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.
Great recipe. Loved it very much.
Thank you, Avito. This is also one of my favorite recipes here on the blog!
I made this today. Boy it is good stuff. I wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe !!
Thank you for sharing.
I made this for the first time for my family today, and they absolutely LOVED it!
I actually upped on the all the spices for even more flavour, and in addition I added onion powder, garlic powder, carrots, honey and soy sauce.
It took me about 1+ hour to brown the oxtail pieces, as mine some were quite large. Then I let it simmer in the pot for 3,5 hours and they came out perfectly tender.
It looks like you garnished the stew with a fresh herb before serving. Is that parsley?
You can use parsley or onion leaves too. 🙂
I didn’t have beans so added potatoes and chickpeas and it was lushhh. I didn’t have a pot deep enough to submerge the meat fully so kept turning every 20 min instead and after 3 hours was still rock hard. But I got it into a deep pot the next day and cooked 3 more hours and was lovely super soft meat and all the fat had melted. And the smell that filled the house was incredible. Also really nice with a bit of lemon and coriander to serve
Soo glad you loved it! 🙂
Great, easy to follow recipe for a delicious stew. Also super helpful how you can tick off ingredients as you add them. Thanks for an awesome recipe
You are always welcome, Priscilla! 🙂
I love these recipe they look rather interesting i must try it
Thanks!
Ive tried multiple Jamaican oxtail recipes but this by far is the absolute best. I love how you build the flavors & your recommendations throughout are so helpful. I have not found actual scotch bonnet pepper but I ordered Alvin’s on Amazon .Sometimes I forget the butter beans but they’re never even missed.
Thank you, Jeaneen! 🙂
I made this a few months ago as oxtail is one of my favourite indulgences, and was just incredibly delicious. My husband and kids loved it too. Making it again today! Definitely the best oxtail recipe I have found. Thanks for Sharing!
Aww! Thank you, Lavinia! I’m so happy reading about families enjoying any of my recipes. Hello to you and your family 🙂 Enjoy!
I do not have stock or a bouillon cube what can I use
No worries . It will still taste good .
Yum! I grew up with a Jamaican maid and goodness this recipe tastes like my childhood. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed this, Sarah!
I would like to know can I use beef stock instead of water? And black bean and pinto beans instead if navy beans?
Hi Latasha! Yes you may substitute with beef stock and black and pinto beans. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Hey what type of bouillon cube? Beet?
Beef cube . If unavailable use chicken.
Thank you, I love this recipe and have made it three times already. This time I got very fatty oxtails, and now I see you said to look for ones with less fat. Also you say to spoon off the fat that cooks to the top, but that it’s not traditional to do that. Is it traditionally a fattier dish, but you are making these suggestions to make it healthier? (Asking cause I like it with the fat)
Hi Dan! Not necessarily to make it ‘healthier’ but I do this with extra fatty oxtail, if the one you have is just right or not too fatty for you, you can leave it as is 🙂
This recipe was a delicious hit. I added corn, small potatoes, mushrooms and baby carrots. So easy to make and so tasty.
Thank you, Vilma! Glad you loved it! 🙂
If using a pressure cooker, do we still use the same amount of water? Thank you!
Hi Janine! Here is a pressure cooker version of this chicken https://www.africanbites.com/instant-pot-oxtail-soup/.
Super delicious recipe, I always use 1 cup of water and a bottle of dragon stout which results in an even deeper richer gravy.
This was the most delicious recipes for oxtail with that real Carribean flavor I was looking for!! I be made this recipe about 5 times and each time it’s a hit in my house!
Thanks so much.
Hello, what you’re of bouillon cubes please?
It is the same thing as chicken bouillon powder or granules, available in most Super Markets.
Love this recipe and have made it so many times, I like to replace some of the water with a couple of bottles of dragon stout which gives it a richer slightly sweeter gravy
That sound Great! Thanks for the tip.