Unique Native American inspired burger recipe made with ground bison and seasonal blueberries, for a perfectly complementary sweet/savory grilling experience.
I was surprised to learn recently that Native Americans frequently used wild blueberries to flavor bison meat. I discovered this interesting snippet of information from my dear friend Stanley Fishman’s cookbook Tender Grassfed Barbecue.
Since blueberries have just started to come into season here in Florida and a neighbor just down the road has blueberries ready for picking, it seems the perfect opportunity to try out this traditional mixing of flavors myself for the very first time!
Blueberry Bison Burgers
Stanley’s cookbook offers three very unique recipes for using blueberries to flavor bison meat. In particular, this creative idea for buffalo burgers really caught my eye.
What’s more fun than burgers on the barbie in the delightful cool of a springtime evening? Worried about recent press about the dangers of barbecued meat? These tips for safe grilling can help you eliminate the risks from this relaxing, enjoyable experience.
Blueberries will be coming into season across North America very soon, so be sure to try out this distinct flavor combination while the fruit is seasonal, fresh and at its peak of flavor.
New to bison meat? The sweetness of the blueberries helps offset any gamey flavor that some newbies might find unpleasant. If you and your family discover that you enjoy the flavor change, try this buffalo chili recipe too. Or, substitute ground bison for ground beef in this Sloppy Joe recipe.
Blueberry Bison Burgers Recipe
Unique Native American inspired burger recipe made with ground bison and seasonal blueberries, for a perfectly complementary sweet/savory burger experience.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground bison preferably grassfed
- 1/4 cup blueberries finely chopped or pureed, preferably organic and in season
- 1 green onion finely chopped, preferably organic
Instructions
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Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Form four equally sized hamburger patties about 1 inch thick.
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Build a charcoal fire on one side of the grill only. Bring the grill to medium high heat with all the vents open.
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When the grill is ready, place the bison burger patties in front of but not directly over the heat source. Cover and cook the bison burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side.
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Serve with fermented ketchup, homemade mustard and other organic condiments of choice.
Recipe reprinted with permission of Stanley Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Barbecue.
Scandinavian and Northern European cooks do something similar by adding juniper berries to venison.
What a wonderful recipe! We have never thought to add blueberries actually in the ground bison meat — since blueberries are not too sweet the combination sounds delicious. We have done a blueberry sauce, which might be a nice alternative if you want to use the blueberries as more of a condiment than an ingredient.
LOVE both of his books. Not only do they supply great information, the recipes are simple yet delicious. We just made the Leg of Lamb with herbs, and it was outstanding! And to top it off, Mr. Fishman is incredibly responsive to questions and comments on his Facebook page – Tender Grassfed Meat.
Stanley is a class act indeed.
This sounds like Pemmican — the American Indian food for traveling. Have you ever made it?
Sounds very interesting. I wonder if you could use grass fed beef too (that’s what I have in my freezer).
I also wonder what other kind of berries might be good with different types of ground meat. We have currents that grow wild here. They are very tart, but I bet they would be good in something too.
The recipe was designed for grassfed beef.
Just making sure here – but is the recipe good for grassfed BEEF as well Stanley? Thanks!
Blueberries Already!!!! Wow, how blessed you are. I had no idea they could be ready in April. They are not ready until September in Pacific Northwest. It sounds like a good recipe and cookbook.
Spring is early this year .. usually early May is blueberry time in my neck of the woods.
Interesting! I will give them a whirl!
This reminds me that various berries such as cranberries, salmonberries, crowberries, cloudberries, and blueberries are also used to make akutaq, a.k.a., eskimo ice cream. The other ingredients, of course, are meats and animal fats such as reindeer tallow, moose tallow, walrus tallow, caribou tallow, or seal oil.