Sunday Oxtail with Butter Beans
Oxtail is the dish that made Sunday feel official. It cannot be hurried, which is exactly the point: the smell doing laps around the house for three hours was the announcement that family was expected.
- Time
- 3 hrs 30 min
- Serves
- 4–6
- Patience
- A weekend project
- Occasion
- Sunday dinner
Where this dish comes from
Across Jamaican households, oxtail with butter beans anchors the Sunday dinner alongside rice and peas. It's also a masterclass in the technique nobody writes down: browning meat in burnt sugar until it takes on that deep mahogany that no bottled shortcut fully matches.
This family-style version keeps the sequence intact so you can capture your own family's timings and tells.
Ingredients
Season overnight
- 3 lbs oxtail, trimmed, washed with lime
- 4 stalks scallion, crushed
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp allspice (pimento) berries, crushed
- 1 scotch bonnet, whole
- 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper
The pot
- 2 tbsp brown sugar + 2 tbsp oil (for browning)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, thick-cut (optional, houses differ)
- 4 cups water or stock, added gradually
- 1 tin butter beans, drained
- 1 tbsp ketchup or browning, if your family uses it
The method
Step 1: Season the oxtail with everything in the first list and let it sit overnight in the fridge, or at minimum while you cook the rice and peas.
Step 2: Heat oil and brown sugar in a heavy pot until the sugar froths and darkens to deep amber. Working in batches, brown the oxtail hard on all sides.
Step 3: Add the onion and any seasoning left in the bowl. Pour in a cup of water, scrape the bottom, cover, and drop the heat to low.
Step 4: Braise for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, adding water a cup at a time as it reduces. The meat is ready when it slouches off the bone.
Step 5: Add carrots in the last 40 minutes and butter beans in the last 10: they should stay whole, not dissolve.
Step 6: Let the gravy reduce until it coats a spoon and turns glossy. Taste and adjust. Serve over rice and peas, gravy over everything.
Family notes ✎
- A pressure cooker cuts the braise to 45 minutes and many aunties swear by it, but the browning stage is non-negotiable either way.
- The scotch bonnet stays whole and gets rescued before serving. If it bursts, Sunday gets memorable.
Substitutions
- Beef short ribs braise almost identically if oxtail prices are cruel this week.
- No pimento berries? Ground allspice works, about two teaspoons.
On the calendarSunday dinner, holidays, and any week that needs mending.
