The first bull elk I ever brought home taught me a hard lesson about respect. Not the kind you say out loud at the tailgate — the kind you learn at the cutting table, when you’ve got a whole animal in front of you and a chest freezer that won’t hold everything if you’re careless about it. That first year in Casper, I did what a lot of new hunters do: I ground the shanks. Tossed those big, sinewy, cross-cut sections of leg straight into the burger pile because they looked like too much work and not enough reward. Kimi still gives me grief about it. She was right to.
Because elk shanks, treated correctly, make the single best braise that will ever come out of your kitchen. Not “good for wild game.” Just good, full stop — the kind of dish you’d pay thirty-five dollars for in a white-tablecloth place and still think you got a deal. This is elk osso buco: the shank cut crosswise through the bone, browned hard, then left alone in a low oven for the better part of an afternoon until the meat gives up and slides off the bone with the side of a spoon. It’s the classic Milanese preparation — veal, traditionally — bent toward Wyoming, with root vegetables from the last farm stand of the season and a splash of whiskey in the braise. It has become the meal I make when the weather turns and I want the house to smell like something.
Why This Recipe Works
Shanks are all connective tissue, which is exactly why most people are scared of them and exactly why they’re so good. That silvery collagen wrapped through the muscle is the whole point. Cook it fast and it’s shoe leather. Cook it low and slow in liquid — we’re talking 300°F for three-plus hours — and that collagen melts into gelatin, basting the meat from the inside and turning the braising liquid into something with real body. Elk is leaner than veal or beef, so it needs that gentle, wet heat even more; there’s no marbling to bail you out if you rush it.
The bone matters too. Each cross-cut shank has a ring of marrow in the center, and as it braises that marrow enriches the sauce with a savory depth you can’t fake. When it’s done, you dig the softened marrow out with the tip of a knife and spread it on bread — that’s the cook’s reward, and you eat it standing at the stove before anyone else knows dinner is ready.
Finally, the gremolata. It seems almost too simple to matter — raw garlic, lemon zest, parsley, chopped fine and scattered over the top at the very end. But after hours of deep, dark, wine-and-whiskey braising, that bright raw hit cuts through everything and wakes the whole plate up. Don’t skip it. It’s the difference between a heavy dish and a great one.
Ingredients
Serves 4. You’ll want a heavy, oven-safe pot with a lid — I do this in a 6-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven that’s earned its keep ten times over. If your shanks are big (elk shanks can be), a wide braiser works better than a tall pot so they sit in a single layer.
- 4 cross-cut elk shanks, about 1.5 inches thick (roughly 3–3.5 lbs total)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, cut into thick coins
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 small parsnip or turnip, diced (optional, but a nice earthy Wyoming touch)
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup Wyoming Whiskey (or any decent bourbon)
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2.5 cups beef or game stock
- 1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves, 3 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs rosemary
For the gremolata:
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
A pair of good kitchen tongs makes the browning step a lot less nerve-wracking — these shanks are heavy and you’ll be turning them in hot oil.
How to Make Elk Osso Buco
Step 1: Season and dredge
Pat the shanks bone-dry with paper towels — this is not optional, wet meat won’t brown. Season them generously all over with salt and pepper. Spread the flour on a plate and dredge each shank, knocking off the excess. If your shanks have a loose flap of meat, tie a loop of kitchen twine around the middle of each one so they hold their shape in the pot. Preheat your oven to 300°F.
Step 2: Brown hard
Heat the olive oil in your Dutch oven over medium-high until it shimmers. Working in batches so you don’t crowd the pot, brown the shanks 3–4 minutes per side until they’re a deep mahogany brown. This is where flavor lives — be patient and don’t move them too soon. Set the browned shanks aside on a plate.
Step 3: Build the base
Lower the heat to medium and add the butter. Toss in the onion, carrots, celery, and parsnip with a pinch of salt, and cook 8–10 minutes until everything softens and picks up color. Add the smashed garlic and tomato paste and stir for another 2 minutes, letting the paste darken a shade — this deepens the whole sauce.
Step 4: Deglaze
Pull the pot off the heat for a second and add the whiskey (it can flare — respect it). Return to the heat, then pour in the red wine. Scrape every browned bit off the bottom with a wooden spoon; that fond is pure flavor. Let the wine and whiskey bubble and reduce by about half, 3–4 minutes.
Step 5: The long braise
Stir in the crushed tomatoes and stock, then tuck in the bay, thyme, and rosemary. Nestle the shanks back into the pot in a single layer. The liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the meat — add a splash more stock if you need to. Bring it to a bare simmer, cover, and slide it into the oven. Braise for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning the shanks once at the halfway mark, until the meat is fork-tender and pulling away from the bone.
Step 6: Finish and gremolata
Carefully lift the shanks out (they’ll be fragile — a spider or two spatulas beats tongs here). If the sauce is thin, simmer it on the stovetop 10–15 minutes to reduce and concentrate; snip out the twine and herb stems. Meanwhile, chop the parsley, lemon zest, and garlic together for the gremolata. Spoon sauce over the shanks and shower each one with gremolata right before serving.
Tips for the Best Elk Osso Buco
- Dry the meat, then dry it again. The number one reason a braise tastes flat is a pale sear. Water is the enemy of browning — blot those shanks until the paper towel comes away clean.
- Don’t skip the flour dredge. It gives you a better crust and lightly thickens the sauce as it cooks. Just knock off the excess so you’re not left with gluey pockets.
- Low and slow beats hot and fast, always. If the braise is bubbling hard, your oven is too high. You want the laziest simmer imaginable — a bubble breaking the surface every second or two.
- Elk is lean, so watch the finish line. Unlike fatty veal, elk can go from perfect to dry if you overshoot by an hour. Start checking at the three-hour mark; it’s done when a fork twists the meat apart with no resistance.
- Tie the shanks. A single loop of twine around each keeps the meat from falling apart before it’s supposed to, so you get those beautiful intact bone-in portions on the plate.
- Save the marrow. Dig it out of the bones and either stir it into the sauce or spread it on a piece of toasted bread. It’s the best bite in the whole pot.
- Make it a day ahead. Like most braises, this is even better the next day once the flavors settle. Reheat gently and add the gremolata fresh.
What to Serve With Elk Osso Buco
Tradition says osso buco goes over saffron risotto or a bowl of soft polenta, and I won’t argue — you want something creamy and mild underneath to soak up all that sauce. Polenta is the easier weeknight move; risotto if you’ve got a glass of wine and forty minutes to stir. Mashed potatoes are never wrong either.
If you’re feeding a crowd and want to lean all the way into the Wyoming table, a pot of my cowboy beans alongside makes this into a genuine cold-weather feast — smoky and hearty against the rich, wine-dark shanks. And if this is the meal that finally convinces you to stop grinding your shanks into burger, read through my Wyoming hunter’s guide to the table for more on getting the most out of every cut you pack out of the hills.
For dessert, if the oven’s already on and the family’s still gathered, my Dutch oven peach cobbler is the kind of unfussy sweet finish that fits a night like this.
Storage & Reheating
Leftover osso buco keeps beautifully. Store the shanks in their sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days — the meat stays moist as long as it’s sitting in liquid. To reheat, warm it gently in a covered pot over low heat or in a 300°F oven until heated through; avoid the microwave if you can, since aggressive heat toughens lean elk. It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, reheat low and slow, and make a fresh little batch of gremolata to bring it back to life — that raw garlic-and-lemon lift doesn’t survive storage.
Use the Whole Animal
There’s a satisfaction in this dish that goes beyond how it tastes. When you take the cut everybody overlooks — the tough, cheap, bottom-of-the-cooler shank — and turn it into the best thing on the table, you’re honoring the animal and the effort it took to fill the freezer. My son now asks for “the bone dinner” by name, and Kimi has officially forgiven me for that first year. Give your elk shanks the afternoon they deserve. You won’t grind them again.
If you make this, I want to see it. Tag @wyofood on Instagram or find Wyo Food on Facebook and show me your pot. And if you’ve got a wild-game trick I should know about, I’m always listening.
— Sean