Learn how to braise venison shanks easily so that they get fall-apart tender. All you need is this perfectly flavored braising liquid and low and slow roasting.
What are venison shanks?
Deer shanks are typically a cut of meat that is below the knee, it’s really a piece of leg meat. A lot of people tend to toss them aside, or use the small amount of meat for more ground meat.
Shanks have a lot of connective tissue because they’re located on the leg of the animal. This helps a deer…walk, just like you. Many people don’t like using shank meat because it can be tough.
BUT, they can be delicious if cooked properly.
How do you cook them?
The secret to really great shanks is braising. Venison shanks are popularly used in Osso Bucco. Osso Bucco is an Italian dish, typically made with veal. It takes pieces of shank and braises them until tender. You’ll see pictures with the meat circled around the bone, they kind of look like a small ribeye…kind of.
But, you don’t have to cut up shank into pieces like you do in Osso Bucco to have a really great dish. Our butcher gives us the shank whole, and if I don’t feel like sawing the bone apart (which is like 90% of the time, lol), a whole shank is what I work with! Braising is the way to do that.
Braising is cooking something low and slow in liquid.
To braise a shank, I first like to get a good sear on the meat in a hot pan. Then, I de-glaze my pan with the cooking liquid (for this recipe I’m opting for wine and stock) for more flavor. Then, I add the meat to the braising liquid, add some aromatics (garlic, lemon zest, thyme), acid (this helps break down tissue) and seasoning.
Everything is covered with a lid or foil and it goes into the oven, and cooks low and slow. From time to time, I like to baste the meat with the liquid to make sure each inch is covered.
What do I do if my shank meat is still tough when I take it out of the oven?
Chances are, you just need more cooking time. Place your meat back in the oven, covered, for 15 minute increments until it is tender and pulling away from the bone.
Every animal is different, and I do find that this varies, so just keep braising and be patient!
Love venison recipes? You’re going to love my red wine venison roast that braises in the Instant Pot!
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How to Braise Venison Shanks That Are SO Tender
Learn how to braise venison shanks easily so that they get fall-apart tender. All you need is this perfectly flavored braising liquid and low and slow roasting.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 and 1/2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes
- Yield: about 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2–3 venison shanks
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
- 2 cups beef or venison stock
- 1 cup red wine
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- thyme sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle the shanks with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.
- When the pan is hot, add the venison shanks (you may need to do this one at a time depending on the size of your pan) and sear them all over until they’re nicely browned.
- Place the shanks into a large dutch oven with a lid or a baking dish large enough to hold all of them.
- Mix together the stock, wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, garlic cloves, pepper, lemon zest, and remaining teaspoon of salt.
- Deglaze the pan you seared the shanks in with liquid and then pour the liquid over the shanks. Place a few thyme sprigs on top of the shanks.
- Cover the baking dish/Dutch oven with foil or a lid and slide into the oven.
- Allow this to roast, basting the meat with the liquid about every hour, for 2-3 hours, or until it is falling off the bone.
- Serve with the braising liquid!
Keywords: shank, venison shank, venison, deer meat, wild game, braising
I am eating this over mashed potatoes right now and OMG it is so delicious!! I had to make a couple of changes, but only because my husband shot an elk and the shank was too big to do it any other way. I seared it on the grill, maybe not long enough but by the time I do this to the other three I will have that part down. Then I mixed all the ingredients together and poured it over the shank in the turkey roaster. I think we cooked it for about four hours at 300 degrees. The house smelled divine, and I will make this at least three more times!
★★★★★
YOu are a genius to do it this way! I’m so glad it worked but it makes total sense 🙂 thank you for the comment!
I had no idea what I was going to do with our venison shanks until I found this recipe. It was SO good! Incredibly tender and very delicious. Thank you so much!
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Cooking a Sambar shank now, I’ll let you know how it turns out 🤠
★★★★★
Bravo. I have tried several recipes for venison shank & this was SUPURB. I followed the recipe exactly but doubled the recipe so I did need a bit longer cooking time. It really will become fork tender when it’s ready.
★★★★★
Ah! You get it! Thanks, Lacy. So glad you enjoyed.
I came right back to your site to look for more venison recipes. 🙂
Aw, thank you, Lacy!
Lifelong hunter and I had never had venison shanks. This recipe is fantastic. Can’t wait to cook it again.
This looks divine, love all the acid! She’s just gone into the slow cooker!
★★★★★
Sounds AMAZING! Hope you are loving this recipe 🙂
This was amazing… Served over mashed potatoes, made a gravy with the cooking juices/sauce. I did leave it in the oven for four hours. Definitely will be keeping the shank on future deer!
★★★★★
Found it to be bland, and the vinegar and salt too dominant, Added Coriander, Star annis and a Bay leaf to enhance the flavour with a dash of Cyanne pepper
★★★
Fantastic! So flavorful.
★★★★★
I saved a couple shanks from last year that I need to do something with, so I’m going to use this recipe as I’ve had great success with the others in your book (thanks!).
I do have a couple questions though (maybe you’ll see this and can help 🙂 ).
The two shanks I have are taken off the bone. (If this works out well, next time I’ll keep the bone in). Do you think this can work with the meat off the bone? I don’t see why not. At any rate, I’ll know soon enough.
My brother tried to slow cook shanks before in a slow cooker for several hours and was disappointed that all the connective tissue had still not rendered away fully. I suspect that he didn’t keep it in long enough… Anyhow my question is, with the cook time in this recipe of about 2 1/2 hours (which seems a bit on the short side?) and references to the meat being tender, does this method of braising render out the connective tissue in the shank?
Any insight would be much appreciated!
Also…HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Mike