Jamaican Main

Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans

Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans is slow-braised Jamaican oxtail with butter beans in a dark, sticky gravy scented with allspice, thyme and browning sauce. This version uses measured ingredients, clear visual cues and the traditional flavour balance that makes the dish distinctive.

Jump to recipe More Jamaican food
30 minsPrep time
3 hr 30 minsCook time
Serves 6Servings
MediumDifficulty
Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans
About this dish

Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans: the story on the plate

Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans is a Jamaican main with a clear sense of place. Oxtail became a treasured Jamaican braise through resourceful use of a once-inexpensive cut, transformed by long cooking, dark seasoning and aromatics. Butter beans are now a familiar addition. The recipe below keeps the defining ingredients and technique intact while giving practical metric quantities and enough detail for a home cook to judge texture, seasoning and doneness rather than simply follow a timer.

Historical background

Oxtail became a treasured Jamaican braise through resourceful use of a once-inexpensive cut, transformed by long cooking, dark seasoning and aromatics. Butter beans are now a familiar addition.

Why it is famous

It is quintessential Sunday-dinner and comfort food, valued for the sticky collagen-rich gravy that rewards patient cooking.

Cultural significance

It is quintessential Sunday-dinner and comfort food, valued for the sticky collagen-rich gravy that rewards patient cooking.

Nutrition

Estimated nutrition per serving

These figures are estimates per serving. Actual nutrition can vary with the brands and exact amounts you use, how much oil, dressing or sauce is absorbed, any substitutions or added extras, and the portion size served.

A practical guide for comparing recipes and planning meals.

780Calories
52gProtein
35gCarbs
50gFat
Ingredients

What you need

  • 1800 oxtail, cut at the joints
  • 480 butter beans, drained cooked weight
  • 220 onion, chopped
  • 100 Spring onions, chopped
  • 20 Garlic, crushed
  • 5 fresh thyme, sprigs
  • 1.5 ground allspice
  • 35 soy sauce
  • 25 Worcestershire sauce
  • 20 Jamaican browning sauce
  • 35 tomato paste
  • 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, whole
  • 1200 beef stock
  • 250 carrot, chunked
  • 25 neutral oil
Method

Step-by-step method

Follow the recipe in order, tasting and adjusting seasoning where needed.

  1. Season oxtail with allspice, soy, Worcestershire, browning sauce, half the spring onion and half the garlic. Marinate at least 1 hour.
  2. Brown oxtail in batches in a heavy casserole until the exterior is dark and caramelised. Do not crowd the pan; strong browning is essential to the final gravy.
  3. Cook onion, remaining garlic and tomato paste in the same pot for 5 minutes. Return oxtail, add thyme, Scotch bonnet and stock, and bring to a simmer.
  4. Cover and cook very gently for 2½ hours, turning pieces occasionally. Add carrot after 2 hours.
  5. When the meat is nearly falling from the bone, stir in butter beans and simmer uncovered 20–25 minutes so the beans absorb gravy and the sauce reduces.
  6. Remove Scotch bonnet and skim excess surface fat. Taste, then rest 10 minutes before serving so the gelatin-rich gravy settles and thickens.
Cook smarter

Tips, storage and serving advice

Shopping tips

Use whole allspice when you can, fresh thyme, real Scotch bonnet and good coconut milk. For ackee, use reputable canned ackee unless you are experienced with properly ripened fresh fruit. Check labels on compound ingredients such as sauces, spice blends, stocks, kimchi, fermented pastes and prepared breads when cooking for allergies.

Ingredient quality

For Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans, prioritise fresh or properly stored versions of oxtail, butter beans, onion, spring onions; speciality seasonings should smell vivid rather than stale.

Common mistakes

Short cooking leaves oxtail chewy, poor browning gives a pale gravy and adding beans early makes them disintegrate.

Chef’s tips

Cool briefly and skim excess fat, but keep enough richness for the gravy to feel luxurious rather than lean.

How to know it is cooked

Meat pulls from the bone with a fork and the reduced gravy coats the back of a spoon.

Plating advice

Serve a few oxtail pieces over rice with butter beans and gravy visible around them.

Cook next

Keep exploring the country’s food story through related starters, mains and desserts.

View cuisine
Ackee and Saltfish

Ackee and Saltfish

Ackee and Saltfish is Jamaica’s national dish of buttery ackee folded with salt cod, onion, tomato…
Mackerel Run Down

Mackerel Run Down

Mackerel Run Down is Jamaican mackerel simmered in coconut milk reduced with tomato, thyme, spring…
Escovitch Fish

Escovitch Fish

Escovitch Fish is whole fried Jamaican fish covered just before serving with hot vinegar-pickled on…
Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken is Jamaican chicken deeply browned then simmered with peppers, tomato, thyme and…