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.
This is by far the best recipe for oxtails out there. I’ve tried many and found the flavour to be lacking or entirely too sweet. These turn out perfect every time. I use corn starch to thicken and it’s my most favourite dish in the world. Thank you for posting!!
Great! Thanks so much.
I’m so excited to try making your
recipe. If I cannot find oxtails, what is a good substitute?
Shawty that’s the whole dish???
There is NO substitute for oxtails. That’s what the dish is – period!!!
10/10 loved this recipe! I definitely didn’t follow it to the t because I purchased oxtail that the butcher seasoned for me. But the stew turned out amazing!
Lucky You! Glad it worked just as well.
Might sound like a silly question but which type of Boullion do you use in this recipe?
I use beef
Hello. I was just wondering about the chilli. It says put in whole do you take it out after cooking. Woukd it be too hot to chop and leave in. Thanks
Hi Lisa ,
It all depends on who you are serving this to and their heat tolerance . For the whole family I would leave it whole and remove after cooking . If you want more heat pierce the whole pepper before adding in the pot . Or you can smash it after cooking to release more heat.This can be done in the pot or on your plate.
Hope this helps.
Thankyou for the advice. Its just my husband and I we like heat but I don’t want to over power the other tastes.
Best oxtail recipe I came across, absolutely delicious,I had marinade the oxtail using the tips provided overnight and it was succulent.Thank you so much, family enjoyed every bite
Yay! Thanks for the feedback.
Best oxtail recipe,tried others but this the best and going to be my keeper,I did marinate overnight with tips provided excellent,succulent off the bone my family wanted more,awesome
Love your website! Everything has always been amazing.
Firstly, I love all your recipes on here but this was by far my FAVORITE!! VERY mouthwatering! My husband loved it! Thanks for sharing these recipes!
I made this recipe using pork neckbones. It came out amazing. I’ve made it before with beef oxtails,but they are really expensive now, so I opted for pork neckbones. They came out amazing with so much flavor,that I didn’t even miss the beef. A tweak here and there and I was set. Thanks for such a Great recipe. Tina Duren
Hi Tina! Those pork neckbones sound delicious! Thank you so much for sharing, Tina!
This was very good, thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Arvin! Glad you loved it!
Hi there .. xx
I’ve made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious.. !!
I’ added a tablespoon of Mr Browns
Medium curry powder & a teaspoon of chilli with the other ingredients and marinaded for 8 hrs in the fridge X
That must have been really flavorful!! Thank you for the feedback, Jules! 🙂
This recipe is AMAZING! I used your curry recipe too and though I did add in both potatoes and carrot to please husband and son (I probably would have preferred the richer sauce) it was still absolutely BOMB! Will be following your page for more deliciousness ~ thank you!
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback.
I found this recipe two years ago and I’ve made it over a dozen times. It’s a huge hit in my house and husband asks for it all the time. Special occasions, rainy days, etc. you name it! Sometimes I replace oxtail with stewing beef as it can be quite pricey and I don’t feel that it affects the dish in any way.
Hahah, I used to find every reason under the sun to cook this dish :). I am so glad you love it. Thanks for stopping by, Donna.
Made this for my family along with the easy to follow curry powder and they loved it. Very easy recipe to follow. Definitely added to my make again pile.
That is great Eliane! So glad your family loved it!
I am cooking about 8-8.5 pounds of oxtails. How should I double or triple the ingredients
Just triple all the ingredients and it should work out just fine. Do let me know how it works out for you!
There’s an old English recipe to braise oxtail with wine as the braiding liquid. I was thinking of doing a hybrid recipe. The Jamaican spices with the wine for the braising. How do you think that would turn out?
Hi Lisa! I have never tried this, but I do not see why its would not work out. I think the wine will add a nice depth in flavor which will go really well with the spices. Do let me know how it works out for you.
My wife is Jamaican and we had it tonight for Mothers Day in Canada and this has to be the most expensive meat you can buy given the amount of meat vs bone. As other Jamaican foods to eat Island foods its very expensive. On the other hand, nothing like it. My suggestion is to find a Jamaican and invite yourself to dinner. I don’t think most non Jamaicans would like the bone, meat stuck in your teeth and the gumminess. It no different than the newness for people for people eating fish with head. Be flexible and enjoy
Hi Glenn! Thanks for the feedback!
Cooking ox tail for first time tonight. My friend said to cook in the oven not on the stove top. What do you suggest? Hard to regulate a gas cook top some times.
Hi Cheri! I haven’t tried making this recipe in the oven yet. Just let it cook on low on your gas cooker while stirring occasionally.
Hi im planning on making this sometime next week if you don’t have ox tails can you use neck bone
Hi Felicia! You sure can!
Stove to powered with heat and the steam I brown mine before putting the oxtail in the pot then I start the pit w/veggies to soften the potatoes.. meanwhile seasoning oxtail allowing them to cook in the sauteed pot juice and soften till the meat fall of the bone. Or use a slow cooker start your dinner at ten by evening dinner will be ready.
PS. Cook well..enjoy your meal.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Angel.
If I am cooking the oxtail for 2 hours when would be the best time to add the potatoes?
Hi Jennifer! Add the potatoes in about 15-20 minutes to the end.
I’ve done this in a crock pot before and now on the stove. Delicious both times! Absolutely wonderful recipe and it is forgiving. I didnt have paprika and forgot to add the browning this time as I didnt see it in the instruction section near the boullion but it was delicious still. Thanks for sharing this gem.
Hi Franny. I am so glad you loved this dish. Yes, it is very forgiving! That is the beauty of Oxtail. Thanks for sharing!