This rich and flavorful slow cooker oxtail is delicious on a bed of mashed cauliflower and makes the perfect comfort food meal! The leftovers keep well for several days and taste better the next day.
Just like beef cheeks, pot roast, and beef back ribs, slow cooker oxtail is the perfect comfort food. It features wonderfully fatty, tender meat that literally falls off the bone. It's one of my favorite winter meals. You will love this recipe if you like rich and aromatic beef stews. And the fact that you can make it in your slow cooker - pretty much set it and forget it - is a huge bonus.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here are my comments on some of the ingredients.
- Bone-in oxtails: I usually get them at Whole Foods. Sometimes, I need to special-order them. They're also available online.
- Soy sauce: Or a gluten-free alternative.
- Sesame oil: I like to use toasted sesame oil. It's so flavorful!
- Rice vinegar: White wine vinegar works too. I don't recommend using distilled white vinegar. It's too acidic.
- Honey: Just one tablespoon. It doesn't make the oxtails sweet - it merely balances out the other flavors. You can use a sugar-free alternative.
- Hot sauce: Much like the honey, this is not about making the dish spicy. It's about adding a layer of flavor. I like to use sriracha sauce.
- To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. You can substitute three cloves of fresh minced garlic for the garlic powder.
Easy Variation
Sometimes, when pressed for time, I don't bother with the Asian-style ingredients listed in the recipe card. Instead, I sprinkle the oxtails with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and ground cumin.
I place them in the slow cooker pan, add ¼ cup of water, close the lid, and cook on low for 8 hours. The result is just as good, although it has a different flavor profile.
Instructions
The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Place the oxtails in your slow cooker pan. Whisk the remaining ingredients except for the cornstarch. Pour them over the oxtails. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Reduce the cooking liquids over medium heat, adding a slurry of cornstarch and water to help them thicken.
Serve the oxtails with the rich sauce.
Delicious! It didn't taste Asiany at all. Just very flavorful. Another commenter said she was sucking on the bones, same here! So good.
Shawn
Read more comments
Delicious! It didn't taste Asiany at all. Just very flavorful. Another commenter said she was sucking on the bones, same here! So good.Recipe Tips
Skip Browning the Meat
There's no need to brown the oxtails before placing them in the slow cooker pan. They come out perfectly cooked and wonderfully tender.
Oxtail Parts
The middle of an oxtail has the tailbone and bone marrow, surrounded by meat and fat. As you can see in the photo below, the fat is trimmed by the butcher, but there's still a fair amount surrounding the meat. In addition, you can see the marbling - the intramuscular fat inside the meat.
Different Sizes
Since the oxtail is the tail of cattle, the pieces you'll get at your butcher's come in different sizes - the larger pieces are from the top of the tail, while the smaller ones are from its end. You can see the difference in the photo below. Despite the difference in sizes, you can cook all these pieces together, and they'll all come out perfectly tender.
Storage Tips
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. In fact, like many slow-cooked dishes, they taste better the next day since storing allows the flavors to meld. I reheat them gently in the microwave, covered, at 50% power. You can freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
Serving Suggestions
Slow cooker oxtail is a wonderfully saucy dish, so I like to serve it on top of something that would absorb those delicious cooking juices, such as:
- Mashed cauliflower
- Cauliflower rice
- Zucchini noodles
- Spaghetti squash noodles
- Mashed butternut squash
I also like to add a green vegetable, such as:
Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Oxtail Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 pounds oxtails - raw, bone-in
- ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce - or a gluten-free alternative
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce - such as sriracha
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt - or ½ teaspoon of any other salt, including Moton kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Place the oxtails in a 6-quart slow cooker pan.3 pounds oxtails
- In a medium bowl, whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, hot sauce, kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Pour over the oxtails and stir to coat.¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, until the meat is very tender.
- Temporarily transfer the cooked oxtails to a platter. Strain the liquids from the slow cooker into a measuring cup. Return the oxtails to the slow cooker, cover with the lid, and set to WARM.
- Skim the fat layer off the top of the cooking liquids. Pour them into a medium saucepan. Heat the cooking liquids over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir it into the saucepan. Keep cooking the sauce, whisking often, until it has thickened into a rich glaze, 3-5 minutes.1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Remove the oxtails from the slow cooker onto a serving platter. Top them with the sauce and serve.
Notes
- Seasonings, especially saltiness and sweetness, are guidelines. Adjust to taste.
- This recipe yields about 20 ounces of cooked meat without bones.
- If too much fat remains in the cooking liquids, the glaze will separate when you try to reduce it. Sometimes, I place the cup with cooking liquids in the freezer for a few minutes. It enables the fat to solidify somewhat, and then it's easier to remove.
- If your slow cooker is larger than 6 quarts, add extra liquid or reduce the cooking time.
- Sometimes, when pressed for time, I don't bother with the Asian-style ingredients listed in the recipe card. Instead, I sprinkle the oxtails with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and ground cumin. I place them in the slow cooker pan, add ¼ cup of water, close the lid, and cook on low for 8 hours. The result is just as good, although it has a different flavor profile.
- If you use less than three pounds of meat, you will need to reduce the cooking time.
- The leftovers keep well in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. In fact, like many slow-cooked stews, they taste better the next day since storing allows the flavors to meld. I reheat them gently in the microwave, covered, at 50% power. You can freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
Nutrition per Serving
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Jonas says
Would it still be 1 tablespoon if it’s /toasted/ sesame oil? That stuff is potent!
Vered DeLeeuw says
Great question, Jonas! You can use half the amount.