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cooked oxtail sections with intact round center bones and tender dark meat, large pale butter beans and carrot pieces in thick dark brown gravy in a plain bowl, with no rice or garnish
Melissa Hart

Crockpot Oxtail Stew

Oxtail needs the longest cook in this batch, and that's what gives its small rings of meat their tender texture. Brown the pieces well before the lid goes on. Ginger, thyme and allspice season the dark gravy, while butter beans join near the end instead of breaking down through ten hours of cooking. Skim the fat before serving and check for loose bone fragments. Leave the intact center bones in the pieces so you can eat the meat around them.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 11 hours
Total Time 11 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lb beef oxtail cut into 2-inch sections
  • 2 medium carrots cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
  • 1 1/2 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
  • 1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 3/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 cans 15 oz each butter beans, drained and rinsed

Method
 

  1. Pat oxtail dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown oxtail in 3 uncrowded batches for about 6 minutes each, transferring pieces to a 6-quart slow cooker.
  2. Cook onion in the skillet for 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger and tomato paste for 1 minute, then add broth and scrape up the browned bits.
  3. Pour the skillet mixture into the cooker and add carrots, soy sauce, brown sugar, thyme and allspice. Cover and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours until oxtail reaches at least 145°F and the meat is very tender around the bones.
  4. Lift oxtail carefully onto a plate and skim excess fat from the gravy. Check for and discard any loose bone fragments, leaving intact center bones in the oxtail pieces.
  5. Mash 1/2 cup of the butter beans and stir into the gravy with the remaining whole beans. Return oxtail, cover and cook on high for 25 to 30 minutes until the beans are hot and the gravy coats a spoon.
  6. Divide among 6 bowls, serving the oxtail with its intact bones and eating the meat around them.