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Osso Buco is a traditional Italian dish made with veal shanks that are browned and cooked with onion, garlic, carrots and tomatoes. Veal shanks contain marrow bones that add fantastic flavour (and healthy fats!) to this low-carb dinner dish. Don't forget to eat the bone marrow — it can be hard to extract from the bones but you can use the thin end of a teaspoon or a meat skewer to do that.
Traditionally, veal shanks are served with a simple gremolata, risotto or polenta. To keep this meal keto-friendly, I like to serve mine with Gremolata Cauli-Rice or plain cauli-rice.
This meal makes four generous servings or up to six smaller meals. I used three large veal shanks but you may have to use up to six pieces depending on the size (make sure to use the correct weight). If you are short on time you can skip the browning although I would advice against it because browning adds a lot of flavour and takes this popular Italian-inspired dish to a whole new level. I also like to finish mine in the oven just to crisp it up a little.
Looking for more keto Instant Pot recipes? Make sure to check out my Instant Pot Beef Stew and other low-carb recipes including soups and stews, all made in the Instant Pot.
Hands-on Overall
Nutritional values (per serving)
Net carbs4.4 grams
Protein34.5 grams
Fat24.4 grams
Calories389 kcal
Calories from carbs 5%, protein 37%, fat 58%
Total carbs6.6 gramsFiber2.2 gramsSugars3.6 gramsSaturated fat9.6 gramsSodium618 mg(27% RDA)Magnesium50 mg(12% RDA)Potassium797 mg(40% EMR)
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced (70 g/ 2.5 oz)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced (65 g/ 2.3 oz)
- 2 large celery stalks (80 g/ 2.8 oz)
- 1.4 kg veal shanks, bone in (about 3 lbs) - will yield about 50% meat, 700 g/ 1.5 lbs raw meat)
- 3/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper, or to taste
- 3 tbsp ghee, duck fat or tallow (45 ml)
- 1 small can chopped tomatoes (200 g/ 7 oz)
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (30 ml)
- 1/2 cup water (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (30 ml)
- Optional: best served with Gremolata Cauli-Rice Quick & Easy Gremolata
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Dice the carrot and slice the celery. Set aside.
- Using a paper towel, pat dry the meat. Season with salt and pepper from both sides.
- Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and grease with 2 tablespoons of ghee (use 6 or 8-quart/L Instant Pot). Add the beef chunks and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until browned and caramelised. This step is important as it will add flavour!
- Remove from the Instant Pot and set aside on a plate.
- Grease the Instant Pot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee. Add the onion and cook for just 3 minutes, until fragrant and then add the minced garlic. Cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, lemon juice and water.
- Add back the browned meat and cover with the sauce.
- Cover with a lid and set to Manual. Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. When the program has finished, let the steam release naturally for 15-20, and then turn the valve to venting to release the remaining steam.
- Remove the lid once the pressure has dropped and the lid released. Season to taste and drizzle with olive oil and serve. Optionally, you can transfer the content of the Instant pot into a large shallow casserole dish and brown under a broiler preheated to high for about 10 minutes.
- Serve with low-carb sides such as Cauli-Mash or Cauli-Rice
Don't Have an Instant Pot?
If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can use a large casserole dish or Dutch oven and prepare your Osso Buco in the oven. To do that, preheat the oven to 160 °C/ 325 °F. Brown the meat and cook the aromatics in the casserole dish — just like you would using the Sauté program on the Instant Pot. Add the browned veal shanks and the remaining ingredients. Cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 75 to 90 minutes.
Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving)
| Net carbs | Protein | Fat | Calories |
|---|
| Onion, brown (yellow), raw |
| 1.1 g | 0.2 g | 0 g | 6 kcal |
| Garlic, fresh |
| 0.5 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 2 kcal |
| Carrot, fresh |
| 1.1 g | 0.2 g | 0 g | 7 kcal |
| Celery stalk, fresh |
| 0.3 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 3 kcal |
| Veal, shank (fore and hind), separable lean and fat, raw |
| 0 g | 33.5 g | 6.1 g | 198 kcal |
| Salt, sea salt |
| 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Pepper, black, spices |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Ghee |
| 0 g | 0 g | 11.3 g | 102 kcal |
| Tomatoes, canned (unsweetened) |
| 0.8 g | 0.4 g | 0.1 g | 8 kcal |
| Bay leaf, dried |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Thyme, fresh |
| 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Lemon juice, fresh |
| 0.4 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Olive oil, extra virgin |
| 0 g | 0 g | 6.8 g | 60 kcal |
| Total per serving |
| 4.4 g | 34.5 g | 24.4 g | 389 kcal |
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