Oxtail soup is a rich, slow-cooked beef soup made from meaty oxtail bones and root vegetables. This version is based on the classic English style - thick, hearty and full of depth, with added spices like star anise and cloves for extra punch. We use a pressure cooker to speed things up without losing that slow-cooked flavour.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
1 hour 20 minutes
Oxtail soup is one of my all time favourites. It was the soup my mum used to make for us in the middle of winter in Wellington, New Zealand, when it was cold and wet. It's savoury, rich, and full of beefy goodness.
Traditionally slow-cooked for hours, it's made by simmering oxtail with vegetables, stock, and aromatics until the meat falls off the bone and the broth thickens into a deeply savoury soup. I’ve stuck close to the English-style version (thick and gravy-like) but added a few extras like star anise and cloves for more lift. Pressure cooking gets you the same result in a fraction of the time. It’s proper comfort food, just streamlined.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg (3.3 lbs) oxtail, sliced into pieces
- ⅓ cup (50g) plain flour
- sea salt and black pepper
- 40g beef tallow
- 2 brown onions, diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 turnip, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 star anise
- 4 whole cloves
- 250ml (1 cup) red wine
- 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
- 1L chicken stock
- 2 stalks parsley
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- crusty bread, to serve
Directions
Brown oxtail
Portion the oxtail (if you bought it whole). Add the flour, 2 large pinches of salt and about 3 grinds of pepper in a bowl. Toss the oxtail pieces in the flour mix.
- Heat half the tallow in a pressure cooker pot on medium-high heat. Brown the oxtail in batches, turning to get a good colour on all sides.
- Dice your veggies while you’re waiting for the oxtail to brown.
- Once all the oxtail pieces are well browned on all sides, set them aside.
Cook the veg base
Pour off the fat from the pot, then add the remaining tallow. Add the onion and a large pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
- Add the celery, carrot and turnip and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, cloves and star anise. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to bring out the aromatics.
Cook
Pour in the red wine and bring to a simmer. Let it reduce by half.
- Return the oxtails back to the pot.
- Add the beef and chicken stocks along with the parsley stalks. Bring to a simmer, then secure the pressure cooker lid on. Set to high pressure and cook for 60 mins.
- Release the pressure and wait for all the steam to release before opening.
Finish and serve
Transfer oxtail to a wire rack over a tray and discard the parsley stalks, thyme stalks, bay leaves and star anise.
- Shred the meat off the bones and return it to the soup, discarding the bones. Give it a stir. Check for seasoning and stir in vinegar.
- Ladle into serving bowls and serve with crusty bread for dipping.
Recipe video
Recipe notes
Origin
Oxtail soup exists in many versions based on ethnicity; Korean, American, Chinese, English and a Creole version. There was even a canned Oxtail Soup from Campbells in the 1920’s. Our version is similar to the English gravy like version with some flavourings and aromatics similar to the Creole version.
Cook support
Why don’t I reuse the first lot of tallow? As we cooked the oxtail in flour, there will be lots of flour now in the tallow. If we use this in the soup, it will change the texture.
Sourcing
Whole oxtail can be sourced from your local butcher or ask them to portion it for you if you are not confident with the cleaver method.
Substitutions
You can use lard or oil if you do not have beef tallow on hand. If you want to make this dish gluten free, just toss the oxtail in cornflour (cornstarch) instead of plain flour for a gluten free version, just double check that your stocks are GF and swap the bread out for GF bread.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to several days, or frozen for several months.
Serving ideas
For some extra flavour when serving you could melt some Cheddar or Gruyere cheese on thick sliced toasted bread to serve with the soup.
Method
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook as per the above method in a heavy based saucepan with a lid. Once the stock has come to a simmer, cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer soup on low for 3 hours, until meat is fall-apart tender.
