Oxtail substitute

Substitutes for Oxtail with ratios

1. 2Bone-in beef shank (osso buco cut)

   Close match

   Use the same amount by weight, 2.5-3 hours

   Cross-cut sections of the leg, with a marrow bone in the centre and heavy connective tissue running through.

   What changes

   Best for

   braises, stews, soup, pho and broths, ragu

   Leaner than oxtail but loaded with collagen and marrow, so the braising liquid still sets to a jelly in the fridge, which is the sign you have got it right. The meat is a little drier and more fibrous, so keep it fully submerged. Usually the cheapest genuinely good option.

2. 3Beef cheeks

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by weight, about 3 hours

   Boneless muscle that is almost pure collagen and hard-worked fibre.

   What changes

   Best for

   braises, stews, ragu, tacos, pie fillings

   The meat becomes extraordinarily silky, better than oxtail in that respect, and the sauce thickens well. What you lose is the marrow flavour the bones supply, so add a beef bone to the pot or use a good stock rather than water. Trim the thick fat and silverskin before browning.

3. 4Beef chuck plus marrow bones or gelatin

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight of chuck, plus 1-2 lb bones or 1 tbsp gelatin per quart of liquid

   The workaround when no bone-in braising cut is available at all.

   What changes

   Best for

   stews, braises, pie fillings, soup

   Chuck alone gives you tender beef sitting in a watery sauce, which is the exact failure this substitution exists to prevent. Marrow or knuckle bones in the pot, or unflavoured gelatin stirred into the finished liquid, restore the body. Expect a cleaner, less funky flavour than oxtail, which has a distinctive deep, almost gamey richness.

4. 5Pork trotters, pork neck bones or ham hock

   Different taste

   About half the oxtail weight, plus meat of your choice

   Collagen champions, and the traditional answer to a thin braise in a great many cuisines.

   What changes

   Best for

   braises, beans, stews, soup, greens

   These will make the sauce properly sticky, which is the hardest part of the job. The flavour turns pork-forward, and a smoked hock takes the dish somewhere else entirely, delicious but no longer a beef daube. Use an unsmoked trotter or neck bone if you want to stay closest to the original.

5. 6Lamb neck or lamb shank

   Different taste

   Use the same amount by weight, 2-2.5 hours

   Same structural idea as oxtail: bone, heavy connective tissue, long slow braise, rich sauce.

   What changes

   Best for

   braises, stews, tagines, with tomato and red wine, ragu

   Behaves almost identically in the pot and gives a sauce with real body. It tastes distinctly of lamb, sweeter and more mineral than beef, which suits a tomato-and-red-wine braise and clashes with anything meant to read as beef. Cooks faster than oxtail, so check at two hours.