Recipe
Oxtail, Slow-Braised Until It Shreds
Oxtail is one of the most underrated cuts in the cooler — gelatinous, beefy, and built for long, slow Dutch oven braises that turn the kitchen into the best room in the house. Four hours and you've got dinner that tastes like a French restaurant for the price of a stew.
Cook time
4 hours
Yields
4 servings
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- •3 lb Spring Lake Cattle oxtail, cross-cut into 2-inch sections
- •2 tbsp kosher salt
- •1 tbsp black pepper, freshly cracked
- •1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- •3 tbsp beef tallow or olive oil
- •1 large yellow onion, medium dice
- •3 carrots, peeled and diced
- •3 celery ribs, diced
- •6 garlic cloves, smashed
- •2 tbsp tomato paste
- •2 cups dry red wine (cabernet, syrah, anything you'd drink)
- •4 cups beef stock
- •2 bay leaves, 4 thyme sprigs
About the cut
Oxtail is the cross-cut tail of the steer — bone, marrow, and a ring of working muscle wrapped in connective tissue. Long heat melts that collagen into gelatin and gives the braise its signature lip-coating sauce. Read the full rabo de res cut guide for sourcing notes.
Method
- Dry, season, dust. Pat the oxtail completely dry. Salt and pepper all sides, then dust lightly in flour and shake off excess. The flour helps build a deep brown crust and thickens the sauce later.
- Sear hard, in batches. Heat the tallow in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the oxtail aggressively on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Don't crowd the pan — steam kills color.
- Sweat the vegetables. Remove the oxtail. Add onion, carrot, celery to the same pot. Cook 8 minutes until edges char and the bottom of the pot turns deep brown.
- Build the base. Stir in garlic and tomato paste. Cook 2 minutes until the paste darkens to brick-red — this is what gives the sauce depth.
- Deglaze with wine. Pour in the red wine. Scrape every speck of fond off the bottom of the pot. Reduce by half, about 5 minutes.
- Build the braise. Return the oxtail to the pot. Add stock, bay, and thyme. The liquid should come halfway up the meat — not submerge it.
- Long oven. Cover and slide into a 325°F oven for 3.5–4 hours. The meat should release from the bone with a fork. Don't rush it.
- Skim and serve. Let the pot sit 15 minutes, skim the fat off the surface, taste for salt. Serve oxtails on the bone over polenta or pull the meat into the sauce for a chunkier stew over rice.
Chef's notes
- •Make this a day ahead. Refrigerate overnight, lift the fat cap off in the morning, reheat gently. The flavor doubles.
- •If the sauce is thin at the end, simmer uncovered 15 minutes after pulling the oxtail. The collagen will set up.
- •Caribbean variation: add 1 tbsp allspice, a Scotch bonnet, and 1 cup butter beans in the last hour.
- •Don't skip the sear. Pale oxtail makes pale stew.
- •The bones are full of marrow. Suck it out. That's the point.
Reserve oxtail for a Sunday braise
Cross-cut by our processor and frozen by the package.