Simple Cooking: Bison Meat in Pitas

By Caitlin Klein in Food on Aug 24, 2011 4:20PM

Let's generalize, shall we? Bison, as a class, want you to eat them. If they didn't, then why would they be so delicious? Their meat is similar to beef, but a little bit sweeter, and in this writer's opinion, more tender. There's a misconception floating around that bison is gamey. Bison was gamey, perhaps, when hoards of bison roamed the great plains of America and they were foraging and galloping and eating all kinds of weird stuff that they found. Now, almost all the wild bison are gone and they're just raised on farms for human consumption. Which means they are being fed with grass and grains, which in turn means that bison does not taste gamey.

These bison meat pitas are made from lean stew cuts. There’s something beautiful about the bright red, lean meat over a fire. It makes us want to wear a pelt and hunt some shaggy beasts. Anyway, enough daydreaming, let’s get to it.

Chicagoist’s Bison Meat Pitas with Spicy Lime Yogurt Sauce (Serves 4)

• 1 pound bison stew meat in cubes (We found it at Whole Foods in Lincoln Park.)


• 1 yellow pepper, sliced


• 1 red pepper, sliced


• 1 yellow onion, sliced


• ~3T olive oil


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon pepper


• 2 Tablespoons steak seasoning


• 4 pitas (The Chicago-made kind. None of that “made in New Jersey” crap. We found the pitas pictured at Stanley’s on Elston.)


• 1 6 oz. container of plain yogurt


• Juice of 1 lime


• ½ -1 teaspoon cayenne red pepper (Adjust based on how spicy you want your sauce.)

In a large bowl, toss the bison cubes with 2T olive oil and coat with salt, pepper, and steak seasoning. Skewer meat cubes, pepper slices, and onion slices. Place on a heated grill and brush vegetables with remaining olive oil. Grill about 6-8 minutes per side, or until meat is medium and the vegetables soften.

Meanwhile, mix together the plain yogurt, lime juice, and cayenne red pepper. Stir to mix completely and put into a small serving bowl with a spoon.

Take the meat and vegetables off the grill and brush pitas with a bit of olive oil. Grill pitas about 2 minutes on each side, or until the outsides are crispy but the insides remain soft. Build a pita by placing meat and vegetables on top of the pita; top with spicy yogurt sauce and enjoy.