Braised Oxtails with Savory Beef Gravy

Old Fashioned Deliciousness

Braised Oxtails with Savory Beef Gravy is a wonderful fall and winter slow cooked meal. This is an old fashioned recipe that was served for its affordability and nutrition.

This recipe cooks low and slow on your stove, creating a tender and caramelized beef. The gravy is delicious and best served over creamy mashed potatoes.

The beef ox tails have nutrients and a rich “bone broth” that is also good for you. This is a classic recipe that your whole family will love.

I’ve got some tips and pictures you’ll want to see, but if you just want the recipe, there’s a recipe card at the end of the post. You can click the “print” button to have it show up on one page without ads.

An Ox Tail Tale

I, of, course have a recipe story about this one. I learned to make these at a restaurant where I was a server and bartender.

We put them in a soup we made. I also grew up in a Polish family where oxtail soup was a staple in our home for Winter.

Oxtails USED to be cheap and they are very good for you.

In later years, I worked at Whole Foods in the bakery. There was a security guard who guarded the entrance door right outside the bakery named Greg.

We often talked as I sliced and bagged bread. I was telling him how I was making braised oxtails with savory beef gravy at home and he asked if he could try them, so I made these and brought him some.

This tough man starts crying and tells me he hadn’t had oxtails as good as these since his Grandma died. I was so touched.

He would buy me the ingredients to make them for him occasionally and I was happy to oblige because he loved them so much.

Food For Grandma

I decided to make these when I was visiting my late Grandma. She mentioned having a taste for ox tails, so I went home, made them, and decided that it would be a good recipe for Tipsy.

She is also the inspiration for my Oxtail Soup recipe.

Both recipes have so much flavor and are so tender and delicious.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Some of you will have never heard of oxtails, which is understandable. Ox tails were a staple back in the day because of their affordability.

Today they are much more expensive than they used to be. But isn’t everything?

I have never NOT seen ox tails in a meat section or meat market. IF you aren’t looking for them, you probably just have not noticed them.

IF you absolutely cannot find them, you can use bone-in beef short ribs or country ribs for this recipe.

Coffee and Coke

Two ingredients you will see in the recipe card are instant coffee and a small can of Coca-Cola. If these ingredients seem surprising, let me explain.

Your recipe will not taste like coffee or coke. Both of these ingredients help tenderize the meat.

They also add a deep rich flavor to the gravy as well as caramelization. The flavor profile you will end up with is more like a rich soy sauce.

Do not let these ingredients sway you from making this recipe.

Freezes Well

If you would like to make a big batch of these, you can do so and they freeze really well. This is a very nice meal to make for someone who is sick or just had a baby.

The oxtails are filled with nutrients and bone marrow which is a great healing aide for the body. When you make these you will see what may look like grease, but do not worry, this is the stuff that is good for you!

Eat it!

Make It With Mashed

I highly recommend making these with my Creamy Mashed Potatoes. The gravy that this dish makes MUST be eaten with mashed.

If you are really against mashed potatoes, rice or egg noddles would also be a good choice for this recipe. If you are low carb, these are delicious on their own if need be.