Though a humble cut, oxtail segments braised in a rich broth with root vegetables makes a sumptuous, comforting soup.
Is Oxtail Soup Really Made Of Oxtails?
The name of this soup is a little misleading. Though, long ago the meat cut did come from the tail of an ox, today it comes from cows. So, it’s beef and its taste is often compared to that of short ribs. It’s a bony, fatty cut perfect for braising. And because the meat is gelatinous, the resulting broth is rich and lush.
Where Is Oxtail Soup From?
Several cultures have a version of this soup including Korean, Italian, Chinese, and Jamaican so you’ll find plenty of variety in recipes.
My favorite version has its origins in Britain. The oxtails are braised in a rich tomato and beef broth and studded with potatoes and carrots.
How To Make British Style Oxtail Soup
The preparation for this dish is simple. It’s the long braising time of 3 hours that develops the complex, savory flavors and tenderizes the meat.
An important step in the preparation process is browning the meat. Don’t get impatient during this step. When you sear the meat make sure to let a brown, crisp crust form. It takes about 5 – 6 minutes per side in a medium-high heat.
Remove the browned meat from the soup pot or Dutch oven and drain half of the rendered fat from the pot. Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Next stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and sherry or water to deglaze the pot. Add the seared oxtail segments back to the pot along with the herbs and beef broth. Then, sit back and enjoy the aroma of braising oxtails.
After 2 and ½ hours of braising, add the root vegetables and allow to cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
Serving The Oxtail Soup
Remember to remove the bay leaf from the soup. I like to spoon a tail segment into each of the serving bowls, surround it with the vegetables and then ladle the broth over all.
If you prefer, you can remove the oxtail segments and shred the meat from the bones and then transfer the shredded meat back into the soup and serve. Garnish with parsley and serve with a crusty loaf of bread to sop up all of the broth.
If you manage to have any leftovers, store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container.
More Beefy Soup Recipes
If you want another way to make this decadent cut of meat, you should definitely try braising the oxtails like this. But, if you want different kinds of beefy soups, I have just the recipes for you!
And, if you’re just plain always in the mood for soup, you have to go browse through my soup recipes here, there are over 70 delicious recipes to choose from!
Podcast Episode: Making Oxtail Soup
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from me along the way!
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Oxtail Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: British
DESCRIPTION
Though a humble cut, oxtail segments braised in a rich broth with root vegetables makes a sumptuous, comforting soup that I know you’re going to make over and over again. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. oxtail cut into 3-inch segments
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, canola
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup sherry, optional
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Pat oxtail segments dry and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large heavy soup pot of Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add oxtail segments, without crowding. Cook the meat undisturbed for 5 – 6 minutes, until a dark brown crust develops. Turn and continue searing all sides.
- Transfer the meat to a clean bowl. Drain 1/2 the fat from the pan.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and celery, and cook until the onions and celery have softened, 9 – 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and add sherry if using or 1/3 cup broth. Stir to combine.
- Add the oxtail segments and any juice that has accumulated on the plate back into the pot.
- Add the thyme, bay leaf, and broth. Stir to combine. Bring the broth to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 2 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.
- Add the carrots and potatoes. Cover the pot and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. The meat should fall from the bone and the vegetables tender.*
- To serve, spoon a tail segment into a large soup bowl, surround with the vegetables and ladle broth over all. Garnish with parsley.
- Alternatively, remove the oxtail segments from the soup and shred the meat from the bone. Return the shredded meat to the soup and serve in large soup bowls.
Notes
*Because oxtail is a fattier cut of meat, you will sometimes get some fat across the top of the broth that has rendered during cooking. If you want to remove that, you can spoon it off. However, I find it more effective to pour some of the broth into a gravy separator, allow the fat to rise to the top, then return the broth to the pot.
Wonderful recipe. Great for a stew too, with any stewing meat, and just a bit less stock.
Thank you so much, Chris! Glad you enjoyed.
This is one of my favorite recipes. I never know what to do with the rest of a small can of tomato paste so it all goes in. IMO it just deepens the flavor. The first time I made it we were hosting a New Year’s Eve party and had a family member who is a trained chef to make the food. I made this as an early dinner for the family and our chef was very impressed and went back for seconds. Today is Father’s Day and I asked my husband what he’d like for his day and he asked for this. It’s a winner.
That’s wonderful, Holli! I like the tomato paste in the tube, since it’s easier to save any extra for later. But it sounds like it’s working out great for you. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
This is amazing! I loved every bit! I didn’t drain the fat (there wasn’t much that I saw) what was there increased the flavor and seemed to soak into the potatoes. I will be making this again. So full of flavor. And if you want to add more heat Tabasco went well but I bet red pepper would do great as well.
Becca, I’m really happy that you liked it. And it’s good to know that the fat wasn’t an issue for you since I know that others have struggled with it. Thank you for coming back to let me know your thoughts!
Outstanding Christine !! Simply Fabulous !!
Thank you so much, Gilbert!
Love this recipe. It’s a labor of love, as I always chill it after cooking all day, skim off most of the fat and shred the meat. I also use a bag of mixed veggies in place of carrots. I like the idea of using a gravy separator though! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m just finishing up a HUGE batch—18 lbs of oxtails!
Gena, Wow! That’s definitely a lot of oxtails! I’m really happy to hear that you like the recipe. If you end up trying to gravy separator, come back and let me know how it works for you.
This recipe has to be made a day ahead and refrigerated over night. Scrape off the fat. There is no way to get enough fat out any other way.
Max, did you see the note below the recipe about using a fat separator, sometimes called a gravy separator? It’s a great solution if you want to eat the soup on the day it’s cooked. You scoop the liquid from the top, or even pour a bunch of it into the separator jug, wait for the fat to rise to the top, and then pour the de-fatted liquid from the bottom back into the soup. If you have a lot of fat, you can even strain the soup into a large bowl, put the contents of the strainer back into the pot. Then pour from the bowl into the separator, separate off the fat, pour the liquid into the pot, and repeat until all the liquid from the bowl has been de-fatted. It works beautifully. It just takes a little bit of extra time before serving, about 10 minutes (a bit longer if you separator is on the small side).
Oh, just so you can go look, this is the fat separator that I use https://amzn.to/3TA9ft5
A beautiful soup! We actually used pork spareribs that my son asked me to make into a soup! We also made dumplings to cook on top. Family enjoyed it tremendously!
Oh, that’s great to know, Joann! So glad that your family enjoyed.
This recipe was very simple to make but didn’t get the dark color for the meat.
Sandra,
I’m not sure what went wrong with that. Perhaps when searing the meat in Step #3, make sure that it gets nice and brown on all sides. It often helps to do this in batches, 1/2 or 1/3 of the meat pieces at a time, so that they don’t crowd the pan, which can cause them to steam instead of brown.
Way to greasy! Cooke and braised day before added beef bouillon. Made soup next day after decreasing before adding ingredients . Will be using a soup bone next time.
.
Leslie, I’m sorry you found the soup greasy. It’s true that oxtails have a high fat content and that comes out in the soup. As mentioned in the note below the recipe, if you have fat on the soup that you don’t want, you can spoon it off or use a gravy separator. For the gravy separator, you’ll scoop liquid from the soup into there, wait until the fat rises to the top, then pour the broth back into the soup. You can repeat this several times to remove quite a bit of the fat.
Was craving myself some oxtail soup and tried this recipe. Soup came out delicious & hubs loved it!
I’m so glad you loved it, Fray! I think it’s such a delicious and satisfying dish.
Very nice comfort food! I didn’t have enough oxtails so I threw in some beef bone marrow. I only had Marsala to substitute for the sherry. I used cabbage instead because I didn’t have carrots. This meal turned out very well! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your substitutions with us, Theresa! Glad to know it was still delicious.
Perfect! This is one of my dad’s favorite things so I made it for him for Father’s Day. He said it was exactly how he likes it. We all liked it too!
Fantastic! I’m so happy you all liked it and that your dad enjoyed his Father’s Day treat!