Pork Osso buco – Sous Vide

Dust off your sous vide cooker and get ready for some serious flavor with this Pork Osso Buco sous vide recipe. Instead of traditional beef shanks or veal shanks, we’re going with more affordable pork, and with unbelievable flavors, you can create a restaurant-quality dish in your kitchen. Don’t be intimidated – this classic Italian dish is easier to make than you think! 

Grab your knife and fork – well, really, just your fork because this dish is so tender you don’t need a knife – and dig into this fantastic pork recipe. The sous vide cooker will work its magic, both tenderizing and cooking to perfection, a cut of meat that is often prepared in a Dutch oven or on the stovetop. 

By preparing this recipe sous vide style, you lock in all the flavors, allowing the meat to cook low and gently in a juice that transforms into an amazing sauce. Plus, it’s practically a set-it-and-forget-it recipe, so what’s not to love? 

Perfect for dinner parties or just a meal with the family on a Tuesday night, dust off your sous vide equipment, and let’s get started!

Want more pork comfort food recipes? Try our Pork Tenderloin over Three Cheese Gnocchi, Bacon Wrapped Smoked Meatloaf, and Quick Skillet Lasagna!

WHAT IS SOUS VIDE PORK OSSO BUCO?

Sous vide is a French cooking technique used for years in restaurant kitchens. It means under vacuum, and whatever’s being cooked is vacuum-sealed in plastic and cooked underwater at a precise temperature.

The idea is that if you maintain the water temperature, the food being cooked will never cook past that temperature. So, if you want a steak perfectly cooked to 125 degrees F, you’d set your sous vide to 125 degrees F, and a while later, your steak is finished and cooked to that temperature and not a degree more.

As for the meat, we’re using fresh pork shanks as the base for this recipe. The name osso buco means bone with a hole or hollow bone. Essentially, pork shanks are a meat cut with a hollow bone. Inside the pork bone hole lies bone marrow, lending to the dish’s deep flavor. 

Of course, you can use any cooking method you want for these pork shanks. For this recipe, we chose the sous vide cooking method. Cooking pork shanks low and slow using the sous vide method allows for juicy meat with a rich flavor, perfect for a cold winter evening. 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOUS VIDE COOKING?

Besides never overcooking another piece of meat, sous vide cooking usually yields fork-tender proteins. Plus, there’s no loss of flavor – everything is cooked together in plastic. 

Cooking in plastic? Yes, you can cook in food-grade plastic. The heat from sous vide cooking never gets hot enough to melt the plastic or cause the chemicals in the plastic to leech out, so it’s perfectly safe.

The only thing you want to note is that because the food is cooked in a water bath, it needs to be seared ahead or after for a more appealing look. Trust us.

INGREDIENTS

Also often called pork osso bucco, you’ll need to gather a few ingredients to make this incredibly delicious pork recipe.

• Sous Vide precision cooker – Any brand will do, but we love our Anova Sous Vide machine.
• Large container – Filled with water. Having a fitted lid is helpful. Many sous vide appliances also sell water bath containers specially designed to fit the sous vide and any ingredients.
• Pork osso buco – Look for meaty pork shanks.
• Vegetable oil – Or olive oil.
• Carrots – Diced.
• Celery – Diced.
• Shallots – Diced. Shallots have a milder flavor than onions, perfect for this sous vide osso buco recipe.
• Garlic – Fresh is best!
• Italian Seasoning – a go-to blend of herbs and a hint of citrus to brighten dishes
• Tomato paste
• White wine – If you can drink it, you can cook with it! We go with a dry pinot grigio.
• Crushed tomatoes – a 14-ounce can.
• Bay leaf
• Salt and pepper

For the gremolata (herby topping):

• Parsley – Fresh and chopped fine.
• Garlic – Yes, more garlic – bring on the garlic!
• Lemon zest – From a whole lemon.
• Salt

To serve: 

• Fennel bulb

HOW TO MAKE PORK SHANK OSSO BUCO SOUS VIDE

Traditionally made with veal shanks, we’re using more affordable pork shanks in this recipe. You should find pork shanks at most grocery stores or ask your butcher. If shopping for meat online, check out our guide to ordering meat online. 

This is a two-step cooking process. The first step is done on the stovetop, and the second is done on the sous vide.

• First, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sear the seasoned pork shanks until brown and caramelized. Set them aside when they’re done.

• Then, in the same pan, and with a bit more oil, saute the vegetables until they are tender.
• Mix in the tomato paste, stir to coat, and add in the seasonings. 
• Deglaze the pan with the white wine, and add the diced tomatoes and bay leaves. Mix well and allow to thicken a moment.
• Add the tomato-vegetable mixture to your sous vide bags and add the pork shanks. Massage the contents so that the shanks are well coated. 
• Seal the bags.
• Set your sous vide cooker to 175 degrees F and submerge the bags. Set the timer for 24 hours.
• When the time is nearly up, make the gremolata by mixing the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and salt and roast the fennel.
• Finally, carefully remove the bags from the water and extract the pork and sauce. Plate with roasted fennel and top with the gremolata. Dig in!

WHAT TO SERVE WITH OSSO BUCO

If you were to order this delicious osso buco in a restaurant, chances are it’d be served with saffron risotto (risotto Milanese), but creamy polenta or even mashed potatoes are a great option, too. You want something to soak up all that fabulous sauce.

To keep it keto, we paired it with mashed roasted parsnips.

​LEFTOVERS & REHEATING

Store leftover Pork Osso Buco in an airtight container for up to 2 days. 

To reheat:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 
2. Place leftover Pork Osso Buco into a covered oven-safe dish.
3. Cook for 45 minutes or until warm.

If you don’t have time for that (we don’t blame you), pop your leftover meal into a saucepan over medium-high heat and reheat until warm.

You can also use the microwave if you’re super short on time. Just reheat in a microwave-safe dish or plate for at least 1 minute. Keep reheating in 20-30-second intervals until warm. 

More sous vide recipes

Beef Recipes

Sous Vide Ribeye

Beef Recipes

Sous Vide Denver Steak

Seafood

Sous Vide Scallops with Brown Butter Sauce

Pork Recipes

Sous Vide Pork Loin Recipe

With a rich flavor profile and few key ingredients, this Pork Osso Buco is the perfect recipe for any occasion, especially on a chilly night!

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