Marrow bones substitutes

Each round of shank has a marrow-filled bone in the middle plus a collar of very collagen-rich meat, so it does both jobs at once. Ask the butcher for cross-cut beef shank or beef shin on the bone.

Best for

beef soup, stock, cholent, pho, any long simmer

The broth comes out slightly meatier and deeper than pure marrow bones give, and you also get shreds of tender meat to eat, which marrow bones do not provide. Slightly less fat floats to the top because there is less marrow per pound. This is the closest and most useful swap.

Knuckle and joint bones are packed with cartilage and connective tissue, so they release far more gelatin than marrow bones do.

Best for

stock, bone broth, pho, consomme, anything you want to set when chilled

The broth will set to a firm jelly in the fridge and feel silky and lip-sticking, but it tastes cleaner and less rich because there is little marrow fat. Add a knob of butter or a spoon of schmaltz at the end if you miss the richness, or roast the bones first for more depth.

Cross-sections of tail, each with a bone core, a ring of collagen and a good cap of fat and meat.

Best for

beef soup, stock, braises, cholent, Jewish beef and barley soup

This is the richest option and makes the best-tasting broth of anything on this list, deeply beefy and glossy. It costs considerably more per pound than marrow bones and roughly a third of the weight is bone, so buy generously. Skim the fat after chilling or the soup will be heavy.

For Jewish chicken soup, this is the right answer rather than a compromise. Feet are almost pure collagen, wings and backs bring both gelatin and flavor.

Best for

chicken soup, matzo ball soup, light broths, risotto stock

The broth turns golden and light rather than dark and beefy, and it sets very firmly because of the feet. Completely wrong for a beef soup and better than beef bones for a chicken one. Feet need a 60-second blanch and a rinse first or the broth clouds.

Both are meaty bones with plenty of connective tissue, and neck bones in particular are cheap and widely stocked at kosher and Southern butcher counters.

Best for

beef soup, stock, cholent, gravy, braises

You get much more meaty, roasted flavor and less of the rounded fatty mouthfeel marrow provides. Neck bones make a broth that tastes strongly of beef but feels slightly thinner. Short ribs behave like oxtail but with less gelatin. Both are excellent for soup and inferior for a delicate stock.

Sprinkle gelatin over cold broth, let it bloom for five minutes, then heat and stir. This is the honest emergency fix when you have no bones and no time.

Best for

quick soup, pan sauces, gravy, rescuing thin broth

It gives you the exact silky, mouth-coating body that bones provide and absolutely none of the flavor, so the broth still tastes like what it tasted like before. Pair it with a browned onion, a splash of soy sauce and a pat of butter if you want depth too. Be honest with yourself that this is a texture patch, not a stock.

If the recipe is roasted marrow bones on toast, there is no substitute at all. Marrow is a specific soft, sweet, buttery fat and nothing else behaves like it.

Best for

roasted bone marrow, marrow on toast, marrow butter

The least-bad stand-in on toast is a compound butter or good beef fat whipped with parsley, shallot, lemon and salt, which gets you the richness and the flavor pairing but not the wobble or the little gelatinous edge. Say plainly that it is different rather than pretending.