Easy Roasted Beef Bone Marrow on Toast - Restaurant Style

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Roasted beef bone marrow is ultra decadent, rich and just incredibly delicious. And you can make roasted bone marrow right at home instead of spending a fortune in a restaurant!

I discovered roasted bone marrow toast years and years ago watching a cooking show (what show I cannot remember). I made it once and just fell in love with how easy (and cheap) it is to make it at home, compared to the outrageous restaurant prices!

I paid $5 for a package of 4 beef marrow bones - enough to feed 4 people, compared to $20+ in restaurants for a bone marrow appetizer. And the recipe is ultra easy.

When roasted, bone marrow has a delicious rich, slightly gelatinous and buttery consistency (I like to call it bone marrow butter!) with a perfect mild beef flavor. Once you taste it once, you WILL fall in love.

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients
• How to Cook Marrow Bones
• Roasted Bone Marrow Butter
• Expert Tips
• How to Serve Bone Marrow
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Storage and Reheating Instructions
• Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why This Recipe Works

• The best thing is it's extremely easy to make and gives you restaurant style results with a rich, decadent, slightly beefy, nutty flavor.
• This roasted bone marrow recipe is deliciously decadent, so guests and/or family will be impressed with your level of cooking (even though it only takes a few minutes to prep them).
• Bone marrow contains lots of vitamin and minerals, as well as collagen and glucosamine. Read more about the benefits of bone marrow.
• Beef bone marrow very budget friendly. Unlike other fancy appetizers like crab cakes, this is super inexpensive to make.

Ingredients

Beef marrow bones can be found at a lot of grocery stores, or you can get them at your local butcher. You can often find frozen beef marrow bones which work great for this recipe.

If you have the option, have the butcher cut from the center of the leg as it has the most marrow. And obviously, the higher the quality of bone, the better it will taste. But honestly, you can get great results with whatever marrow bones you can find at the grocery store.

I prefer to use a large flake style salt for serving the bone marrow, like this Maldon salt. Maldon salt has an amazing flavor, and the thick flakes make for a perfect boost of flavor for the bone marrow.

What are Marrow Bones?

Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue located on the inside of many bones. It has tons of nutrients and collagen, which are all wonderful health benefits. Read more about the benefits of bone marrow.

The roasted marrow bones typically used by restaurants comes from the femur bone of the cow as they are the best bones for roasted bone marrow. You can also use bones from the tibia, which are typically cut in rounds (like in this recipe). Either bone works great as they both contain the yellow marrow (which is what we want) that results in an ultra buttery texture!

How to Cook Marrow Bones

Place the beef bones in a large container and add 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt for every cup of water. Water should be covering the bones.

Refrigerate for 12-24 hours, changing the salt water every 4-6 hours. This helps get rid of any impurities.

Drain them and pat them dry with paper towels.

Preheat your oven to 450°F. 

Place raw marrow bones on a foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean up). You can use as many or few bones as you would like. Sprinkle each bone with a tiny pinch of kosher salt.

Roast bones for about 15-25 minutes, depending on their size. Check the doneness periodically with a toothpick.

The marrow should be soft all the way through with a jelly-like texture, not totally melted.

Insert a skewer or small knife in the middle - it should go through very easily, like warm butter. You can also use a thermometer to test for doneness - it should be about 145°F.

Let sit for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch.

Scoop out with a small knife or a little spoon and spread on toasted baguette or even this garlic bread. Sprinkle with a little finishing salt, like Maldon, and serve garnished with fresh parsley (optional). **use salt to taste - I typically use just a pinch with my fingers.

You can also use it to make bone marrow butter (below) to spread on toast, a loaf of crusty bread, tortillas etc.

Roasted Bone Marrow Butter

Mix 2 tablespoons of bone marrow with ½ stick softened unsalted butter. Add about ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt in mix everything together until a compound butter forms. Adjust the salt to taste.

You can also mix in truffle zest, fresh herbs, roasted garlic, etc.

Roll it up in a log shape in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for 2-3 days, or the freezer for up to 6 months.

Expert Tips

1. This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, or made to accommodate any number of people. Just use a larger pan and roast using the same instructions.
2. Soaking the marrow bones helps to remove blood and impurities from the bones. I don't recommend skipping this part.
3. The marrow should be hot and ultra tender in the center - a knife should go right through it like warm butter.
4. When seasoning, just use your fingers to pinch a touch of flaky sea salt and sprinkle it on top after spreading it on the toast.
5. Make sure you don't overcook it as it will liquify if it is cooked too long.
6. Some bones have more marrow than others, so keep that in mind if you're planning appetizers and make an extra couple just in case.
7. The internal temperature should be 145°F when done cooking.
8. Use the leftover bones to make beef bone broth.

How to Serve Bone Marrow

• Serve garnished with fresh herbs to add a freshness to the richness of the marrow.
• Sprinkle a touch of lemon zest or even fresh lemon juice to brighten it up.
• The richness of bone marrow is amazing served with a fresh made chimichurri - try one of these:
  • Argentinian chimichurri
  • Cilantro chimichurri
  • Red chimichurri
• A lot of Vietnamese soups use beef marrow in the broth. Use a little bit in the Instant Pot beef pho or this bun bo hue to enrich the broth.
• You can melt it over your steak - try one of the se steak recipes:
  • Sous vide steak
  • Grilled flank steak
  • Air fryer steak tips

Frequently Asked Questions

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Marrow bones freeze well, and I typically even buy them frozen from the butcher shop.

You can also freeze bone marrow out of the bone after it is cooked. Just store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the fridge overnight and warm.

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