Whenever I come home with a deer, one of the first things I eat are the shanks. Venison shanks are an eater’s cut: All that connective tissue is what is essentially the animal’s shin and calf melts into a slick, almost sticky gravy. Properly done, a braised shank feels like its loaded with fat, but isn’t. It’s alchemy.
The key to cooking any shank, wild or domestic, is to cook it slow, moist and low. Take your time, braise or stew the shanks over low heat. Once you figure that out, you’re golden.
Hunters out there, if you have never bothered with the shanks from your deer, you really ought to. Ever try to use one for sausage or burger? The same connective tissue that makes braised venison shanks so good will destroy your grinder — or make you homicidal as you try (unsuccessfully) to remove all of it beforehand. Better to go with what nature gives you.
To remove a shank from a deer or pig, you will often need a hacksaw, but if you cut all the tendons just right you can break the shank off by bending it backwards. Shanks from smaller deer, antelope or pigs should be cooked whole, like this recipe, while elk or moose shanks should be cut into cross sections like beef shanks.
Most braised shank recipes are heavy, loaded with dark, brooding ingredients like mushrooms, Port or beef stock. I like those flavors as much as the next guy, but it would not be right for this yearling antelope, whose meat is pale like lamb. So I went with a spring lamb feel for this dish.
I had a lot of garlic lying around the pantry, so I decided to go with a flavor reminiscent of Forty Clove Chicken.
Yes, there are something like 4 heads of garlic in this dish. Worry not: The garlic gets very mellow in the braising process, and if you follow this trick, peeling it all will take you less than a minute. Really.
The result is a smooth, silky, mellow (and yes, garlicky, but not offensively so) sauce poured over meat that’s so tender it falls off the bone. A little lemon zest and white wine provide some tartness, some rosemary for balance.
Serve this with mashed potatoes, polenta or something else to soak up the sauce, which is so good you will want to save any leftovers; it’s great as a pasta sauce the next day.
Try this recipe and you too may find yourself eating the shanks from your deer before you even think about the backstrap…
Braised Venison Shanks with Garlic
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
- 4 venison shanks (or lamb)
- 4 heads of garlic, peeled
- Salt
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken or other light stock
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
- Zest of a lemon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Take the shanks out of the fridge, coat them in a little oil and salt them well. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Heat the vegetable oil or butter in a Dutch oven (or other ovenproof pan that will fit all the shanks) and brown the shanks on every side but the one with the "shin," where the bone shows clearly -- if you brown this part, the shank is more likely to fall apart before you want it to. Remove the shanks as they brown and set aside.
- While the shanks are browning, peel the garlic. Think it's hard to peel 4 heads of garlic? Try this trick: Separate the cloves and put them in a metal bowl. Cover the bowl with one the same size and shake them vigorously for about 10 seconds. All the cloves will be peeled. Here is a video of the process.
- Put the garlic in the pot and brown just a little. Pour in the white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Bring this to a boil and add the chicken stock, thyme, rosemary and lemon zest. bring to a simmer and add salt to taste. Return the shanks to the pot and arrange "shin" side up with the garlic all around them. Cover the pot and cook in the oven until the meat wants to fall off the bone, anywhere from an hour to 2 hours.
- Carefully remove the shanks and arrange on a baking sheet or small roasting pan. Turn the oven to 400°F. Remove about 12 of the nicest garlic cloves and set aside.
- Puree the sauce in a blender, swirl in the unsalted butter and pour the sauce into a small pot to keep warm.
- Paint the shanks with some of the sauce and put them in the oven. Paint every 5 minutes for 15 minutes, or until there is a nice glaze on the shanks. To serve, give everyone some mashed potatoes or polenta and a shank. Pour some sauce over everything and garnish with the roasted garlic cloves and rosemary.
Fantastic recipe! Everyone was licking the plate.
I have used this recipe three times now. Whenever I harvest venison my mind goes to the shanks first– backstrap and tenderloins, still wonderful have fallen in my ranking. When my wild-food skeptical wife and daughter got in an argument about who should get the last shank, I knew I was right.
Never leave a shank in the field! That might make a nice bumper sticker.
Did this recipe with a different cut of meat but and in a pressure cooker but it still turned out awesome. All of my best food recipes come from Hank Shaw!
Never used/cooked venison shanks, so here’s hoping, we love garlic, looking forward to tasting it altogether
Haven’t made this yet, but I’m going to try them in the slow cooker.. low and slow. Because this sounds absolutely magical.
Fantastic flavour. The sauce is mind blowing. I was a bit apprehensive about the sheer amount of garlic, but trusted the assurances and did not regret it at all. My wife, who is only a modest consumer of both garlic and game, loved this recipe.
For me and my oven, cooking shanks from a young dry whitetail doe, 300 for two hours was a bit too hot and a bit too short. I used an enamelled cast iron Dutch oven. I will do it again at 275 and leave myself five hours to really melt that connective tissue.
The other modification I will try will be to increase the water and wine volume slightly, or at last whisk some in to thin out the sauce a bit. The thick sauce was great for glazing actually, but when it came to plating it out I wanted it just slightly thinner to be able to drizzle it a bit. Hell, maybe a splash of cream would do the trick or certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.
Served with an Argentinian Cab Sauv, but full disclosure, I’m no sommelier!
Thanks for the recipe.
Just LOVE this recipe, we’ve used it for fallow, red, and our own hoggets, and everyone we’ve made this for has enjoyed it. The recipe has been passed along many times. Foolproof, guaranteed delight.
This is one of the BEST ways I have ever eaten deer! Usually after successful hunt and during processing shank meat goes in the burger pile to be ground. I saw this recipe one day and thought it would be impossible to make such tough silver skin filled meat tender. After I dispatched a small eight point two weeks ago the hind shanks were saved. Fast forward to tonight when this recipe was made and my mind is blown how tender, savory, creamy, and just all around good this is. I’m pretty sure you could take an old wore out leather shoe that was reeled up from the depths of a radioactive pond near Chernobyl. Use this recipe and it would be the better than your grandma’s cooking on Thanksgiving.
This recipe is awesome!! No more grinding up the shanks. I’ve used it on venison and lamb multiple times and everyone who ate it, loved it.
I see you have carrots or some of the sort on there so is it your porogative to just add veggies as you like to this recipe?
Adelle: Absolutely.
I just made the lamb version of this (I’m not a hunter…yet? We’ll see!) for tomorrow and tried a small sample when it was done. This is quite possibly THE best lamb I’ve ever tasted and I’ve been a huge fan of lamb for years! So tender, flavorful, just delicious! I’ll try the venison version when I can lay my hands on some swer meat. Thank you for such a lovely, hands-down awesome recipe!
Hunting deer in the CWD zone of Wisconsin, I avoid cutting through bones. Can a person use this with just the meat off the shank area?
Eric: You betcha.
This recipe was wonderful! Fall apart tender, and the sauce is very good. We froze the extra sauce for pasta at another meal.
This recipe has been on here for a while and we’ve made it several times with amazing success. I used to give the shanks to the dog… Never Again! I will rarely have a deer processed professionally. You should see the look on their face when I ask for the shanks since this is not a common request. I myself was delighted to learn that what makes the shank, otherwise an impossible cut, actually enriches the sauce in this recipe. It exites me to become more, “nose to tail”. It’s also more family friendly than heart tartare or tacos de lingua, (although both are awesome and delicious)!
This is an incredible recipe. I save shanks all year to prepare this for our closest friends and family. Flawless every time. Have used venison, goat, lamb shanks – all work well. Perfect winter meal.
I rarely leave comments on these sites, and I cook a lot. But this was wonderful! The sauce was absolutely perfect. I actually used a veggie peeler on the lemon and then strained some it off before blending.
I served it with roasted asparagus and cauliflower mashed “potatoes” for a healthy dinner.
Great recipe!
I saved a full front shoulder from a button buck. I used this recipe on that shoulder. It was great. I served it over wide noodles and my family really liked it.
It was super tender after about 2 1/2 hours.
I’m going to attempt a sous vide adaptation of this recipe, do you have any advice?
Made these last night for dinner. It was DELISH!. I’m going to reheat the leftovers tonight, adding a bit more chicken stock and some saute mushrooms to the sauce. I will never be adding it to burger/ sausage or give away another shank again
Hank, I appreciate your work greatly. Made the mistake of sharing this with my hunting buddies and I won’t be getting their shanks this year. Outstanding.
I cannot wait to try this recipe! My question is: The shanks were in the freezer, should they be thawed before the browning process?
TLC: Yes.
Do you cut the bottom brown nubby things off the garlic cloves before cooking with them? I get OCD about that sort of thing unless you say it doesnt matter and they can stay on…
Liz: I cut them off.
Is this recipe for cross cut shanks? I have 4 cross cut shanks about 3/4″ thick that is like to make tonight. Thanks!
Josh: It isn’t originally, as you can see from the picture. But it should work with cross-cut shanks cut from a larger animal. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out!
This was a fantastic recipe, I’m a slow and low extremist and did this over 7.5 hours, starting at 215 for 2.5 hours, 255 for 2.5 hours, and 305 for the remaining 2. I used a combo of veal stock and chicken stock because that’s what I had, and a whole head of elephant head garlic because it looked better than the other garlic options at the store for whatever reason.
Turned out scrumptious, flavors didn’t overwhelm the venison, the braising liquid reduced into a light, bright sauce, and my two dining companions were beside themselves over how satisfying it was. Thanks!
I made this tonight with the shanks from last seasons deer and I have to say it was one of the best meals I have ever had!
Please do yourself, your family and your friends a favour and don’t discard or turn the shanks into ground meat. MAKE THIS!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! (My dog does not thank you – she always got the shanks before). I will never again waste another shank. We have made this recipe several times serving them over mashed potatoes with a bold red wine and they are amazing! The way that all the parts that prevent you from using them for burger actually break down and render a velvet texture to the sauce is so nice. Nose to tail Baby! You have yet to steer us wrong with any of your recipes.
Oh my! Just discovered your site and I am so THRILLED….so many yummy things that I can’t wait to try! So I’m doing this one tonight and had a question….my hubby and son removed the shank from the bone…is the cooking time the same?
Julie: Not sure, but I don’t think the cook time will be a lot shorter. Keep an eye on it after about 90 minutes or so.
Made this last night, with antelope front shanks, and it was phenomenal. Ended up braising for 3 hours. Thanks!
This recipe is fantastic. I made it and will make it again. Many of my friends cut up their own venison and leave the foreleg shanks. I collect them all now…..
Made this recipe last night for dinner…it was fantastic! No more putting the shank meat into the hamburg/sausage pile!
James C: I’ve made sausages with 100% venison before from deer like that: No pork fat at all. AWESOME. Test it by cutting a little off and putting it in a little frying pan with some water. Turn the burner on medium-high to let the fat render. Smell it: It should smell meaty and a little “deery,” but not off and stinky. If you like the smell, use the fat. If you don’t, toss it.
For 40 years I’ve felt guilty about how to deal with shank meat until now….just killed an 8 point in Northern Wisconsin and will now steal all the shanks at deer camp….braised venison shank,BB King and bourbon , doesn’t get any better.
Hi Hank, Love your site and book… I recently processed a real nice doe here in Ohio. I spent about 2 hours trimming all the fat off during the process and now I see your response to Erika that the bones and fat are edible? I knew the bones were good for cooking and making stock so I saved some for that (the shakes will go to this recipe sometime soon!) but what should we do with all the fat next time?
On a side note this girl had so much fat I thought I saw the elusive Caul fat you discussed a couple months ago with Matilda, but was not sure if I was looking at the right thing or if Deer even have Caul fat?
Lindsay: Between the “knee” and hoof.
By shank do you mean the part between the “knee” and the hoof or the part between the hip and the “knee” (the thigh)?
Thanks.
Hank,
As a footnote to your article, I saw three Roe Deer while walking my dog this morning in a forest near my home in North Yorkshire, England. We have a lot of Roe deer living in the forests in this area but there is very little deer-hunting here, even though there is a huge amount of ‘shooting’ i.e. upland bird hunting. The deer are very healthy looking and your article certainly tempts me to become a deer hunter. However, getting a suitable rifle is legally difficult and deer hunting is confined to private forests as our public forests are what it says on the tin, open to all of the public, and there is a general consensus here that hunting and the public should be kept strictly separate.
Erika: Who told you that whitetail bones and fat are inedible? That is the craziest thing I have ever heard!! I’ve cooked whitetail shanks before and they were WONDERFUL.
It’s too bad that whitetail deer bones and fat are inedible because I have a hunch that this recipe would suffer without the bones. But I will try it anyway with this year’s deer that hasn’t been shot yet so I’m totally jinxing myself.
And that garlic peeling vid is worth the price of admission – thanks for posting that one, Hank!
Susie QT: Not sure, but maybe it might work with boned-out neck meat…
My mistake! Guess I should read your directions first as you already know my trick. Sorry.
Hank,
Speaking of peeling garlic, a Chef at Pebble Beach Beach & Tennis Club once showed me an awesome way to peel lots of garlic in a hurry. If you take two same sized metal bowls and then break up the garlic from the bottom root portion of the bulb and place in one bowl and then place the second bowl upside down over the top of the first (You should have two metal bowls meeting at lip with the bottoms facing opposite ways) and then shake the garlic vigorously between the two mated bowls the garlic will all be magically peeled in under a minute. After seeing this work, I have never peeled mass amounts of garlic any other way! Give it a try the next time you are peeling more than a few cloves and you will praise the results.
Oh, man that sounds so good. We usually bone out that part of the deer, so I don’t have any shanks in my freezer- will it work with any other cut?
I wish I had this three weeks ago. I love shank but as I sat there looking at the deer shank I couldn’t figure out how to make it work because I only know the cross cut shanks of beef. I want to cry now. Okay next year the shanks are mine!
This looks divine! I’m putting it on the list for next week – we have loads of garlic from the garden this year!
P.s. Loved the garlic video – shake ‘the dickins out of it.’ 🙂
I’ve got a freezer full of shanks from two deer this year as well as a couple leftovers from last year. Can’t wait to try this.
This looks so good, and I will definitely be trying it with lamb shanks, which we enjoy on a pretty regular basis.