Spicy Orange Bison Balls

  4.4 – 19 reviews  

Cookies made by Nana that are rolled in a hot cinnamon-sugar mixture are soft, chewy, and loaded with the flavor of pumpkin. They also contain two kinds of melting chocolate.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 pound ground bison
  2. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  3. ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
  4. 1 egg, beaten
  5. ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  6. 1 teaspoon salt
  7. ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  8. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  9. 2 tablespoons Asian chile pepper sauce
  10. ½ cup orange marmalade
  11. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  12. ¼ cup rice vinegar
  13. 3 cups water

Instructions

  1. Mix the bison, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl until evenly combined; divide the mixture into 24 portions and roll into balls.
  2. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook the meatballs until nicely browned on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes.
  3. Add the chili sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 308 kcal
Carbohydrate 38 g
Cholesterol 105 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 24 g
Saturated Fat 2 g
Sodium 1001 mg
Sugars 25 g
Fat 7 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Amanda Johnson
Great first time bison recipe! Subbed polynesian sauce for marmalade; hot sauce for chili paste; and apple cider vinegar for rice wine vinegar. Took an extra 30 min to reduce the sauce, but didn’t affect anything else. Served over sticky rice.
David Parker
OMG! so D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.
Carlos Wise
I got mixed reviews on this dish. Making the pound of meat into 10 balls instead of 24 made it more like a main course and put over a bed of jasmine rice it looked great. The sauce was a hit; may son thought it needed more spice and my wife thought it was a little too spicy (can’t win). The former liked the meat, the latter was horrified to find out it was buffalo. The attached photo is the reduction phase and it truly does take an hour to get the right consistency. I loved it, no matter what everyone else says!
Nancy Patterson
Delicious and simple, made this for guests celebrating America with buffalo, corn on the cob and apple pie. Great for large groups noshing. I upped the marmalade a touch to get a sweet tang to the buffalo. I did not cook the balls as long as the recipe called for because I wante
William Benjamin
This was a great recipe. Our local grocer had ground bison and I wanted to do something other than a bison burger. I substituted siracha for the Asian sauce and instead of using 3 cups of water, I used 2 cups. I still had to use a little cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. I also added some roasted broccoli to the sauce at the end and served over jasmine rice! It won my boyfriend’s seal of approval.
Jacqueline Manning
I added all the ingredients together, minus the water, and made a meatloaf. It was amazing!!!
Christopher Wheeler
In terms of flavor this is a 5 star recipe! It is delicately spiced with just the right kick from the Sriracha and the orange flavor from the marmalade is present but not overpowering. However, the directions and ingredient list need tweaking. As another reviewer noted, you must drain the meat before adding the sauce ingredients. Others are correct in criticizing the amount of water. Based on their reviews I used 2 cups and that was plenty. I simmered the balls for 45 minutes and then took them off and poured it all into a bowl and put it in the fridge. I took it out to reheat before the potluck. The sauce was thick – I added a couple of Tablespoons water to aid in the reheating and cooked for the remaining 15 minutes. The sauce was the perfect thickness at that point. Great recipe with those minor adjustments!
Tracy Allen
Even though there’s an error in the list of ingredients, this definitely deserves all 5 stars. I believe the video shows him adding TWO cups of water, but the recipe calls for THREE cups. I fixed it by removing the cooked meat from the pot and then cranking up the heat to reduce the liquid. Once reduced, I returned the meat to continue cooking a tad. My family loves ALL of Chef John’s recipes – perhaps he can have someone proof read for him?
James Webb
3 cups of water is WAY too much. Good flavor. I may make it again.
Sarah Bailey
I enjoyed these very much, didn’t have the asian chili pepper sauce so I just substituted in some mixed 2T ketchup and 1t chili powder. Also I see some people have said that the liquid didn’t reduce down for them and I have to assume these people put a lid on during the 1 hour reducing time- he never says to do that (so don’t). The meatballs had a great orange flavor to them though I didn’t get that much from the sauce, then again these are supposed to be an appetizer or laid out as finger food so one really wouldn’t get any sauce. Next time when I make it as an entree I’ll use beef broth, OJ, or a mix to try and get the sauce a better orange flavor to go with some rice. They also reheated very well the next day.
Jose Alexander
Lots of flavor. I only simmered for 35 minutes because of time constraints, so I only added 1 cup of water and some cornstarch at the end. It thickened perfectly. I’ll probably reduce the marmalade next time as some bites were overpowering. It did have a nice kick also. Served with jasmine rice and veggies.
Nicole Ponce
These meatballs rocked…However I’m giving a 4 star and not a 5. I followed the recipe to a T but calculated the recipe for 2 pounds of ground bison. Which was fine with the meatball part, it was the sauce. I tend to be one that tries to follow recipes to a T if all possible. The sauce was tasty, but you need to note that: 1. drain your pan of any residual fat and oil before adding the ingredients for the sauce. It makes for a very greasy sauce and it prevents your sauce from thickening. 2. I had so much liquid, it looked like soup, hubby agreed too but because there was so much liquid, we didn’t find the recipe that spicy. Will make again, but if I’m doubling the meat, I won’t be doubling the liquids, 6 cups of water didn’t seem like a lot at first until it took me 2 hours to get the liquids to reduce and thicken.
Amy Romero
Three cups of water was way to much!!! Mine were still swimming after an hour of a hard simmer. And I watched the video and there was no way he added that much water. The flavor was really good, but to rate the recipe as written I would only give it 3 stars. Next time I would use no more than 1 cup of water and maybe a little less chile sauce, but that’s just cause I’m a baby when it comes to spicy food. Will make again!
Jimmy Knapp
We made these for the Super Bowl, made some wild mixed rice with it and had Nan also. Fantastic will have this again
Julie Sanchez
I will definitely make these meatballs again; they weren’t on my “Top-Ten Most Tasty Meatballs Ever” list, but they disappeared into the bellies of my husband and son, so that’s certainly saying something! I made them with beef instead of bison and would add only about a cup of water, rather than three cups; I had to add some cornstarch in the end to get it to thicken. Thanks for the recipe!
Timothy Howard
This was amazing. I too used sriracha and added a single-serving size of mandarin oranges because they needed to go, and a smidge of ground ginger because I take every opportunity to use it. I used the ground pork I had on hand and the meatballs cooked up with amazingly little fat left. The simmer time was magic, the sauce thickened up just like you said it would. It was delicious as well as pretty to look at, and so easy. I would never have tried something like this without you. It’s now a regular recipe for both home and potlucks. Thanks, Chef John!
Amber Davis
These are amazingly spicy balls! Love them just as written. I served them straight up and also made a white rice recipe and served them as mini appy’s with the rice. Double this recipe! BTW – I wanted to say the Asian Pepper sauce is also known as Sambal. Enjoy!
Judy King
Make sure you read the part about needing to simmer for an hour. I was timing dinner to be ready at a certain time so I actually simmered mine on medium-low for 35 minutes or so. They still turned out great. I served over jasmine rice with the juices since mine did not reduce all the way. I also had an Asian veggie medley on the side. My 4 and 7 year old really like it. I used sweet Asian chili sauce and I used 1 cup of orange juice and 1 1/2 cups of water in place of the 3 cups of water. It was quick and easy to prepare and a tasty way to use my ground bison that I had purchased. Definitely a keeper!
Patrick Benson
I loved this recipe — although I used pre-bought Turkey meatballsl. I used Sriracha for the Asian chile pepper sauce, and I will probably use a little more marmalade the next time a make it (or maybe add some a little OJ or fresh orange peels). Mine turned out a little more spicy than orange-y. Still, I really enjoyed this easy, healthy recipe.

 

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