Oxtail substitutes

Cut across the rib bones, with a similar bone-to-meat ratio and a comparable load of collagen.

Best for

braises, stews, daube, soup, ragu, boeuf bourguignon

The closest match: same rich unctuous sauce, same fall-apart meat, same reason to cook it slowly. Meatier and fattier than oxtail with less of that sticky gelatinous texture right around the bone, and you will need to skim more fat off the top. Widely available and the easiest swap to shop for.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.