Oxtail Soup an Old School British Recipe
Oxtail soup has many guises, this version is a classic British recipe takes time but is very easy to cook and results in THE best beef soup!
There is no rushing this old-fashioned British recipe; it is all about breaking down the gelatinous nature of the oxtail and extracting all of that flavour!
Classic Beef Soup
What was once a cheaper cut of meat is now rather more costly. For good reason, too, and that reason is flavour.
This recipe is one of my all-time favourites and, as far as I am concerned, the best oxtail soup I have ever eaten!
Now it does need careful cooking, and if you rush this recipe, you will end up with inedible meat. But so long as you are patient, this recipe is incredibly easy.
It ain't just us British that are fond of oxtail though!
It is used around the world, famed for its flavour and the richness it lends to recipes.
Whether it be the classic Kare Kare from the Philippines, a spicy African oxtail stew or Spanish rabo de toro it is delicious! I've even got an Indian-inspired oxtail curry that I love!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you chill the soup overnight?
Oxtail is chock-a-block full of fat, and until you chill overnight, you cannot appreciate just how much.
Now I like fat, it is where the flavour is at, but it has to be the right fat and the right amount. When the stock has jellified overnight, you will notice that it forms 3 distinct layers.
The bottom layer will be a thick, clear and jellified stock; this is where the good stuff is.
The next layer will be the impurities; you can leave these in if you like. It will make your oxtail soup a little cloudy. I usually remove around two-thirds.
The final layer is fat; you will be surprised just how much there is. I get rid of all of this, there is plenty that we are returning when we shred the beef!
Can I keep the fat?
Yes, strain it through two layers of muslin and keep it in a jar.
I use it to cook any of my recipes that call for lard or duck fat, my Wiener Schnitzel or chicken paprikash recipes.
What do you mean by "salt at your judgment"?
This is a long cook, and depending on how much your liquid reduces and how much salt is in your stock, the amount of salt needed in this recipe changes dramatically.
Start with around three-quarters of a teaspoon when you brown the oxtail. After that, taste at every single step and add salt as you see fit.
Alternative Cooking Instructions
I usually cook this recipe in its entirety on the stovetop.
However, I have done some experimenting to offer advice on adding either a slow cooker or a pressure cooker into the process.
First of all, I must stress that I do this out of sacrifice, not because I am greedy!
In my testing, the cooking method makes no discernible difference to this recipe. As a result, you can take your pick.
My testing also ONLY relates to the initial cooking of the oxtail. Once the meat is cooked, it needs to set and rest overnight, as in my original recipe.
Slow Cooker or Crock Pot Instructions:
- Chop the vegetables and throw them into the slow cooker.
- Brown the oxtail in a hot pan in hot oil and transfer to the slow cooker.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine and reduce by half.
- Pour into the slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients and cook for 8 hours on low.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Put the IP on Saute mode and when hot, add the oil.
- Brown the oxtail on all sides, then remove from the pot.
- Pour in the red wine and reduce by half.
- Return the oxtail and remaining ingredients.
- Add a lid and cook on high pressure for 90 minutes.
- Allow the pot to naturally release pressure.
Equipment Used
I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- 28cm or 11" frying pan or skillet (not nonstick).
- 3.5-litre or 3-quart saucepan.
- Kitchen knife.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen tongs, stirring and serving spoons.
- Colander.
- Large bowls for chilling the soup and meat overnight.
- Cling film
- Small mixing bowl.
- Whisk.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
British Oxtail Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Kg Oxtail 35oz
- 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 1 Large Onion 200g
- 1 Small-Medium Carrot 100g
- 1 Medium Celery Stick 50g
- 3 Sprigs Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
- 50 ml Worcestershire Sauce 3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
- 300 ml Red Wine 1¼ Cup
- 1.5 Litres Beef Stock 6 Cups
- 10 Whole Pepper Corns
- Salt (to taste)
- 1½ tablespoon Plain Flour
Instructions
- Season the oxtail with salt and pepper generously.
- Heat the oil in a 28cm or 11" frying pan or skillet (not nonstick) and when hot, fry the oxtail to get a nice colour on all sides.Remove and place in a saucepan with a 3.5 litre (3 quart) capacity.
- Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery into a 1-2cm (½-¾") dice.
- Add the vegetables to the pan that we seared the oxtail in and cook for 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan occasionally.
- Pour in the Worcestershire sauce and reduce to almost nothing, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the red wine and reduce by half, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the tomato ketchup and then pour over the oxtail.
- Pour over the beef stock, and add in the bay leaves, thyme, and peppercorns.Simmer on low for 3-4 hours. After 10 minutes, have a taste and add salt as required.
- When the soup has simmered and the beef is tender, strain the soup.Separate the oxtail from the vegetables and discard the veggies. Cover the liquid and meat in separate bowls, then cool.When cool, refrigerate overnight.
- Around 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, skim any fatty deposits from the top of the soup. Your soup should be set like a jelly!Remove around two-thirds of the cloudy sediment.Gently warm the remaining jellified broth over a medium heat.
- Pull the meat from the bone and then shred it with your fingers.
- When the broth is hot and liquid, remove around 125ml (half a cup) and add it to the flour. Whisk to form a smooth slurry.
- Pour into the soup whilst whisking, cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the shredded beef and allow to gently warm through for 4 or 5 minutes.
Brian: I noticed you have no vegetables in your soup. Why?
Ketchup in your oxtail soup?
Really Brian? That's pure sacrilige! Add tomato paste, man.
It does look so good :~)
lol, I'm and absolute "heathen" when it comes to food and will throw anything in there that I think works 😀 In this instance, the ketchup provides a little sweetness and acidity, it works, tomato puree would do something subtly different, and it would work perfectly well, just differently.
There are vegetables in cooking process for this recipe, but after after close on 300 minutes of cooking time, they are as very soggy and not really what I enjoy eating. I did have a fairly long conversation with someone a couple of years ago about using the stuff that I discard (it should still be in the comments section somewhere), it's perfectly edible and tasty, just not what I want when I am making my version of this soup... which is something as beefy as a beefy thing that screams of oxtail.
Brian 🙂
@Brian Jones,
You made me laugh with the heathen comment.
I'm such a traditionalist with certain recipes, but yes, we should be flexible enough to substitute and use what we have.
I can see what you mean about the veg.
Usually, I would mash it and add in, but I see what you mean about the unadulterated oxtail flavour, nothing like it. It's my favourite soup/stew.
All that said, I would still do the tomato paste...can't stand ketchup.
I have saved your recipe and am going to sign up for your newsletter.
Have a wonderful day, Brian.
Thank you for sharing this recipe directions were easy to follow taste was so good my German husband could not say enough about it as he enjoyed every spoonful will add this to my regular dinner menu
I followed the recipe exactly and added a large slug of port.
The result was a delicious soup with an unparalleled depth of flavour The trouble is the cost. I paid £14 for a kilo of oxtail from a local butcher. After cooking for 90 minutes in a pressure cooker the 1.5 litres of stock had severely reduced, leaving little more than a large bowlful of soup.
It is very important to add a goodly quantity of boiling water to the remaining aromatics, mash, then strain to get all the goodness out.
Even having done this, you are left with just a couple of large bowls of admittedly sublime soup but at £7 a bowl so it should be.
Hi Neil... It is unusual for water to evaporate in a pressure cooker it's a closed cooking system and every time I have checked made mine in a pressure cooker I have not needed to add any extra. So not sure that happened there, but IU guess I'll have to test it again... which is no hardship.
I agree on the cost, this is far from the cheapest bowl of soup, but it is one I treat myself to as "I'm worth it" 😀
Thanks for the feedback...
Brian
@Brian Jones,
Hi Brian
Well, a pressure cooker isn't really a closed system as steam is constantly escaping. I thought 90 minutes in a pressure cooker was excessive so looked it up and all sources said 40-45 minutes were sufficient. I tried this and it was equally delicious and I ended it up with far more soup at the end as far less steam escaped.
One pod of star anise adds a very subtle note and I used proper tomato paste instead of ketchup, which is unpleasantly gloopy and sweet and in my opinion has no place in any recipe.
Neil
Hi Neil...
You should check out your pressure cooker if it is constantly venting "steam"... a pressure cooker will loose around 1 tablespoon of liquid over 15 minutes if you start with 1 litre, an open pot will lose around 250ml in the same time. A pressure cooker is generally considered to be a "closed system".
Brian
I followed the recipe exactly and added a large slug of port. The result was a delicious soup with an unparalleled depth of flavour
The trouble is the cost. I paid £14 for a kilo of oxtail from a local butcher. After cooking for 90 minutes in a pressure cooker the 1.5 litres of stock had severely reduced, leaving little more than a large bowlful of soup. It is very important to add a goodly quantity of boiling water to the remaining aromatics, mash, then strain to get all the goodness out.
Even having done this, you are left with just a couple of large bowls of admittedly sublime soup but at £7 a bowl so it should be.
Have used this recipe many times - very easy and very tasty! Five stars
Great recipe. I have a batch in the IP now as I type. Things I do differently is use a mirepoix (which I make and then freeze in batches), So, my prep or mise en place takes even less time and no veggies to discard or blend and add back to the soup. Also, a similar amount of pale-ale in place of wine and a good slug of Marsala.
I've bookmarked some of your other recipes and am looking forward to trying them too 🙂
Having prepped veg in the freezer is always a good shortcut for cooking, although I kinda have to assume that folk are starting from scratch when I create a recipe here. Glad you enjoy this, it's one of my favourite recipes.
I'd love to make this recipe! I like the idea of reusing the fat, but how long does it keep if you put it in a container in the fridge?
So long as it is stored "properly" it could last a long time, however I believe that sensible advice is that it will store in the fridge for up to a week. It is good though and it will freeze really well, just be careful to not heat it too quickly after defrosting because the moisture will spit like a very "spitty" thing.
Enjoy 🙂
We really loved this Oxtail soup, it was just how I remembered it years ago. Years ago Oxtail was a cheap option for soup making but this time it cost $24 for 1 kg then add all the other ingredients, we’re just grateful we can make it.
So glad that you enjoyed it Faye, Oxtail is pretty much the same price here in the UK so it is an indulgence, but we are worth it occasionally 😉
Could this be done without flour?
I’m on a Keto diet for diabetes, and cannot eat flour. I despise the gooey texture of Xanthum gum, but if by chance you had any other ideas I would be pleased to hear them.
Hi Savanna... This is a long way from my expertise so this is a bit of a punt, have you tried agar-agar or arrowroot?
However, this soup is not very thickened and you could serve it as a broth kinda soup which would still taste amazing!
All the best
Brian
@Brian Jones, thank you.
I don’t know about agar agar, not heard of it until now and not finding nutrition info on it - yet, but seeing as it’s from seaweed, maybe I should look that up. Arrowroot however, apparently has more carbs than cornflour has lol.
What would happen if I blended the carrot and celery into it..? Might try that 😺
Like I say, it is far from my field of expertise lol 😉
You can blend in the vegetables, but it will make the soup far less "silky" and "shiny" but it would still taste good. I would blend and then add it little by little until it ends up where you want it to be.
Have fun.
Brian
@Brian Jones,
I’m always up for a bit of ‘throw it all together and see what happens’ 😺. Pleased to report blended veg made a lovely tasty version and worked well.
Definitely a recipe to keep - thank you!
I'm so glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
I have never made oxtail soup before so made it tonight and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for the receipt, it was easy to follow, all ready had ingredients (so no racing out to get exotic ingredients never to be used again). So once again Thank You.
You have flour in the recipe but not in the instructions, I tossed the ox tail in the flour before browning and the instruction for adding the herbs comes after the long slow cook which doesn't make sense, so I added them earlier. Other than that, great recipe.
I used your recipe in my pressure cooker ...90 min falling off the bone tender meat and a dark rich broth ....spot on .
My family, especially the husband, appreciate the simplicity of this dish....so rich and filling on a blustery cold Scottish afternoon....thank you D
You are more than welcome, I love this recipe! Glad to hear that the pressure cooker treatment worked so well!
Brian
I finished cooking this today and honestly it is one of the best dishes I've ever made. My husband says it's the best thing he's eaten in years. I'm American but my mother came to the US from England. I've heard lots of tales of my Nan's oxtail soup but never had it myself as it is not very common here. When I saw oxtail in the grocery store, I immediately snatched it up and my mother sent me this recipe. It takes time, but it is not difficult to make. Instructions are clear and easy to follow. It has a deep, rich, and complex flavor for such simple ingredients. Thank you for this recipe. I can't wait to make this for Mom next time she visits!
Sara, you have made my day, thank you so much for taking the time to write to me!
Hopefully, it also gets the Mom seal of approval 😀
you just say why chill overnight, chill what??? literally read this whole thing twice and don't get it. You say the stock but what stock? do we make a stock with the oxtail? is this deboned oxtail, what?
I'm not sure how I can make this any clearer.
13) Separate the oxtail from the vegetables and discard the veggies and cover the liquid and meat in separate bowls then cool.
14) When cool, refrigerate overnight.
Also see the video at around 38 seconds.
Am at the 3-4 hr simmering stage. Am really looking fwd to this. Oxtail soup is my all time fave. Haven’t had it since my last visit to the Salopian pub in Shrewsbury where it is top notch. Saw oxtail for first time in Costco - pricey but had to buy. I rarely cook so this is a real treat. Can’t wait. I suggest adding “vegetables .....in a separate pan” at stage 5 as was confusing.
Best wishes - Geoff, Canada
Hi Geoff. It's one of my favourites too and I added a video to this post just a couple of weeks ago as an excuse to cook it again, I'll check out stage 5 and see if I can't clear it up a little 🙂
Enjoy
Brian. Thank you for taking the time to explain about the fat. I've been making soup in the winter for my team of volunteers in our church Food pantry (not clients) for many years. I've made oxtail soup before and was always careful to skim fat off after refrigerating overnight, and its has always been well received and delicious. I always make my own stock and broth. I am making your recipe this week and following your instructions and I know it's going to be fabulous! Also thanking for holding your ground on the measurements. Conversion tables are abundant, and most good cooks don't need them anyway.
Thanks for taking the time to write... I love this recipe, so much, it is glorious old fashioned cooking at its best!
As for the weights and measures thing, this site started from a desire to become a better cook, for me using volumetric measures for many items introduces a level of inaccuracy that I am not happy sharing. I do not expect people to weigh things out to the exact weight, but 100g is always 100g and as a cook you can then decide how important that is, a cup of broccoli on the other hand... I have no idea what that is 😉
I loved this but hadn't the heart to throw the veg away so whizzed in in to the soup. Made it a bit cloudy and paler but full of vitamins. The meat fell off the bone
Glad you like the soup Brenda 🙂
GEG, GRAMS,ML. RECIPE LOOKS GOOD BUT TAKE A MINUTE TO ADD POUNDS CUPS AND TABLESPOONS PLEASE.
Hi Mary... Thanks for taking the time to write to me, I will not be adding cup measures to my site as I find it a terribly inaccurate way to measure goods for the sort of food that I cook, I very strongly advocate weighing goods when cooking. As a result of this the difference between metric and imperial becomes a moot point as any decent $10 set of scales will allow you flip between metric and imperial at will.
It is something that I do all of the time when cooking from American websites or books.
Regards
Brian
@Brian Jones, I love this!
-An Aussie fan with a brain and the internet (which happens to have conversion tables for the yanks).
@Brian Jones, thank you for writing this recipe in metric, not imperial. As an American, I far prefer weighing everything out than having to get my measuring cups and spoons out. So much more cleanup with all those little cups and spoons. I wish it were easier for me to find GOOD recipes in grams/mils.
Hey Nicole...
I work in weights, it's just what I was raised with and it is "normal" for vast parts of the world. You probably stand a better chance of finding a metric recipe if you append a google search for a recipe with the phrase "UK", whilst many UK recipe creators try to accommodate US-based readers our natural reader is from the UK and is more comfortable with weight based measures.
Oh, I love these types of recipes! Slow-cooked meat and that overnight rest to take away the unwanted fat! It reminds me of growing up and my grandma's Sunday stew. Thanks for sharing!
It is definitely cooking that harks back to an earlier time when our time was not so pushed!
I've started to really enjoy making classic dishes from around the world, so this soup is just what I need. I can imagine how great the kitchen smells when you make it! 🙂
Oh boy, it is insane... You will love this, it is so tasty!
I am in love with oxtails! this soup looks incredible - so deliciously meaty!