Umami Cooking

Meaty with a dash of veggies

Spanish oxtail stew

Browned oxtail is cooked with vegetables and red wine until tender. The result is just magnificent.

Spanish oxtail stew

Beef recipe

Cook’s notes

Oxtail may be bought skinless or skin-on. Skinless oxtail will cook in less time because the skin requires a long simmering time to soften. However, skin-on oxtail yields a richer stew. The skin turns gelatinous and acquires the mouth feel of beef tendon when sufficiently cooked. It’s up to you whether to use skin-on or skinless oxtail.

Spanish oxtail stew

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 4 hours 15 minutes
Total: 4 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Spanish
Label: Beef stew, Organ meat
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Ingredients

Oxtail

  • 1 kilogram sliced oxtail (2.2 pounds)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Stew

  • 1 large onion peeled and chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 5 cloves
  • 2 bell peppers deseeded and diced
  • 1 carrot peeled and diced
  • ½ cup sliced leeks
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups beef broth well seasoned

Optional

  • 300 grams button mushrooms (10.5 oz) quartered
  • 1 large onion peeled and diced
  • parsley to garnish

Instructions

Brown the oxtail

  1. Rinse the oxtail and dry on a stack of paper towels.
  2. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and flour.
    Seasoning, flouring and browning oxtail
  3. Heat the olive oil in a wide thick-bottomed pan and brown the oxtail on all sides.
  4. Scoop out the oxtail and move to a plate.

Make the stew base

  1. In the remaining oil, saute the onion, garlic, bay leaves and cloves. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen browned bits, until softened.
    Sauteeing vegetables in oil
  2. Add the bell peppers, carrot and leeks, and cook, stirring occasionally, for two to three minutes.
  3. Pour in the wine.
    Adding rioja to vegetables in pan
  4. Add the diced tomatoes and broth.
    Adding tomatoes and broth to vegetables in pan
  5. Stir and heat until bubbly.

Stew the oxtail

  1. Add the browned oxtail to the sauce and bring to the boil.
    Adding browned oxtail to vegetables, wine and broth in pan
  2. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer the oxtail until tender, about four hours. Add more broth, half a cup at a time, if the liquid dries out during cooking.
  3. The stew can be served when the oxtail is tender. But, if you want to add better texture and extra flavor, do the following.

Finishing touches

  1. Separate the oxtail from the sauce.
  2. Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce with the vegetables to make a smooth gravy.
    Pureeing the sauce of oxtail stew
  3. Pour the sauce into a clean pan, add the oxtail, mushrooms and onion, and simmer for fifteen minutes or so until the mushrooms are cooked through.
  4. Give the stew a taste and add more salt if needed (not likely if you used well seasoned beef broth) before serving.
    Spanish oxtail stew
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Meaty with a dash of veggies