Oxtail Stifado

Oxtail Stifado

This stew is slow-simmered to bring out every ounce of goodness from the meat and vegetables. It’s savory with a hint of sweetness, and your taste buds are going to do a happy dance.

Oxtail Stifado

This stew is slow-simmered to bring out every ounce of goodness from the meat and vegetables. It’s savory with a hint of sweetness, and your taste buds are going to do a happy dance.
USMetric
4 servingservings

Ingredients

  • 8 8 pearl onionpearl onions
  • 3 3 garlic clovegarlic cloves
  • 1 oz. 28 g butter or olive oil
  • 3½ tbsp 3½ tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 lbs 900 g oxtail, cut into piecesoxtails, cut into pieces
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp salt
  • ½ tbsp ½ tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 1 orangeoranges
  • 1 lb (2 cups) 450 g (450 ml) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 2 cinnamon stickcinnamon sticks
  • 2 2 bay leafbay leaves
  • 8 8 allspice berries
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 pinch 1 pinch ground cloves
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Instructions

Instructions are for 4 servings. Please modify as needed.

  1. Peel the onions and garlic, and cut them in half. Brown them slightly in butter and add in the tomato paste. Stir well, and sauté with the onions for a few minutes — this will remove some of the acidic tang from the paste. Transfer the onion mixture into a Crock-Pot or a stew pot.
  2. Sear the oxtail in a separate sauté pan, and season with salt and pepper. Wash and julienne the orange peel with a zester or a potato peeler. Juice the orange, and mix juice and orange peel into the stew along with the crushed tomatoes, vinegar, cinnamon, bay leaves, allspice, oregano, and ground cloves.
  3. Place the meat into the sauce, and deglaze the sauté pan with 2 fl. oz. (50 ml) water; pour the resulting sauce over the stew. Let it simmer in the Crock-Pot on low for about 7 to 8 hours. On the stovetop, it will take between 4 to 5 hours. Test and see if the meat is tender; if not, let it cook a little longer. Taste and adjust for seasoning as needed.
  4. To cook the stifado in the oven, let the stew come to a boil, and then set it, covered with a tight-fitting lid, in an oven set at 200°F (100°C). Check on it after a few hours, turning the chunks of meat, and thin the sauce with some more water if it gets too thick.
  5. After 8 hours, use a fork or toothpick to check and see if the meat is tender. If it’s not ready, let it simmer for another hour.
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11 comments

  1. Gail Siegel
    I would advise using a cheesecloth bag to contain the allspice berries and cinnamon sticks if they are the delicate, frisable type. Add sliced green olives toward the end for acidity.
  2. Una
    Thanks Gail but don't have a cheesecloth bag so will just go with the flow. Don't want to buy one as I'm 17 miles in England away by train from any shop that might sell one and so the whole thing would put the cost of the meal up enormously and three hours later! 😆

    As this is relatively quite high in carbs for just one meal at 17g - which is fine on itself - but you need to be careful about the other meal or two during the day if you want to stay under 20g or just bw aware it might be under 30g by tgevtime you add some veg end of your guests or family. Have just bought two large fresh oxtails from my local butcher, not a suoermarket, so going to cook the lot overnight in the slow cooker once I've worked out the proportions out, then into portions and freeze. Sounds a wonderful recipe! Thanks Gail for your advice. Im sure others will ve gksd of it even more so. Will post again once its been eaten!

  3. Una
    Thanks Gail but don't have a cheesecloth bag so will just go with the flow. Don't want to buy one as I'm 17 miles in England away by train from any shop that might sell one and so the whole thing would put the cost of the meal up enormously and three hours later! 😆

    As this is relatively quite high in carbs for just one meal at 17g - which is fine on itself - but you need to be careful about the other meal or two during the day if you want to stay under 20g or just be aware it might be under 30g by the time you add some veg end of your guests or family. Have just bought two large fresh oxtails from my local butcher, not a suoermarket, so going to cook the lot overnight in the slow cooker once I've worked out the proportions out, then into portions and freeze. Sounds a wonderful recipe! Thanks Gail for your advice. Im sure others will ve gksd of it even more so. Will post again once its been eaten!

  4. Una
    Where on earth do you use all that butter? 300g for eight people it says but fry in oil it says, not butter, so.I used a limited olive oil as it's oil! So I'm in the midfield cooking this and totally miffed! 300g if butter is a massive amount!
  5. Una
    WIth a bit of sorting this recipe out, this was absolutely lovely, and I weighed it all out to make eight portions, six of which were put in the freezer.

    I'm not sure why this is 17g of carbs and haven't got the time to work it out. But it seems excessive. There is also a problem with the method and how to used all that butter it says - and oil. Would appreciate someone in the office to take a look at this recipe and correct it, or simplify it as it's not right. I am having another portion tonight for my tea, and having had bacon and egg for breakfast this morning, am erring on the side of caution with the carbs at 17g so I don't go much over my 20 - 30g today. I will need to put some green veg with it as it's not enough on its own without something added. Maybe some cauliflower as I have some already in the fridge to use up. I am not having lunch as I wasn't hungry, so waiting now until tea time at 7pm.

  6. Una
    As this is not an original DietDoctor, I have written to the author of the book to see if they can check this recipe.

    Birgitta, hello! I am with the DietDoctor, and got your recipe for Oxtail Stifado off there, and cooked it. It is really lovely, but I am questioning the amount of butter that is required, and also the fact that it is 17g of carbs. Is that really the case? The recipe says cooking with oil, and then where does all this butter go. Even when I made it with far less butter, it was swimming in oil, and then not knowing what to do with that oil when there isn’t any veg or whatever to mop it up. Would appreciate if you could check your recipe on the DietDoctor, and see if it has been typed up correctly? I love oxtail, and that’s the only recipe on there for oxtail but even on a high fat diet, the amount of butter required seems excessive and not sure where to put it is another thing. Many thanks and really look forward to hearing from you.

    Will let you know if I ever get a reply!

  7. 1 comment removed
  8. Una
    Was 17g carbs for such a recipe, now it's 24g with the butter mercifully now cut by an enormous and unnecessary amount! How 24g? Best leave out the orange and halve the tomatoes to bring it down! Shame!
  9. Ann Palmer
    I made this tonite. Unfortunately, on the stove top, it took exactly 10 hours of cooking (not 4-5 hours) before the meat was ok to eat. Not bad tasting recipe but certainly not worth the energy costs especially cooking the meat by stove top. Won't be making this again.
    Reply: #12
  10. Una
    I see the amount of butter has been reduced from 300g to 30g but I still question this recipe being 24g per serving as it stands, whatever version of low carb it is. Seems a lot - perhaps it's the orange in it, and the volume of fresh tomatoes? Strange.

    A Keto recipe for oxtail, or a low carb one, would be most helpful for the winter.

    Reply: #11
  11. Una
    I seem to have managed to report my own comment by mistake!
  12. Una
    It shouldn't have taken 10 hours on the stove, only in the slow cooker.

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