Follow our complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to learn how to make delicious Ox Tails with Gravy at home. Easy to make, just takes a little time to cook. Printable recipe included.
Oxtails are a delicacy in many places. And, for good reason. They’re delicious. They take several hours to cook, but the rich brown gravy and fork tender meat make it all worth it.
I might have been a Senior Citizen the first time I ever took my first bite of Oxtails with Gravy. Don’t judge me. They just never showed up on Mama’s Big Oval Table.
I’d heard of them of course, and seen them in the grocery store. But, maybe like you, the thought of them kind of threw me off in wanting to try them for some reason.
Lesson learned.
My cousin Kay recently brought me a small package of meat. She handed it to me and said, “Here, cook these.” I might have frowned a bit when I saw it was Oxtail meat. A small package that weighed about a pound and a half. Her friend Jeannette from Michigan had given them to her. She passed them on to me.
She placed them in my freezer and I contemplated giving them a try. After searching out various recipes for cooking them, I decided to go with the Oxtails and Gravy recipe I’ve put together below.
What are Oxtails you might ask? They really are the tail of cattle. Originally they came from an Ox, but now they come from various cattle. They are skinned, and cut into short lengths and will probably be found in the frozen meat section at your grocery store – if they even carry them.
I did find that our local Food Lion store has them, but several other local stores do not carry them.
You’ll find recipes for Oxtail Stew, Jamaican Oxtails, Braised Oxtails and more if you start looking for them. I decided to do something more familiar and cooked them with Gravy.
They were delicious if I do say so myself.
The recipe is easy, it just takes about three hours to cook them down to be fork tender with the meat falling off the bone. But, the gravy you can make with the broth is worth the effort within itself.
I shared my dish with Cousin Kay. She has mentioned that gravy several times since. We both thought the meat itself was very good and reminded us a bit of chuck roast. I’d certainly cook it again.
It’s a bit pricey, but it’s considered a delicacy in many areas. It’s about $7.00 per pound at Food Lion at this time. Some other stores I checked have it at $10.00 per pound.
The meat is good, but I just couldn’t get myself to gnaw the bone. Didn’t have to, but they are shaped kind of odd and not easy to gnaw on like a chicken leg. Smile.
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with our recipe if you decide to try it. Be adventurous… go for it at least once in your life.
Ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!
Oxtails and Gravy Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.
Thaw frozen oxtails before cooking them for best results.
Place thawed oxtails in a bowl and cover them with water. Add about a Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to the water, then let them soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse them well in the water before draining them.
Drain the soaking water off of the oxtails. Rinse them again under cool running water and drain that off. Use a paper towel to pat the meat dry.
Sprinkle lightly with salt, turning as needed to lightly salt them all over.
Do the same thing with a bit of black pepper.
Sprinkle them lightly with about about 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce. Turn and coat as needed.
Sprinkle a bit of flour over the meat. Turn and coat as needed.
Any flour will work. I’m using Wondra Flour because it was already out and on the counter. Wondra Flour works well with making gravies.
Place a large stock pot over Medium heat on your stove top. Add about 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil and let it warm up. Place the oxtails in the heated oil.
Lightly brown the oxtails in the oil, turning as needed to brown all the sides and ends. This will only take 5-8 minutes or so.
Remove the oxtails from the oil and place them on a plate for the moment.
If you have a lot of oil in the bottom of the pot, you might want to drain most of it off. Leave a couple of Tablespoons of oil in the pot, and by all means, save the browned bits that are left. They are full of flavor. Smile.
Sprinkle about 2 Tablespoons of flour on top of the oil and the browned bits.
Add a couple of Tablespoons of the Beef Broth to the pot. Stir the bottom of the pot as you add the broth to loosen the bits from the bottom of the pot.
Stir the broth, the bits and the flour together and let this cook for about one minute. A wooden spatula is great for helping to scrape those bits up off the bottom of the pot. Add a little more broth and stir it into the paste you’ve just made. Stir out any lumps of flour that might remain.
Place the browned oxtails back in the pot.
Add enough Beef Broth to cover the oxtails. I used a full 32oz carton, and about half of another carton to cook mine. If you only have one carton of broth, use enough water to finish covering the oxtails. You’ll be fine. Smile.
Let the broth come to a low boil, then cover the pot.
REDUCE the heat to about Medium-Low and let the oxtails simmer for ONE HOUR.
We’re going to check the pot in one hour, so just before you do that, slice the onion.
Remove the lid and stir the oxtails around in the broth to be sure they aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot. Place the sliced onions in the broth and cover the pot once again.
Let them continue to cook over Medium-Low heat for ONE MORE HOUR.
After the meat has cooked for two hours, remove the lid and remove the meat from the broth.
They aren’t done yet, but we’re getting close. Patience my friend, patience.
Either turn the heat off, or remove the pot of broth from the heat.
We want to remove as much of the fat from the broth as we can. You can either use a spoon to skim any fat off the top of the broth, or use something like this fat separator from OXO.
I just poured the broth into the cup and the fat rises to the top. Look carefully at the photo above and you’ll see the fat floating on top of the broth. I remove the plug in the spout and carefully pour the broth which comes from the bottom of the cup. I stop when I see fat starting to enter the spout.
The fat is discarded, and the remaining broth is poured into another bowl until I’ve emptied the broth from the cooking pot. This will take a couple of minutes, but you don’t want all that grease in your final gravy.
Place the strained broth and the oxtails back into your stock pot. Mine had reduced enough that I just used a smaller pot instead of the stock pot that I started with.
Let the meat and the broth simmer together over Medium-Low heat until the oxtails are fork tender. All total, I cooked mine for THREE HOURS.
Remove from heat when done.
Enjoy!
These are great served over rice or mashed potatoes. I had a baked sweet potato, so I decided to serve these over rice. The black eyed peas rounded off the meal. I just needed some cornbread and I’d be set. Smile.
