Roasted Bone Marrow With Parsley Salad

Roasted bone marrow recipe

​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 35 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Roasted bone marrow served on toast is one of the classic gourmet dishes with origins extending at least as far back as France in the 1600s. The modern take on the dish often involves serving the roasted bones with toast, a small heap of grey sea salt, and an herb salad.

Marrow bones are generally the leg bones from either beef or veal. Asian grocery stores will almost always sell fresh marrow bones and your local supermarket might offer frozen ones. Frozen ones are fine for making soup, but if you're serving the marrow specifically, go for the fresh ones.

If you don't have an Asian grocery nearby, try a specialty butcher shop. When deciding between beef or veal, keep in mind that veal marrow has a much milder flavor than the beef version, which can sometimes be overpowering. Either way, ask for center-cut marrow bones.

Note that often the marrow bones are cut crosswise rather than lengthwise. Serving them this way allows your guests to fully immerse themselves in the act of extracting the marrow from the bones. You can ask your butcher to saw the bones lengthwise instead for easy eating, but it's easy to overcook the marrow this way, causing it to liquefy.

To serve, place the marrow bones on individual plates with toast, salad and sea salt. To eat, dig the marrow out of the bones, spread it on the toast, top with salad, and sprinkle with sea salt. It's a hands-on dish that's fun for a dinner party. This recipe serves four as an appetizer and two as a main dish.

Ingredients

  • 3 to 4 pounds beef or veal marrow bones, center-cut, and cut cross-wise

  • 1 cup fresh parsley leaves

  • 2 small shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

  • 2 teaspoons capers

  • Crusty bread

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

  • Grey sea salt, for serving

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for roasted bone marrow
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  2. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

  3. Stand the marrow bones upright in a roasting pan. If one end of the bone is visibly wider than the other, arrange them with the wider ends down so that they are as stable as possible.

    Stand upright in pan
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  4. Transfer them to the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes.

    Transfer to oven
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  5. Combine the parsley, shallots, and capers in a small mixing bowl. Toast the bread.

    Combine parsley, shallots
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  6. After 15 minutes, check the bones. The marrow should be hot, with a soft and jelly-like consistency, but not liquid. Cook another five minutes if needed, but do not overcook, since the fat will liquefy and leak from the bones.

    Check on marrow
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  7. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and lemon juice.

    Parsley in bowl
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  8. Serve the marrow bones on plates along with the toast, a serving of the parsley salad, and a small heap of grey sea salt. Enjoy!

    Serve bone marrow
    ​The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
4286 Calories
416g Fat
98g Carbs
34g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 4286
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 416g 534%
Saturated Fat 202g 1,011%
Cholesterol 484mg 161%
Sodium 1148mg 50%
Total Carbohydrate 98g 36%
Dietary Fiber 6g 23%
Total Sugars 13g
Protein 34g
Vitamin C 22mg 111%
Calcium 313mg 24%
Iron 9mg 50%
Potassium 595mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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