Our Bison Chili recipe is filled with your classic chili ingredients plus unexpected ground bison, which has a mild flavor and amazing nutrition. Serve with your favorite toppings of sour cream, green onions, cheese, and bacon bits for the ultimate chili experience.
The Best Bison Chili
In this recipe for bison chili, we used our classic chili recipe as inspiration and experimented with flavors until we got it just right. The smokiness of the bacon enhances every bite and the ground bison meat has a slightly softer texture than ground beef, making each bite smooth and creamy. A perfect cold weather dinner that the whole family will love.
Love Yourself Some Hearty Chili Recipes?
Then you need to need to try our short rib chili and our classic slow cooker chili!
What You Will Need
- extra virgin olive oil – just a bit to sauté the veggies.
- garlic & yellow onion – Adds warming flavors throughout
- jalapeño – Keep the seeds and membranes to make this chili extra spicy!
- bacon – Adds just the right amount of flavor and fat to compliment lean ground bison
- ground bison – a ground meat that has less calories and more protein than ground beef
- ground black pepper & kosher salt – Just a bit to heighten all the flavors.
- fire roasted tomatoes & tomato paste – A nice bit of acid to round out this delicious chili recipe.
- red kidney beans & black beans – Adds texture, dietary fiber, and more protein.
- baby bella mushrooms – A mild veggie that soaks up all the warming flavors.
- bay leaf – Adds just a hint of mint and a nuanced depth of flavor.
- chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, & onion powder – A few pantry staples for any chili recipe.
- optional toppings: sour cream, chopped green onions, shredded cheese, bacon bits
Is Bison Better For You Than Beef?
While bison and beef are both a type of red meat, their nutritional profiles are quite different. Ground bison is a lean meat that has less calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol and more protein than ground beef. Because of it’s growing popularity, it’ll be easier to find ground bison at your local grocery store than it was a couple of years ago. But the answer to this question really comes down to your personal nutritional needs. Scroll down to the recipe card for a rundown on the nutrition in this recipe.
How To Make Bison Chili
Start by gathering and prepping your ingredients. It’s always helpful to meal prep this one in advance for quick assembly.
Next, grab a large soup pot or dutch oven and bring it to medium high heat. Add in the olive oil and make sure it coats the bottom of the pan. Then add in the garlic, onion, jalapeño, and bacon pieces and let them cook down for 2-3 minutes or until the fat has rendered. Then add in the ground bison, salt, and pepper, and mix everything thoroughly. Move the meat mixture around the pan until it’s no longer pink and cooked through.
Now add in the fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, cans of beans, bella mushrooms, bay leaf, seasonings, and 6 ounces of water. Give it a good stir, then cover it and let everything simmer for about 2 hours.
Put out all your favorite chili toppings so that everyone can build a chili bowl to their liking. Our favorite toppings are a healthy dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, and a sprinkling of bacon bits. Serve this easy weeknight dinner with a side of cornbread.
Does Bison Taste Different Than Ground Beef?
Honestly, we couldn’t tell a difference when we took our first bite of this bison chili. The biggest difference we noticed was the texture. Cooked ground bison has a softer mouthfeel than ground beef, which can be a bit chunkier when cooked.
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Storage: Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for 3 months.
- Slow Cooker Option: Follow recipe through step 2. Then transfer the beef mixture along with all other ingredients to a crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Make it dairy-free: Use a dairy-free sour cream and dairy-free shredded cheese for toppings.
Made this hearty bison chili and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Chili Recipes You Might Like
Bison Chili
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our epic Bison Chili recipe is a flavor-packed bowl of comfort food that is perfect for those chilly months of fall and winter!
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, diced with seeds and membranes removed
- 4 slices of bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 pounds ground bison
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- (2) 15oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
- (1) 6oz can tomato paste (save can to fill with water to add)
- (1) 15oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- (1) 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 pint baby bella mushrooms
- 1 bay leaf
- 2–3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- optional toppings: sour cream, chopped green onions, shredded cheese, bacon bits
Instructions
- Cook Down Bacon: Bring a large dutch oven to a medium-high heat, add olive oil, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add garlic, onion, jalapeño, and bacon pieces to cook down for about 2-3 minutes or until fat has rendered.
- Bison: Add ground bison, salt and pepper to the large pot. Break apart the meat and move around until browned.
- Simmer: Add the rest of the chili ingredients + add 6oz water (use the tomato paste can) and give it all a mix. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
- Taste + Serve: Taste, adjust any flavors per your personal preference, and serve any way you want!
Notes
- Storage: keep leftover chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Serving Suggestion: option to add your favorite chili toppings and serve with some gluten-free cornbread or cornbread muffins!
- Slow Cooker: This could easily be transferred to a slow cooker after Step 2 when the bison is cooked. Transfer that along with all other ingredients to a crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Dairy-Free: feel free to use a dairy-free sour cream and dairy-free shredded cheese for toppings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 ounces
- Calories: 293
- Sugar: 6.6 g
- Sodium: 851.5 mg
- Fat: 10.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.6 g
- Protein: 23 g
- Cholesterol: 47.8 mg
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