Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love. – Craig Claiborne
We need to have a talk about Osso Buco. This is serious. The first time I ever tried it, I felt like I was eating something made only for Kings and Queens. It’s that incredible. So rich and tender and that little marrow nugget in the middle of the bone is like gold. That kind of insane tenderness can only happen when the shank is braised for many hours until fork tender. But here’s a secret: we are going to achieve the same awesome result in just 45 minutes with our trusty Instant Pot. Yep. And believe me when I tell you how grateful you will be that you don’t have to wait the entire day to scarf it down. I served the Osso Buco with some wilted spinach and a broc-cauli mash that was really freaking good.
You should be able to find cross cut shanks in your meat department or ask your butcher. However, if you can’t find a cross cut shank, this recipe will still be great with a whole shank. The directions remain the same.
Ingredients:
1 lb Beef or Veal Shank, cross cut
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 small carrot, diced
1 small parsnip, diced
3 whole cloves garlic
1/4 onion, diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup bone broth
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp pink salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp zantham gum
2 tbsp parm cheese, shredded
So let’s grab those Instant Pots and rock this baby!
First, pat your shanks dry with paper towels. I find this helps the meat to sear nicely. Season both sides with 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.
Set your pot to saute on it’s highest setting and add your oil and butter. When the butter is melted, add your shanks to the pot and let them sear for two minutes. Flip and repeat, then remove the shanks from the pot.
You should get a gorgeous color on both sides like so:
Add another tbsp of olive oil to the pot (do not wipe out the brown bits left over from the searing process) and throw in your onions, carrots and parsnips. Saute the veggies for three minutes, stirring constantly with a flat wooden spatula so you can scrape up those fabulous brown bits at the bottom of the pot.
Add in the tomato paste but don’t touch it for abaout a minute, allowing it to caramelize. Then add in the garlic cloves. When it comes to the garlic, sometimes I will mince it, other times I leave it whole. For this recipe, I used whole, unpeeled garlic. The peel has a ton of flavor so sometimes I like to leave it on. But really, as long as you are getting garlic in this braise, it doesn’t really matter how you do it.
Stir everything together and let the veggies saute in the tomato paste for another couple of minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour in the chicken broth and put the shanks back in the pot. The liquid should not be totally covering the shanks, just about half way up.
Stop the saute function, seal the lid and set the pot to pressure cooker on high for 45 minutes. Make sure your vent is set to closed. You might want to do a little dance while this is cooking because that is exactly what your taste buds are going to do in about an hour.
Once the pressure cooking is done, let the pressure release naturally or after 15 minutes, CAREFULLY move the venting to quick release.
Remove the lid (carefully please) and take out the shanks. They will be so so so tender so you will prob have to do this with a tong in each hand or spatulas or whatever utensil you can find because I’m warning you, these suckers are fall apart tender!!
After setting the shanks aside, it’s time to deal with that incredible braising liquid. First, if you used unpeeled garlic, pull them out and remove the peel. Then, throw them back in. Using a hand blender, begin blending the braising liquid so it begins to thicken and form a sauce.
Sprinkle in the zantham gum which will really help thicken the sauce quickly. If you don’t have any, that’s fine, just set the pot to saute on low and let it cook until it becomes nice and thick, stirring often. But the zantham gum is like magic.
Please can I eat this yet?
Plate your shanks over whatever fab keto veggie you love and spoon a hefty amount of that sauce over the top and sprinkle with parm cheese and chopped parsley.
To make a broc-cauli mashers, just take a cup of broccoli florets and a cup of cauliflower florets and microwave them with a tablespoon of butter and heavy cream for 10 minutes in a lidded microwave safe container. Carefully remove the lid and use a wisk or hand blender to whip the veggies together. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir.
This meal is great for meal prepping because it reheats very well and can last in the fridge for up to three days.
Instant Pot Osso Buco
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 beef shanks bone in, cross cut
- 1 small carrot diced
- 1 small parsnip diced
- 1/4 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic whole
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp pink salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp zantham gum
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp parm shredded
Instructions
- Pat dry shanks with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in Instant Pot on high saute setting. Once butter melts, sear both sides of shanks for 2 mintues each. Removed shanks from pot. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to pot and add in onions, carrots and parsnips. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring constantly and using flat side of wooden spoon to scrape up brown bits from bottom of the pan. Add in tomato paste and let carmalize for one minute, then stir into veggies. Add in whole garlic cloves and stir. Add in chicken stock and return shanks to pot. Turn off saute mode. Place and seal lid. Make sure vent is set to closed. Set pot to pressure cooker high. Set timer to 45 minutes. Let Instant Pot release pressure naturally or after waiting 15 minutes, carefully move knob to quick release. Carefully remove lid. Take shanks out and set aside. If using whole garlic with skins on, remove the skins and put garlic back into pot. Using an immersion/hand blender, blend liquids for about a minute. Add 1/8 tsp zantham gum and blend again until sauce is thickened. Plate shanks and top with sauce, parsley and cheese. Serve with broc-cauli mashers and wilted spinach or any keto friendly veggie.
Notes
Macros
These macros include all of the sauce.
But you will probably only use about 1/4 cup or less per serving.
So it is a little difficult to get perfect macros for this recipe.
Serving size: 1 shank
Amount per serving:
Calories 815
Total Fat 38g
Carbohydrate 16g
Dietary Protein 98g
Sugars 5g
Potassium 400mg
Vitamin A 160%
Vitamin C 30%
Calcium 41%
Iron 73%
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