Polish Comfort Food: Pierogi Made With Ground Bison

These traditional Polish pierogi are one of the ultimate comfort foods. They’re small meat dumplings, browned in butter with a flavorful, meaty filling and dough made from scratch. There’s many variations on the filling for pierogi, with different meats and vegetables added in. I’ve even had sweet variations of pierogi before.

They’re all delightful. I used our ground bison, but you could use any of our ground meats and have amazing results. I kept it simple with a meat and onion filling but the options are really endless depending on what you’re in the mood for and what you have on hand.

Also Read: How To Make Your Own Vietnamese Pho With Bison Meat

Pierogi Are Versatile, Feel Free To Customize!

These pierogi would also be a great opportunity to use our beef or bison Primal Blends. These ingenious ground meat blends include our best selling bison or grass fed & finished beef, along with 20% heart, liver and kidney meat mixed in. It’s the perfect ratio to minimize the taste of the organ meat while still providing tons of nutritional benefits.

Even unseasoned, the flavor isn’t overpowering by any means. These ground blends are the perfect way to trick your kids (or yourself) into eating nutrient rich organ meats! This recipe would also be great with our regular ground beef, ground lamb, ground elk or ground wild boar meat.

Where Our Bison Comes From

Our bison live free range on 20,000 beautiful acres here in New Mexico, or roam freely on our carefully selected partner ranches. They are pasture raised and never administered any amount of hormones, steroids or antibiotics. These are powerful, strong animals that live essentially wild with minimal handling. There were once 60 million bison roaming North America, and we hope to see their numbers increase back to even 1 million during our lifetime.

By increasing the demand for ethically sourced bison meat, we can help to bolster their population. The more people that want to purchase this nourishing and nutrient dense meat, the more farmers will be encouraged to raise bison. This directly helps to increase the number of herds which assists in providing genetic diversity for the population.

Also Read: Bison & Soba Noodle Japanese Inspired Stir Fry Recipe

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup grass fed butter, room temperature

For the meat filling:

• 1 pound ground bison
• ½ tablespoon bison tallow
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup bison bone broth
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For cooking:

• 6 tablespoons grass fed butter

For topping:

• 1 cup sour cream

Also Read: Bison Steak Tacos With Cilantro Green Chile Salsa

Instructions:

To make the dough:

1. Mix together the all purpose flour and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Stir in the egg, ½ cup of sour cream and ¼ cup of softened butter. Continue to combine until the dough begins to come together. When you have a slightly sticky ball, it’s time to move on to the next step.
2. On a flat, clean surface, knead and fold the dough until it becomes smooth and less tacky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for half an hour. Meanwhile, make the meat filling for the pierogi.

To make the filling:

Note: Allow the bison meat to sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before cooking.

1. Heat the ½ tablespoon bison tallow in a large, deep pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and cook until tender and fragrant. Add in the ground bison and cook until browned on the outside, but still a little pink inside. Pour in the beef stock and simmer for a few minutes until the liquid reduces a bit. Season generously to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside and allow the filling to cool before assembling the pierogi.

Also Read: New Mexican Chili Con Carne With Ground Bison

To assemble the pierogi:

1. Use a rolling pin to evenly roll out the dough to ⅛ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut two inch diameter circles out.
2. Fill each dough circle with 2 tablespoons of the meat filling. Fold the dough in half around the filling and press out any air as you pinch the edges together to form the pierogi. Assemble all of the pierogi and set aside.
3. Fill a large pot ⅔ full with water and salt generously. Boil the pierogi in batches. You’ll know they’re done when they float to the top, so remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside as they finish cooking.
4. In a large skillet, melt the 6 tablespoons of butter. Add the boiled pierogi to the pan in batches and cook until they turn golden brown on all sides.
5. Top with sour cream, serve immediately and enjoy.