Veal shank substitutes

The obvious and correct answer. It is the identical cut from an older animal, complete with the marrow bone, so the sauce sets up just as richly and the presentation is the same. Beef shank is more strongly flavoured, deeper and more mineral where veal is delicate and slightly sweet, and the muscle is tougher, so it needs two and a half to three hours rather than the ninety minutes veal takes. In a lemon and white wine osso buco the beefiness is noticeable but the dish still works. With red wine and tomato it is arguably better.

Best for

osso buco, braises, gremolata dishes, budget substitution

Often labelled soup bones or beef shin. Ask for pieces cut at least an inch and a half thick.

Superb braising meat with the same collagen and marrow, and widely available where veal is not. They break down in about two hours into meat that falls off the bone, and the sauce turns glossy. The flavour is unmistakably lamb, grassy and slightly gamy, which sits beautifully with the lemon, garlic and parsley gremolata that finishes osso buco and does change the character of the dish. Shape is different too: a whole tapered shank rather than a neat round, so it reads as a lamb dish on the plate.

Best for

osso buco style braises, rich red wine sauces, gremolata, special occasions

Trim the heavy exterior fat before browning or the sauce turns greasy.

Increasingly sold cross-cut and labelled pork osso buco, and it is the closest match to veal in flavour, because both are mild and slightly sweet rather than assertively beefy. It braises in about two hours and gives a good gelatinous sauce. The differences are that pork is fattier, so skim the sauce, and the meat is a little looser in the grain, so it shreds more readily than veal's tidy fibres. In a saffron risotto milanese setting, this is a very convincing plate.

Best for

osso buco, risotto milanese pairings, milder braises, affordable substitution

The best flavour match. Beef shank is the better texture and presentation match.

No bone and no marrow, but cheeks are so loaded with collagen that the finished sauce turns as glossy and lip-coating as any shank braise, and the meat itself is silkier than shank ever gets. Three hours at 300F and it yields to a spoon. What you lose is the visual drama of the bone and the spoonful of marrow that osso buco traditionalists prize, and the flavour is a good deal richer and beefier than veal. Add a couple of marrow bones to the pot to recover most of that.

Best for

braises where presentation is flexible, pasta sauces, very silky texture, make-ahead dinners

The best choice if you want the sauce right and are not serving the meat on the bone.

Easy to find, bone-in, and full of both fat and collagen, so they deliver a deep, glossy braise in about two and a half hours. They are much fattier than veal shank, which makes the sauce richer but means you should chill and lift the fat off before serving, and the flavour is robustly beefy. The bones are not marrow bones, so you get body from connective tissue rather than the buttery marrow centre. Excellent eating, noticeably heavier than the original.

Best for

red wine braises, polenta and risotto dishes, wide availability, generous portions

Cook the day before and skim the set fat. This dish is greasy served straight from the pot.

The cheap and unexpected option, and it genuinely works: dark turkey leg meat has enough connective tissue to braise for ninety minutes into tender, sliceable meat, and the bone contributes some gelatin. It is mild, which is true to veal, but much less rich, so the sauce will be thinner and will want a spoonful of butter stirred in at the end plus a well-reduced wine base. Best when the gremolata and the risotto underneath are doing most of the work.

Best for

light braises, very tight budget, lower-fat cooking, large batches

Add a marrow bone or a splash of demi-glace to give the sauce the body turkey cannot supply.