Osso Buco in the Instant Pot

Osso buco in the Instant Pot gives you fork-tender shanks in a rich wine and tomato sauce in about 2 1/2 hours, most of it hands-off. Brown the shanks on the saute setting, soften onion, carrot and celery, add white wine, tomatoes and stock, then cook at high pressure for 50 minutes and let the pressure come down on its own. Reduce the sauce, scatter over a quick gremolata, and serve.

Classic osso buco, the Milanese dish, is made with veal shanks. This is the beef version, made with cross-cut beef shanks. They are larger than veal and carry more connective tissue, so they need longer to turn tender and give a deeper, beefier sauce. The name means "bone with a hole," and the soft marrow in the middle of each piece is part of the pleasure.

At a glance: serves 4. Prep 20 minutes, cook about 2 hours, including 50 minutes at pressure and 20 minutes of natural release.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was describing what goes into a large gift box of beef when he said:

“it's a mix of things they've heard of, things they haven't heard of. Uh, you know, cuts they're comfortable and familiar with and cuts that give them, uh, you know, something to go learn about”

Gray Shipley

He did not name shank, but for most cooks it sits in that second group. Plenty of people have eaten osso buco in a restaurant without ever cooking it at home. The pressure cooker makes it an easy cut to learn on: brown it well, give it time under pressure, and it does the rest.

Ingredients

• 4 cross-cut beef shanks, 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick (about 3 to 5 pounds in all)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, for the gremolata
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, for the gremolata
• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced, for the gremolata

Instructions

1. Pat the shanks dry. Tie a piece of kitchen twine snugly around the outside of each one so the meat holds to the bone as it softens. Season them all over with the salt and pepper.
2. Put the flour on a plate and dredge each shank in it, shaking off the excess.
3. Set the Instant Pot to Saute on its highest setting. When it is hot, add the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter. Brown the shanks two at a time, 4 to 5 minutes per side, until deep golden, and move them to a plate.
4. Add the remaining butter, then the onion, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon until nothing is stuck to it. Let it bubble for 2 minutes.
6. Turn off Saute. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, bay leaf and thyme. Return the shanks and their juices, nestling them into the sauce side by side if they fit, or overlapping if they do not. Keep everything below the pot's two-thirds line.
7. Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and cook at high pressure for 50 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then quick-release the rest.
8. Lift the shanks out carefully with tongs and a wide spatula, since they will be very tender, and set them on a warm platter. Snip off the twine and cover the shanks loosely with foil.
9. Spoon as much fat as you can from the surface of the sauce and discard the bay leaf and thyme stems. Set the pot to Saute and simmer the sauce, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste for salt.
10. While the sauce reduces, mix the lemon zest, parsley and garlic for the gremolata. Spoon the sauce over the shanks, scatter the gremolata on top, and serve with a small spoon for the marrow.

Add 4 beef shanks to cart

How long to cook osso buco in the Instant Pot

For beef shanks 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, 50 minutes at high pressure followed by a 20-minute natural release is the right amount. Pieces thicker than 2 inches need about 60 minutes. Veal shanks, if you ever cook the original, need only 30 to 35. Allow another 15 to 20 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure.

The test is a fork: the meat should pull away from the bone with almost no effort. If it still resists, lock the lid again and cook for 10 minutes more. Undercooked shank is tough and stringy; there is no harm in going a little long.

Why tie the shanks?

As the connective tissue melts, the meat loosens from the bone and the pieces want to fall apart. A loop of twine around each one holds it together so it reaches the plate looking like osso buco rather than a pile of shredded beef. If a shank does fall apart, it still tastes the same.

Fitting the shanks in the pot

Shank pieces vary a good deal in size. Four average shanks fit in a 6-quart pot if they overlap a little; an 8-quart pot lets them lie flat. Overlapping is fine under pressure, since the steam cooks the top layer, but never fill the pot past two-thirds. If your shanks are very large, use the bigger pot.

Avoiding the burn warning

The Instant Pot reports a burn warning when something sticks to the bottom and scorches. The flour from the dredge and the tomato paste are the usual culprits. Scraping the pot clean with the wine before you add the tomatoes and stock is the fix, and it also puts all that browned flavor back into the sauce.

Gremolata, and what to serve with it

Gremolata is the bright finish: lemon zest, parsley and a little raw garlic, scattered on at the last minute to cut through a rich sauce. In Milan, osso buco comes with a saffron risotto. Soft polenta, mashed potatoes or crusty bread are just as good for catching the sauce. Spread the marrow on the bread. For other ways to use the bones and the less familiar parts of the animal, see the guides below.

Making it ahead

Osso buco is better the next day. Cool it, refrigerate the shanks in their sauce, and the fat will set on top where you can lift it off in one piece. If a braise still tastes greasy, the guide to greasy braises below is worth a read. Reheat gently on the stove, covered, and add the gremolata just before serving.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef. A braise passes that long before the shanks are tender, but check with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the meat if you are unsure. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and reheat them to 165 degrees F, the FSIS figure for leftovers. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.