Jamaican Oxtail Stew Recipe

Jamaican oxtail stew is the ultimate celebration dish in Jamaican cuisine, a slow-braised labor of love where collagen-rich oxtail transforms over hours into impossibly tender, fall-off-the-bone meat in a rich, deeply flavored gravy with butter beans and browning sauce. This dish is served at Sunday dinners, family gatherings, and special occasions across Jamaica and the diaspora worldwide. Each bowl provides 48g of protein from slow-cooked oxtail with a gravy enriched by natural gelatin and bold Jamaican spices.

Ingredients

Oxtail Marinade

• 1.5kg oxtail, cut into segments, trimmed of excess fat
• 3 tbsp browning sauce (Jamaican browning or Kitchen Bouquet)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper, left whole
• 3 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp gluten-free tamari

Stew

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 600ml beef broth
• 1 can (400g) butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp browning sauce (for gravy color)
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine oxtail with all marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well to coat each piece. Marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight in the fridge.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove oxtail from marinade and pat dry. Brown oxtail in batches for 4 minutes per side until deeply caramelized. Remove and set aside. Do not crowd the pot.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add sliced onion to the pot and cook for 5 minutes in the rendered fat.
4. Add minced garlic, dried thyme, allspice, and ground ginger. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
5. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Return browned oxtail to the pot. Pour in beef broth. Add the whole scotch bonnet pepper from the marinade.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest heat. Cover tightly and simmer for 2.5 hours until oxtail is very tender and meat pulls from the bone.
8. Add butter beans and the teaspoon of browning sauce. Stir gently. Simmer uncovered for 20 more minutes until gravy thickens and deepens in color.
9. Taste and adjust salt. Remove the scotch bonnet pepper before serving.
10. Serve over steamed white rice with rice and peas or fried dumplings.

Tips & Variations

• Browning sauce (also sold as "Jamaican browning") is essential to authentic color and depth. Find it in Caribbean grocery stores or online.
• Do not skip the overnight marinade. The allspice and browning penetrate deeply and are critical to authentic flavor.
• The stew can also be made in a pressure cooker: brown as above, then pressure cook for 45-50 minutes before adding butter beans.
• Skim excess fat off the surface of the gravy after the first 2 hours of cooking.
• Oxtail freezes beautifully in its gravy for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Breakdown

Calories: 814 kcal

Protein: 48.7g

Fat: 57.5g

Carbs: 26.3g

Fiber: 5g

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