Jamaican oxtail is a long-braised stew of beef tail cooked until the meat slides off the bone, finished with butter beans in a thick brown gravy. It takes two to four hours depending on the method, and there is no version of it that goes faster. The cut is the reason: oxtail is tough and full of gelatin, and only time turns that into gravy.
Ingredients
Two things separate Jamaican oxtail from a generic beef stew: the meat gets washed with citrus and vinegar before it is seasoned, and the gravy is built from pimento, browning, and a splash of red wine rather than from stock.
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For the meat
- 3 lb (1.4 kg) fresh oxtail, cut into joints.
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) white vinegar, for washing.
- 2 limes or 1 lemon, for washing.
Aromatics and vegetables
- 1 large onion, chopped.
- 6 garlic cloves, minced, plus 1 tsp garlic powder.
- 3 scallions (green onions), chopped.
- 1 in (2.5 cm) fresh ginger, grated.
- 2 carrots, sliced.
- 1 tomato, chopped.
- 1 bell pepper in total, red, yellow, or orange, sliced.
Herbs, spices, and seasoning
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, left whole.
- 1 tbsp pimento seeds (allspice berries).
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme.
- 2 bay leaves.
- 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp onion powder.
- 2 tbsp green seasoning: a blend of herbs, Scotch bonnet, and ginger.
- 1 tbsp all-purpose seasoning and 1 tsp seasoning salt.
For the gravy and the finish
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) browning, or Gravy Master.
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) ketchup.
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) red wine, kosher wine such as Manischewitz in the versions this recipe follows.
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) cooking oil.
- 2 cups (475 ml) boiling water, plus more as needed.
- 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) butter beans (broad or lima beans), drained.
- 1 tbsp butter, optional.
Amounts here are a worked starting point for 3 lb (1.4 kg) of oxtail, feeding six. Browning is the one ingredient to go light on. About a tablespoon does the job. Past that the gravy turns bitter, and there is no fixing it once it does.
Instructions
The stove method is below. The oven method follows it, and both are traditional.
- Wash the oxtail three times with white vinegar and fresh lime or lemon, then drain.
- Season the meat with the dry seasonings, pimento berries, and green seasoning, rubbing it in by hand.
- Get the pot very hot with a little oil, then put the oxtail in to brown. Leave the fresh vegetables out at this stage or they will burn before the meat has color.
- Add small amounts of water as it cooks and let each addition dry out. That repeated drying is what caramelizes the bottom of the pot, and the caramelization is the base of the gravy.
- Once the meat is browned, add the onions, peppers, tomato, garlic, and ginger.
- Add more water, the ketchup, and the red wine. Turn the heat down to medium and let it soften out for about two hours.
- Add the butter beans in the last 15 to 20 minutes. They thicken the gravy as they finish.
The Oven Method
Plenty of Jamaican cooks never brown oxtail in a pot at all. They wash and season it the same way, work in a little browning for color, and let it marinate for a full hour before it goes anywhere near heat.
The meat then goes into a pan, usually aluminum, and boiling water is used to rinse the last of the seasoning out of the mixing bowl and into the pan. It cooks at 400°F for about two hours before the beans go in. One cook leaves the pan uncovered for that first hour, so treat covering as a decision about how much liquid you want left rather than a rule.
Butter beans go in after those two hours and finish alongside the meat. The finish line is the same in both methods: the oxtail falls off the bone. If it does not, it is not done, and the answer is more time rather than more heat.
Why This Cut Needs the Hours
Oxtail is the tail of cattle, a gelatin-rich meat that is usually slow-cooked as a stew or braised (source). That gelatin is the reason the gravy comes out thick without flour or cornstarch. It is also the reason the meat is hard for the first hour or two and stays that way if you rush it.
The butter beans are not a garnish either. Stewed oxtail cooked with lima beans or broad beans, both known as butter beans, and served with white rice or rice and peas is commonly eaten as a main dish in Jamaica and across the Caribbean (source). They go in late so they hold their shape and thicken what is already in the pot.
We cook a gelatin-heavy cut the same slow way in Belize. Our cow foot soup runs on the same principle, and Belizean stew beef builds its color in a comparable way, though with recado rather than browning.
Pressure Cooker and Slow Cooker
Neither is traditional here, and both work, because what oxtail needs is time under moisture and either appliance supplies it. Brown the meat first in both cases. Skipping the browning costs you the colour and the caramelised base the gravy is built on.
In an electric pressure cooker, brown on the saute setting, add the liquid, and cook on high pressure for about 45 minutes with a natural release. Stir the butter beans in afterwards and simmer 10 minutes on saute, since beans under pressure turn to paste.
In a slow cooker, brown on the stove, then transfer everything and cook 7 to 8 hours on low, or about 4 hours on high. Add the butter beans in the last 30 minutes. Slow cookers do not reduce, so expect a thinner gravy and finish it uncovered on the stove if you want it tight.
The finish line does not change with the appliance: the meat falls off the bone, or it is not done.
Tips and Variations
Wash the meat properly. Three rounds with vinegar and citrus is the step Jamaican cooks treat as non-negotiable, and it is the most common tell between a real version and an approximation. Blend your own seasoning too. Pre-packaged oxtail seasoning is the shortcut cooks name specifically, and fresh pepper, garlic, and herbs give you a gravy that tastes like yours.
Oxtail also turns up as a protein inside another dish entirely. Jamaican stew peas is often built on oxtail, salted pigtail, or both, where the gelatin that thickens this gravy goes to work on a pot of red peas and coconut milk instead.
Heat management runs in one direction: the pot should be very hot when the meat goes in, then down to medium once it is simmering. A splash of kosher red wine goes in with the ketchup and water on the stove version. Serve it over white rice or rice and peas, the Jamaican cousin of our Belizean rice and beans.
Storage, and Why It Is Better on Day Two
Oxtail is one of the few dishes worth cooking specifically to eat tomorrow. The gravy thickens as the gelatin cools and sets, and the seasoning settles into the meat overnight.
Refrigerate it in an airtight container for three to four days. It will set solid when cold, which is the gelatin doing exactly what it should; it loosens again as it warms.
Reheat it gently on the stove with a splash of water to bring the gravy back to a pouring consistency. Add the butter beans fresh if you are reheating a batch you froze, since they go soft after a second cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Jamaican oxtail take to cook?
About two hours simmering on the stove, or about two hours in the oven at 400°F before the butter beans go in. Oxtail is a tough, gelatin-rich cut, and the time is what breaks it down. Cooking hotter does not shorten it.
Why do you wash oxtail with vinegar and lime?
It is standard practice in Jamaican kitchens, done three times before any seasoning goes on. Cooks treat it as the first real step of the recipe, not an optional rinse.
What are the butter beans in Jamaican oxtail?
Lima or broad beans, both sold as butter beans. They go in during the last 15 to 30 minutes and thicken the gravy while holding their shape.
What is browning and how much should I use?
Browning, sold as browning sauce or Gravy Master, gives the gravy its dark color. Use roughly a tablespoon. Too much makes the gravy bitter.
Can I make oxtail without browning the meat first?
Yes. The oven method skips the browning stage: the seasoned meat goes into a pan with boiling water and cooks at 400°F for about two hours before the butter beans are added.
How much oxtail do I need per person?
Around 8 oz (225 g) raw per person, which is why 3 lb (1.4 kg) feeds six here. Oxtail is mostly bone, so it loses more weight in cooking than a boneless cut.
About Joe Post
Joe Post is the founder and editor of Belize News Post. He grew up in Corozal Town, Belize, on the Caribbean sea with a view across Corozal Bay to Cerro Maya. He has lived in Costa Rica, Kenya, England, Spain, and the United States. He grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandmother, and has personally tested the vast majority of the recipes on this site. He started BNP in the early 2000s as one of the few independent Belizean news sources online. Over the years, the food became the stickiest thing. News comes and goes. Food stays.
