Jamaican Oxtail Stew
Jamaican oxtail stew is fork-tender beef and satisfyingly creamy butter beans in a spicy gravy. This humble dish with Jamaican curry spices and pleasant heat will spice up your life and widen your horizons.
The last time I visited Jamaica, I made it a point to try all the recipes I could fit in. We also took as many cooking classes as we could to learn tricks from the locals.
And this dish was at the top of my list because I used to work not too far from a Jamaican restaurant in LA, and ate oxtail stew there regularly. It wasn’t good for my wallet or my waistline, but my belly was purring with pure joy!
Why Oxtails Make Great Stew
Oxtails don’t get as much love in the States as other beef cuts, but they should. Being a well-used muscle means it has plenty of collagen and benefits greatly from simmering low and slow in a braising liquid. The flavor is also more intense, making a wonderful broth perfect for smothering your rice and peas.
Oxtail used to be a cheap cut due to its high fat content and longer cooking time. But now it has become a gourmet dish, and the price has skyrocketed. So we enjoy this recipe on special occasions when our local butcher has them available.
How to Make Jamaican Oxtail Stew
- Season the oxtails, sear them, and add the aromatics and the rest of the seasonings.
- Toss in the green onions, add water, cover, and simmer until tender. Pour in the butter beans, add the hot pepper, heat through, and enjoy.
Recipe Tips and Twists
- I love nibbling the bones – a cultural thing. However, you can let the stew cool, and then remove the meat from the bones. Save the bones for bone broth, put the boneless beef back in the pot, reheat, and serve.
- For extra veggies, some wonderful readers have added carrots, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, mushrooms, mustard greens (during the last 20 minutes of cooking), and stewed tomatoes (added with the broad beans). Keep sharing your tweaks, please.
- Oxtail needs low heat and lots of time to break down the collagen and tough muscle fibers. If they still seem a little tough after 3 hours (5 hours at high altitude), just give them more time, and perhaps more liquid. The meat should be practically falling off the bone.
Using the Instant Pot
Although I haven’t personally made this recipe in my Instant Pot, our beautiful readers took the time to leave some instructions.
- Start with the “Sauté” setting for the first three steps and carefully brown the oxtail pieces on both sides – 2-3 minutes per side.
- Remove the oxtail and sauté the onions, green onions, garlic, thyme, allspice, Worcestershire, and smoked paprika, stirring for about a minute.
- Next, throw in the scotch bonnet pepper, tomato paste, bouillon, and curry powder, and stir for another minute.
- Return the browned oxtails, deglaze your pressure cooker with water or stock, and switch to pressure cook for 40-45 minutes, depending on the size of the oxtails.
- After the pressure releases, add the beans and simmer them for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the butter beans are heated.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Stews are great for making ahead. After the stew has cooked, let it cool and store it in the fridge for a day or two. Or you can freeze it for 3-4 months.
Store leftovers for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge or 3-4 months in the freezer. Thaw the oxtail stew overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, then reheat in a saucepan on low until heated through.
What to Serve With Jamaican Oxtail Stew
This amazing stew is perfect with rice and beans, fried plantains, and fried cabbage as traditional sides. Then wash it down with a sorrel drink and serve a slice of rum cake for the grand finale.
More Fabulous Jamaican Recipes You’ll Love
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken
- Cornmeal Porridge
- Easy Jamaican Curry Chicken
- Easter Spice Bun
- Jamaican Beef Patty or Meat Pies
This post was first published in November 2015 and has been updated with a video, new tips, and fresh photos.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”qRCsS2QU” upload-date=”2018-08-06T19:57:54.000Z” name=”Jamaican Oxtail Stew” description=”Jamaican Oxtail Stew- This braised oxtail with butter beans not only have a complex note from allspice but also that familiar garlic, thyme, scotch bonnet and onion medley. Fall of the bone tender.” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
Jamaican Oxtail Stew
Ingredients
Oxtail Marinade
- 2-4 pounds (1-2kg) oxtail, cut up into medium pieces
- salt as desired (¾-1 teaspoon per pound is average)
- 1-2 teaspoons (2-4g) white pepper or black pepper
- ½ teaspoon (3g) minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons (2g) fresh thyme
- 1-2 teaspoons (2-4g) bouillon powder
The Stew
- 2-3 tablespoons (28-42ml) cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon (8g) minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons (2g) minced thyme
- 5-6 whole allspice berries (optional)
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 teaspoons (5-10g) browning sauce (optional)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) tomato paste or ketchup
- 1 tablespoon (8g) beef bouillon powder or a cube (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (2g) curry powder (more to taste)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 4-6 cups (960-1450ml) water
- 1 15-ounce can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 whole scotch bonnet or habanero
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rub the oxtail pieces with salt, pepper, minced garlic, thyme, and bouillon powder. Tightly cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to cook, remove from the fridge (see notes).
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat until hot, and then sear the meat, frequently stirring while scraping any browned bits off the bottom until browned.
- Add the onions, garlic, thyme, and allspice, then stir for about a minute. Follow with the Worcestershire sauce, browning sauce, tomato paste, bouillon, curry powder, and green onions, and stir for another minute.
- Then add 4-6 cups of water (start with 4 cups, adding more if needed).
- Bring to a boil and simmer until tender (depending on the oxtail size) for 2-3 hours (4-5 hours at high altitude), occasionally stirring so it doesn't stick to the pan.
- About 20-30 minutes before removing it from the heat, add the broad beans and scotch bonnet pepper. Adjust the thickness of the soup with water or stock.
- Simmer for 20-30 minutes and adjust salt to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions and enjoy.
Tips & Notes:
- A lot of bouillon powders have MSG, so if you prefer to avoid it, replace the water with beef broth and leave the bouillon out.
- If you need this to come together quicker, you can skip the marinating time.
- Feel free to add ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika for more flavor.
- To thicken the gravy, add a few slices of potatoes and let it cook longer. It usually just thickens up if you cook it longer. That said, one reader uses a cornstarch slurry towards the end with good results.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Hi! Im so glad that I found your page. Im going to give your recipe a good effort! My daughter, my boyfriend and I love oxtails. Your instructions seems simple enough. I’ll be using the crockpot, though. Fingers are crossed, I’ll keep you posted. Saturday is the big day lol
No worries ! You’ll do just fine ronda. It’s really pretty easy to make. Happy Cooking!!!
hello Imma, I am enjoying this site but would like more if you have your own cookbook with these wonderful recipes. If so where can I buy it.
Hello Teresa!
Cookbook coming soon.. I promise!
Just delicious! I”ve always been a fan of oxtail stew and soup. Tried it today and it came out delicious! Didn’t have brown sauce so I browned the oxtail and sauce by heating the oil with 1 -2 tablespoons of sugar could be white or brown sugar until bubbly and dark-brown. That did the trick. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this tip with us Bernadine. Am sure a lot of readers would benefit from this. YOU ROCK!
My husband and I decided to do a week of international foods, and this was our dinner for today.
HOLY SMOKES.
This was fantastic. We love Jamaica, and will be visiting again in December. This brought Jamaica to us. So amazing.
Thank you for sharing this
My pleasure! I love Jamaica Too! Have a Safe and Fun Trip !
Hi. If making this in the slow cooker is there anything that should be changed?
For the bouillon cube, u didn’t say which flavor does that mean chicken or beef are both fine to use?
And I haven’t tried any of your recipes yet but I’m too excited about this one (my fiancé’s favorite) and the stewed chicken (my favorite)
I usually get mine from a Caribbean truck, theirs is ALOT darker is there any thing besides browning that might make theirs so much darker (the stew chicken also)
I’m so glad I found your recipes I couldn’t keep buying their platters, 20 got two platters when we love it becomes too costly.
Hi Chiloe,
I totally get it! Making this at home is sooo cost effective and lends itself to customization for your taste buds. Now on to your questions.
.The only thing I would do differently is cut down the water to about 2 -3 cups and extend cooking time to about 5 hours or more depending on the oxtail size.
.Yes, browning is what gives it, it’s rich dark color and to a lesser extent Molasses. I have added molasses in place of browning. However, in my humble opinion it didn’t do a good Job like browning sauce would. Hope this helps . Do let me know how it works out for you. Happy Cooking!!!
I made the stewed chicken in the slow cooker and I made it in my pressure cook(I didn’t brown it the same way I did with the slow cooker)
The slow cooker had better flavor but the pressure cooker was good also (I cooked more meat so I doubled some of the flavors)
I’m about to make the ox tail for my husband today. I don’t have 5 hours though so I guess stove top will do lol.
Is there anything I substitute a “scotch bonnet” for? I couldn’t find it in two stores.
You can sub with any hot pepper. Or just add cayenne pepper to give it a kick. Happy Cooking.
Hi again. I’ve made your recipe a few times now. Habanero peppers are PERFECT for this. One thing I do differently is, I make the beans in my pressure cooked along with my brown rice, I prefer to cook dried beans.
I like this sauce better than the stew chicken sauce, is there a reason some ingredients are different? Like does Worchester sauce not go with the chicken, or ginger not go with the oxtail?
Thank you for sharing!!
I honestly was trying to hit 5 starts but it was malfunctioning!
How would you adjust the seasonings for 9 pounds of oxtails?
I would multiple the ingredients by 4 or 5 and that should do it.
Hello I LOVE LOVE LOVE your site. have a question what brand of curry do you use, as it’s so many out their and they all have a slight different flavor to them, I want something more authentic to Carribbean, West Indian
I make my own curry blend. This taste way better than any store-bought brand . Check it out herehttp://africanbites.com/jamaican-curry-powder/
Fantastic recipe, made the jamaican curry spice really great blend (dried some habaneros that I grew during the season) so could add ground habanero instead of cayenne pepper. Was amazed how effective putting a habanero and pulling it out at the end. Nice amount of heat without gasping for water!
Looking forward to growing scotch bonnets next season and trying them with this recipe.
I took the cowards route and used a pressure cooker and it still worked out great.
Not only the best oxtail I cooked – the best oxtail I have eaten!
Thanks Imma
You are not a coward hugh. I do it all the time when I need to get food on the table quickly so I hear you! Growing your on scotch bonnet.. Lucky You! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Hi
How do I get it dark? I loveeeee ox tails..
Browning sauce will make it dark.
What is Browning sauce
Browning sauce in a nutshell is used to darken sauces, stews, or meat. It’s a condiment used in Caribbean cooking, mostly made out of sugar -available in some supermarkets here in the United states.
In the US it is called Banquet look for it in the condiment section.
Kitchen Bouquet is the correct Spelling.
Thanks Jenny!
You can also make your own Browning by burning some sugar in oil before you pan fry the meat. We Caribbeans use that traditionally before Browning sauce was invented.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing !!!
I made this for the first time and it turned out amazing!
Thanks for the feedback Girl. So happy you enjoyed it.
interesting recipe. When I go to the Jamaican restaurant in NY or San Diego the don’t make it like that. I think I will try this, BUT, 1 pound of tails is about 1-2 bowls
One of my fav dishes to buy at the Caribbean restaurant so I decided to try and make it myself and I just have to say my house smells sooooooo good it’s almost to hard to not start picking at it before everything is cooked.. Thanks for the recipe!
Ha! I do pick on mine before is done. Just can’t resist it. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
This is by far the best oxtails recipe I have tried… And I have tried quite a few.
You just made my morning Ramon. Thank you so much!!!!
Just wondering. Does the allspice go in whole and if so is it removed before serving? Thanks and I can’t wait to make this.
It goes in whole. But I never bother to remove it . You may remove if you please, or just use about 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice.
This was a hit!!! Making it again today with short ribs. My family can’t wait. Thank you for the recipe.
Yay!Ribs is another good cut of meat to use here. Wishing you all the best this coming year.
I want this in my stomach RIGHT NOW!!! Heading to the store for some oxtails!
Gasp. I want this woman!
Oh my gosh, I ate a lot of this in Freetown but I have never made it myself here. I am pinning this for later.
Thanks fro pinning Bintu!
Hi Imma, I’m so late to this but I LOVE the new design of your blog! It’s so simple, clean and elegant. Great navigation and beautiful layout! Congrats!
I really like oxtail and a hearty stew is perfect for winter. These pictures look so delicious and made me craving from some now!
Pinning and sharing of course!
It’s never too late Maggie! Thanks for pinning
I altered the recipe a bit , used short ribs instead of oxtails and threw in some white beans and it was DELISH!!! THANK YOU!!
AWESOME!!! So glad you made it work for you. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
is this spicy, b/c it looks like it. I have small children that’s not ready for spicy food
Just omit the scotch bonnet pepper and it’ll be ok.
Oh wow! I’m so glad I’ve found your blog because I’m really missing Afro-caribbean recipes in my life right now.
No longer!
This stew looks and sounds delicious and is certainly on my “to-make” list. I may just wait for a bit as it’s heating up for summer on this side of the world.
That’s Riiight!!! You do not have to look any further James. Do let me know how it works out for you!
Hi
I made this and my gravy was very brothy? Please help
Hi Rebecca! How long did you cook it for?. It usually takes a long time for it to thicken up- about 2 hours . That might be the culprit.Also make sure you are not adding too much liquid.
Your recipes on here are amazing its kicked my skills up hundred notches Me and my family Thank you so much keep up the great work
Aww, Thanks Nikki ! So glad to hear it’s working out so well for you. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
I just made last night. Its probably the boil time but because i like a lot of juice to go over the rice i added a little cornstarch water mix to make it a little thick, it was great i used half the allspice but more curry it was great. Since i never tasted it I had no idea what ot was supposed to taste like but what I made from this recipe was very good. ( with some variations of course)
Hi Robin! The variation sounds good to me -especially the curry. Glad it worked out well for you.