Jamaican Oxtail Stew with Butter Beans (Gluten-Free)

How To Clean Oxtails

As per Caribbean tradition, meat is washed prior to cooking it. I know not every culture believes in washing meat, but that’s how I have learnt to prepare meat.

To clean oxtails properly, you will need:

• Large Bowl
• 2 Limes or Lemons
• Water

First, you need to trim as much of the fat that you can from the oxtail. Keep in mind oxtail is naturally a fatty meat, so do not worry if you cannot remove all of the fatty parts.

Second, place the oxtail in a large bowl and cut the lime/lemon in halves, then squeeze the juice all over the meat. Use your hands (you can wear gloves) to rub the juice into the meat to get rid of any slime or excess blood.

Finally, rinse the meat off in water and blot dry with paper towels.

Oxtail and gravy preparation

Here are a few tips when going through each step:

Marinating the Meat – After washing the oxtail, I grab the ingredients I need to create my marinade – onion, carrots, scallion, garlic, browning, allspice, beef seasoning and use both my hands to really work the seasoning into the meat.

The meat should be left to marinate overnight for best results or at least a few hours if you are pressed for time. One of the key ingredients for darkening the meat is browning sauce.

This is my homemade browning sauce recipe made from caramelized sugar and water. It’s a very important ingredient in Caribbean cooking for darkening meat.

I’ve used it for many recipes including my Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken and Stewed Beef.

Butter Beans – Since this is a slow cooker recipe, I took the liberty of using dried butter beans and simply soaked them overnight. You do not have to use dried beans, canned beans are fine but they will need to be added around 30 minutes before the cooking time is done so they do not breakdown.

Searing the Meat – The meat needs to be browned prior to the start of the slow cooking process. Simply scrape off the excess vegetables that was used to form the marinade and sear both side of the meat. The browning of the meat will take approximately 10 minutes and add your vegetables to the same skillet/dutch oven so they soften.

Get your crockpot ready and transfer the contents from the skillet and the butter beans to your crockpot. Then, stir in the tomato paste, thyme and beef stock. If you don’t have beef stock to hand that’s fine, water will suffice.

Cooking Time – I normally cook my good old fashioned oxtail stew for 4 hours on HIGH mode. If you want to extend the time to 6 hours, then simply set your crockpot to a LOW setting for 6 hours instead. The slurry is what thickens the stew, it’s not crucial but recommended if you want a thicker stew.

Stovetop method

• Wash the oxtail as instructed (see above).
• Place the oxtail in a bowl, then add the beef seasoning, pimento berries, garlic, onion, carrot and browning. Use your hands to rub the marinade into the meat.
• Refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours.
• Melt coconut oil on medium heat, scrape off the marinade and brown oxtail alone. This should take roughly 10 minutes.
• Add the onion, garlic, carrots from the bowl to the skillet/dutch oven and saute until soft.
• Now, stir in the tomato paste, thyme and dried butter beans.
• Pour 4 cups beef stock/water in the dutch oven/skillet. Start with 4 cups and add more water, if needed, during cooking time.
• Reduce the pot to low heat, cover with lid and cook for 2-3 hours. (If using canned beans, add 30 minutes before finishing.)
• For a thicker stew, mix the starch/water together and stir in the slurry 30 minutes before finishing.

Notes and Tips

• Use the slow cooker method if this is your first time working with oxtail. It’s easier to manage and the oxtail’s connective tissue breaks down to a fall-off-the-bone texture.
• Pimento berries are allspice. If you only have the ground allspice on hand, you can swap 1 teaspoon of it for the pimento seeds.
• Only use 1 tbsp of browning sauce if using my homemade version. If you are using the store brought kind, use 1/4 tsp as it is far more bitter and concentrated.
• Beef stock yields more flavour, but water can be used.
• Butter beans are as known as lima beans. If you don’t have dried, substitute one can of butter beans and add them 30 minutes prior to finishing.
• Omit the butter beans if you want the recipe to be keto or paleo-friendly.
• A wonderful freezer-friendly meal! Transfer to a freezer-safe container, label, date and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stovetop when ready to eat!

Jamaican Steamed Cabbage (low carb, keto option)

Baked Plantain

Pikliz (low carb, keto option)

Cassava Dumpling

Jamaican Rice and Peas

Roast Breadfruit