🥩 Ingredients
🍖 Main
- 1.5–2 kg oxtail pieces
- Salt & black pepper
- 2 tbsp browning sauce (key for color + depth)
- 2 tbsp oil
🌿 Jamaican flavor base
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4–5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3–4 scallions (green onion)
- 1–2 tsp thyme (fresh or dried)
- 1–2 Scotch bonnet peppers (whole or chopped, careful 🔥)
🧂 Seasoning
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp allspice (pimento)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 beef stock cube or bouillon
- 2–3 cups beef broth or water
🫘 Add-ins
- 1 can butter beans (or lima beans)
- Optional: carrots, ginger, Worcestershire sauce
🔥 How to Make It (the SMASH method)
1. Season & sear
- Wash and season oxtail well
- Heat oil and brown oxtail on all sides
This builds deep flavor—don’t skip it.
2. Build the base
Add onion, garlic, scallion, thyme, and Scotch bonnet.
Sauté until fragrant and slightly soft.
3. Add liquid + braise
Add:
- browning sauce
- soy sauce
- stock cube
- beef broth
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
4. Slow cook (the magic step)
- Cover and simmer 2.5–3.5 hours
- OR pressure cook ~45–60 minutes
Oxtail should become:
👉 tender
👉 jelly-rich
👉 falling off the bone
5. Add beans
Stir in butter beans during last 20–30 minutes.
Let sauce thicken naturally.
6. Finish & adjust
Taste and adjust salt, pepper, heat.
Let it rest 10 minutes so gravy thickens.
😋 What it tastes like
- Deep beefy richness
- Slight sweetness from browning sauce
- Warm spice from allspice + thyme
- Heat from Scotch bonnet
- Thick, glossy gravy that clings to rice
🍽️ Best way to serve
- 🍚 Rice and peas (classic pairing)
- 🥔 Mashed potatoes (fusion style)
- 🥖 Crusty bread to soak gravy (no regrets)
🔁 Level-up moves
- 🔥 Add extra Scotch bonnet for real heat
- 🧄 More garlic = deeper savory base
- 🥕 Carrots for sweetness balance
- 🧈 Finish with a small knob of butter for glossy gravy
- ⏳ Cook longer = even more fall-apart texture
⚡ Pro tip
The flavor gets better the next day—this is one of those “overnight upgrade” dishes.
If you want, I can also make:
- 🔥 pressure cooker 1-hour “quick smash” version
- 🍛 Jamaican oxtail rice bowl meal prep
- 🌶️ or a extra spicy jerk-oxtail fusion version