Beef · Slow cooker adaptation

Tobias Young Oxtail Stew (Slow Cooker)

Tobias Young's Caribbean-leaning oxtail stew leans on a two-day pepper marinade, a hard brown in the Dutch oven, and Grace's oxtail seasoning to do the heavy lifting. Move it into the slow cooker and the long braise turns those tails fall-apart tender without watching the hob.

R By Richard · Adapted from Tobias Young · Published 23 June 2026
👁 1.8M source views ❤️ 34.7k source likes
⏱Prep 45 min
🍲Slow cook 8 hr (Low) / 4 hr (High)
🍽Serves 8
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This is Tobias Young's oxtail stew, built on a two-day pepper marinade and a deeply browned Dutch oven base, adapted here for the slow cooker. The oxtails are cleaned with apple cider vinegar and lime, rubbed down with bell peppers, onion, garlic, Sazon and Grace's oxtail Caribbean seasoning, then browned hard before going into the pot. A sofrito and tomato base with red wine, beef bouillon and Scotch bonnet hot sauce carries the long cook. Baby Yukon Gold potatoes and carrots go in to finish, with bay and thyme leaves.

Slow cooker notes: Source is an oven braise at 300F for 3.5 hours in a Dutch oven. Moved to slow cooker (Low 8h or High 4h) which suits the collagen-heavy oxtail cut. Browning step kept on the hob for flavour. Liquid kept as stated (3 cups water plus tomato base and wine) since oxtails throw a lot of moisture and the recipe is intentionally stew-loose; reduce by 100 ml if you prefer a tighter sauce. Potatoes and carrots added at the start of the slow cook since there is no mid-bake interruption.

Ingredients

Oxtails and marinade
  • 2.5 kgoxtails, cleaned, excess fat trimmed
  • apple cider vinegar
  • limes, juiced
  • 1 wholered bell pepper, minced by hand
  • 1 wholegreen bell pepper, minced by hand
  • 0.5 wholewhite onion, minced
  • 6 clovesgarlic cloves, minced
  • 1 packSazon seasoning
  • 4.5 tbspGrace's oxtail Caribbean seasoning
  • Grace's Scotch bonnet hot pepper sauce
Stew base
  • 2.5 tbspvegetable oil
  • 411 gstewed tomatoes, with sauce
  • tomato paste
  • 120 mlsofrito
  • 0.5 tbspGrace's browning
  • 120 mldry red wine
  • 720 mlwater
  • 1 heaped tbspBetter Than Bouillon beef base
To finish
  • baby Yukon Gold potatoes, left whole
  • carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 2 leavesbay leaves
  • fresh thyme, leaves stripped (add late)
  • 1 packLipton Beefy Onion soup mix

Method

  1. Clean the oxtails. Rinse with water, scrub with apple cider vinegar and lime, repeating about three times until the water runs clean. Trim off excess fat, leaving a little for flavour.

    ~15 min

  2. Mince the red and green bell peppers, the half onion and the garlic by hand. Avoid the food processor or it will draw out too much liquid.

    ~10 min

  3. Rub the oxtails all over with the minced peppers, onion and garlic, the Sazon, 4 to 5 tablespoons of Grace's oxtail seasoning and a glug of Grace's Scotch bonnet hot sauce. Pour over half the can of stewed tomatoes and half a tablespoon of browning.

    ~5 min

  4. Cover and marinate in the fridge. The host marinated for two days; one day is fine and five hours is the minimum.

  5. Lift the oxtails out of the marinade, keeping all the pepper mixture and juices aside for the pot.

    ~5 min

  6. Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy pan over medium-high. Brown the oxtails in batches on both sides without overcrowding the pan. Set aside.

    ~20 min

  7. Lower the heat. Add the tomato paste and sofrito to the same pan and stir into the fond. Tip in the reserved marinade with all its juices.

    ~5 min

  8. Deglaze with the red wine. Stir in the water and the heaped tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon beef base until smooth. Add the remaining stewed tomatoes and another teaspoon of browning.

    ~5 min

  9. Transfer the sauce to the slow cooker. Nestle in the browned oxtails, the baby Yukon Gold potatoes, the carrots, the bay leaves and the thyme leaves.

    ~5 min

  10. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for about 4 hours, until the oxtails are succulent and falling apart.

  11. Skim any fat that has risen to the surface. Stir in the Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix and taste for salt. Adjust with more oxtail seasoning if needed.

    ~5 min

  12. Serve with red beans and rice, or whatever you like alongside.

Frequently asked

Do I have to brown the oxtails first?
Yes. Slow cookers steam rather than sear, so the depth of colour and flavour in this stew comes from the hard brown in the pan before the long cook.
Can I skip the two-day marinade?
You can. The host's minimum is five hours, with one day giving most of the benefit. Less than five hours and the seasoning will not carry through the meat.
What if I cannot find Scotch bonnet hot sauce?
A deseeded fresh Scotch bonnet pepper chopped into the marinade does the same job. Deseed it carefully or the stew will be punishingly hot.
Should I trim the fat off the oxtails?
Yes, trim aggressively before cooking and skim any fat that floats to the top after the long cook. Oxtails throw a lot of fat and a layer on the sauce is unpleasant.
Can I use beef stock instead of Better Than Bouillon?
Yes. Swap the heaped tablespoon of bouillon paste for around 250 ml of strong beef stock and drop the water by the same amount.
Extraction notes (transparency): Grounded: oxtails 5-6 lb, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 0.5 white onion, 5-6 garlic cloves, 1 pack Sazon, 4-5 tbsp Grace's oxtail Caribbean seasoning, 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, 0.5 tbsp browning then ~1 tsp more, 0.5 cup sofrito, 0.5 cup dry red wine, 3 cups water, 1 heaping tbsp better than beef bouillon, 2 bay leaves, 1 pack Lipton beefy onion mix, 2-3 tbsp oil. Not grounded (set to null): apple cider vinegar and lime quantity for cleaning, Scotch bonnet hot sauce quantity, tomato paste can size (host said it would appear on screen but the transcript doesn't carry that), baby Yukon Gold potato weight, carrot quantity (host says 'as little or as many'), thyme sprig count ('a few'). Brown sugar mentioned only as an optional finishing tweak ('if you wanted a tinge sweeter'). Channel is Tobias Young / Simply Food by TY; not on any tier list.