestion
This scrumptious Buffalo and Meatball Spaghetti recipe pairs well with with some lighter dishes like a salad or even kale chips. Or you could go all in and enjoy it with one of my favorite finger food appetizers, the steamed artichoke:
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