This hearty Jamaican Oxtail recipe is slowly simmered to perfection with a delicious blend of herbs. It's an absolutely wonderful stew with tender braised beef oxtail, sautéed vegetables, and butter beans! Enjoy the Jamaican oxtail as a stew on its own, or served over a bed of steamed white rice!
Jamaican Oxtail Recipe
This amazingly rich and flavorful beef oxtail recipe is my best recreation from visiting a Sandals resort in Jamaica on vacation! I absolutely loved the flavors and couldn't pry every detail from the chef, but have managed to fill in details quite deliciously!
Since then, my family enjoys this very fragrant dish wholeheartedly whenever it is made! I have to say that the anticipation while it is cooking is, by all appearances ( judging from my daughter ) practically irresistible!
Lauren loves these incredibly easy to make Jamaican oxtails so much so, that my husband and I will opt to let her enjoy the lion's share of dinner!
How To Make Jamaican Oxtail
Begin with going against all recommendations and rinse the oxtail off after removing them from their packaging. I don't usually rinse meats, as I try to avoid contaminating kitchen areas but these are an exception!
Rinse the oxtail and pat them dry with a paper towel, then place them into a medium size mixing bowl. Add all of the Jamaican oxtail seasoning ingredients: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, pepper, paprika ( preferably smoked paprika ), browning sauce and ground cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the seasoning over the oxtails, then toss with your hands or a wooden spoon to coat them thoroughly.
*At this point, the meat can be covered with plastic cling film wrap and allowed to marinate between 4 hours to overnight if you would like a more flavorful Jamaican oxtail! Remember to allow the refrigerated oxtail to come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before moving on to cooking it when ready.
To cook your oxtail, heat a large pan or Dutch oven to high heat with the vegetable oil. Once the oil is shimmering and just about to smoke, add the oxtail cuts and sear all sides until golden browned in color. This will take about 3 minutes.
Transfer the browned oxtail to a plate and set aside. Reduce heat to medium high and add the vegetables: carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Sauté until tender and fragrant, about 3 - 4 minutes. Once the vegetables are softened slightly, add the beef broth, thyme and bay leaf.
Bring the ingredients to a slow rolling boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook at a simmer for about 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and can be pulled from the bone with a fork.
Once the oxtail is tender, remove the lid and return the heat to medium high. Add the rinsed butter beans and simmer the oxtail stew for an additional 5 - 10 minutes to reduce the liquid and thicken it slightly. *Adjust heat as needed to prevent burning.
Stir frequently during this last simmer, and remove from heat when done. Serve immediately, garnished with fresh herbs if desired.
This delicious Jamaican oxtails dish can be served as a stew, or with the typical sides like rice and peas. You could also go completely tropical and serve it up with some baked plantains!! If you love Jamaican food why not try my brown stew chicken!
Jamaican Oxtails
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lb beef oxtails (rinsed, dried, and trimmed of excess fat)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon browning sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 medium carrots (sliced)
- 2 ribs celery (sliced)
- 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
- 1 jalapeno pepper (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 bunch thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 16 oz can butter beans (drained and rinsed)
Instructions
- Prepare your oxtail by rinsing and patting dry with paper towels. Place them into a medium sized mixing bowl, then sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, pepper, paprika, browning sauce and cayenne pepper. Toss to coat thoroughly.
- Heat a large pan or Dutch oven over high heat with the vegetable oil. The oil should shimmer, and be just at the point of smoke. Sear the seasoned oxtail in the heated oil for about 3 minutes, or just until the meat gets a golden brown coloring. Transfer the browned oxtail to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium high and saute the carrots, celery, onion, pepper and garlic until softened and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Once softened, add in the broth, thyme and bay leaf. Bring the broth and vegetables to a slow boil and return the oxtail.
- Cover the pan, reduce your heat to low and simmer for about 3 hours. The oxtail should be tender when done, and pulled from the bone with a fork.
- When the oxtail is done, remove the lid from your pan and increase the heat to medium high again. Add the rinsed butter beans and allow the broth to simmer off and thicken your oxtail gravy for about 5-10 minutes. Stir frequently while reducing, and adjust your heat as needed to prevent burning.
- Once thickened slightly, remove the oxtail from heat and serve your Jamaican oxtail over rice immediately.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Diane Byrne says
do you take the meat off the bones when it's done or leave as is?
Thanks for asking! I serve it as is, but it is fall off the bone tender so either way would work beautifully!
Claudia says
Can't wait to try this one. I'm super excited.
Awesome! My family loves this for dinner!
Belinda C. says
This turned out very good, I wanted to stop back and thank you. P.S. My family loved the flavors!