In partnership with Safeway.
Start the New Year off right with a fun and healthy grilled dinner! These bison sliders are a great alternative to the traditional slider, using ground bison meat that I got at my local Safeway.
Bison is naturally leaner than ground beef, with a slightly richer flavor. It grills up really well and making them into sliders made for a fun and easy dinner on a weeknight. Everyone could eat as many sliders as they wanted, and they were excellent leftovers the next day for lunch at school.
My vision for these sliders was to make something familiar and simple– a great mini-hamburger– with the elevated twist of doing so with bison. Cheese, pickles and a special sauce on a soft bun, and you’ve got a great grilled meal. We served them with sweet potato fries we also got at our local Safeway, that crisped up perfectly in the Traeger Grill in about 15 minutes. All in, this dinner hit the table in under 30 minutes!
Since I kept these sliders pretty simple, my shopping list was short. But you can definitely fancy-up these sliders with other toppings of your choice (tomatoes, avocado, bacon, etc.) if that is your preference. I like to keep them simple and let the flavor of the meat be the star.
At Safeway, I picked up the following things:
- One pound of Great Range Ground Bison
- A block of Lucerne Mild Cheddar
- A dozen potato rolls from the Safeway bakery
- Open Nature hamburger dill pickle chips
- A bottle of mayo
- A bottle of ketchup
- A bag of Signature Select Sweet Potato Fries
- A jar of Signature Select Sweet Whole Gherkins
Once we picked up our groceries from the store, getting dinner on the table in under an hour was no problem. I started up the grill to 450* and put a cast iron griddle in half the grill. I wanted to let that get super hot while I was prepping everything else.
I started by dividing the meat into six even pieces. I then shaped them with my hand into a flat-is hamburger shape. I seasoned them with my favorite beef rub, but salt and pepper alone would be great.
After I formed the patties, I got everything else ready to go, too, since this comes together fast once you’re cooking.
We put the sweet potato fries on a cookie sheet and put it in the grill next to the cast iron griddle. Using a cheese slicer, cut about a dozen slices of cheddar cheese for the burgers. And sliced the potato rolls in half.
I whipped up a quick burger sauce– equal parts mayo and ketchup with about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pickles and a splash of pickle juice. Stir together in a bowl and set aside for burger assembly time.
Once the cast iron griddle is super hot in the grill, it’s time to grill up dinner. I gave the griddle a quick spray with vegetable oil and then placed the patties on the hot surface. Using a spatula, I flattened them slightly to get a good surface for the crust.
Bison is a leaner meat so I like to go about 4-5 minutes a side until it reaches 145* degrees for a nice medium rare. Many people like to cook it to 160*, but my preference is a little more pink.
Once the patties have grilled for about 4 minutes, flip them over and top with cheese while cooking the other side.
Once the patties are cooked, I moved them to a plate and tented them with foil while I quickly toasted the buns. Just a minute or so on the hot griddle gave the cut sides a great golden brown.
To assemble, spread special sauce on both sides of the bun. then topped each bottom half with a burger. A few slices of pickles on top of each, and then put the lid on the burgers.
We served these hot with the crispy sweet potato fries and some sweet gherkin pickles on the side.
Simple, yummy and delicious!
