Let me start off by saying how tender and juicy oxtail is. It’s a seriously good dish, but it just takes a long time to cook it. Typical methods include cooking on the stovetop and transferring to the oven, or using a pressure cooker. For me, the job immediately called for the slow cooker.
Now, this isn’t your average piece of meat. I’d describe the dish as something you fantasize about for a Sunday roast, but never comes out quite as good. This one hits the ball right out of the park – and I’m sure you’ll agree with me when you try it! Truth be told I’ve never had oxtails in my life. Living in the Bahamas I’ve been introduced to them many times before, but the thought of eating tail always grossed me out as a kid. Now that I’ve got a more open mind when it comes to food, I thought these would be an awesome little thing to try.
Oxtail has grown quite a lot in popularity, alongside offal and other innards – meaning the price has also gone up. I highly recommend checking out a Latino or Asian grocery store for these. They’re typically around half the price compared to the normal super market.
The great thing about the meat is that you’re also stewing a large amount of bone and marrow. This means that you get a very similar nutritional profile as you would bone broth when it comes to the sauce. The marrow and gelatin in the bones will start to be obvious when you take them out – and it really adds an amazing flavor the dish overall.
Yields 3 servings of Keto Slow Cooker Braised Oxtails
The Preparation
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup butter
- 32 ounces bone-in oxtails
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon guar gum
The Execution
1. Heat up the beef broth on the stove and mix in the soy sauce, fish sauce, tomato paste, and butter. Transfer to the slow cooker once mixed together and hot, then place the oxtails inside as well.
2. Season the oxtails and broth with onion powder, minced garlic, ground ginger, dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. That’s it! Set it and forget it: Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
4. Once cooked, remove the oxtail from the slow cooker and set aside on paper towels to drain (if you are going to serve them dry).
5. Using an immersion blender, blend together the leftover juices in the slow cooker. Add 1/2 tsp. Guar Gum while blending to make a cohesive and thickened gravy.
6. Enjoy! Serve with Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes or your favorite fatty side dish with gravy on top.
This makes a total of 3 servings of Keto Slow-Cooker Braised Oxtails. Each serving comes out to be 971 calories, 64.3g fats, 4.2g net carbs, and 88.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 2 cup beef broth | 81 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 13.2 |
| 2 tablespoon soy sauce | 17 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| 1 tablespoon fish sauce | 6 | 0 | 0.7 | 0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| 3 tablespoon tomato paste | 40 | 0.2 | 9.3 | 2 | 7.3 | 2.1 |
| 1/3 cup butter | 537 | 60.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| 32 ounce bone-in oxtails | 2204 | 129.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 244.6 |
| 1 teaspoon onion powder | 8 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon fresh garlic | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger | 3 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| 1 teaspoon dried thyme | 3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon guar gum | 8 | 0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 2912 | 193 | 17.6 | 5.1 | 12.6 | 264.7 |
| Per Serving (/3) | 971 | 64.3 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 88.2 |
Keto Slow-Cooker Braised Oxtails
Ingredients
- 2 cup beef broth
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- ⅓ cup butter
- 32 ounce bone-in oxtails
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon guar gum
Instructions
- Heat up the beef broth on the stovetop and add the soy sauce, fish sauce, tomato paste, and butter. Transfer to a slow cooker once mixed together and hot. Place the oxtails inside.
- Season the oxtails and broth with onion powder, minced garlic, ground ginger, dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
- That's it! Set it and forget it — cook on low for 6–7 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the meat from the slow cooker and set aside on paper towels to let the excess moisture run off (if serving dry).
- Using an immersion blender, blend together the leftover juices in the slow cooker. Add the guar gum while blending to create a thick, consistent gravy.
- Serve the meat with the gravy. Enjoy!
Can we substitute guar gum with xanthan gum?
Yes, use 2x the amount of guar gum as you would xanthan gum.
This looks delicious! Oxtail was my favorite thing growing up, we didn’t have much money and it was dirt cheap. It’s still dirt cheap but I’d always thought that it was so bad because of the fat content! So so glad I now know better and can indulge in my favirit food Again!
Would this recipe work with beef cheeks as Well?
I think it’d definitely work with the cheeks. I want to know where you live where Oxtails are dirt cheap. Using offal seems to be the “in” thing now, so the prices have skyrocketed where I live.
I lived in South Africa as a kid and now live in New Zealand where i buy my meat direct from the farm so I save a fair bit of money on meat as well as ensuring the quality of meat I am getting.
Great thing about the cheeks!
That’s awesome. Here in the States, the prices of meat keep on going up and up and up. I hope it stops soon because even non-grass fed meat is becoming a ridiculous price.
This was way too good. I couldn’t stop eating it and went over on my protein macros lol.
I’m going to try it with beef femur bone to see how it works with bone marrow.
*cringe* This is me being totally lazy, but have you tried it with water instead of the beef broth? (I’m visiting friends and happened to find a good price on oxtails at the local butcher, but don’t have my lovely stash of broth).
Go for it! I would increase the soy and fish sauce a bit, maybe add some more spices to make up for it. The meat will add some flavor to the liquid too.
Let me start by saying I have never had oxtail before. I tried this recipe and it was so delicious!!! I used my instant pot and hit “Saute” then added the liquids. I did not have fish sauce, guar gum or ground ginger so I omitted all those. I subbed garlic powder for minced garlic. I followed the rest of the recipe as posted and it was so so good. I just learned I can’t stay on keto due to nursing my baby and requiring carbs, but I will still be doing this recipe!!!
Thanks Rachel! Enjoy this time with your baby 🙂
I love oxtail, I remember when they were 1.99 to 2.99 for a package when I was growing up. This was a regular southern meal in our household as a child. When I started seeing them discovered by chefs in restaurants it was the beginning of the end for this affordable meat. Now they have begin slicing them very thin in grocery stores so I just go to the meat market buy the tail and have them sliced as I want, nice and thick. The seasoned meat makes its own gravy when baked slowly with a little water and add a little xanthum (after cooked) to thicken the gravy. Of course non keto/low carb you would coat the meat in flour prior to baking.
OMG! Another winning recipe by Ruled.me!!! I’m super impressed with the flavor. I did add a few more seasonings since I had 3lbs of oxtail. You are correct about the price. They aren’t cheap these days. Thank you again and again for a wonderful keto recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
What kind of soy sauce and fish sauce are you using in the recipe to equal 0 net carbs between the two?
Soy sauce might have 0.4 carbs per tablespoon (I used to round down), but for fish sauce I use Red Boat brand which is 0g.
This was amazingly simple. I did add some red pepper flakes, but otherwise followed the recipe. I didn’t do the gravy thing because I was just too hungry to wait after all those hours lol. The meat was slightly gelatinous, which means today when I reheat it on the stove that should take care of it. Oxtails are expensive, but I was just grateful we had them at all! I’d make this again.
I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed it! If you get a chance next time, take a bit of time to thicken the gravy – I promise it’s worth the extra few minutes 😋 I do agree about oxtails though. They used to be one of the cheapest cuts, now they’re one of the more expensive cuts.
Hello, the oxtails were delicious! However, there was alot of grease. Can I skip using the butter? Thank you, Lynnette
Glad you enjoyed it, Lynnette! Yes, you can skip the butter.
Potatoes aren't keto friendly, and they're torturous to see. I miss potatoes.
Not sure where you’re seeing potatoes, but I’m well aware that they’re not keto-friendly. Maybe you’re confusing the cauliflower mash for potatoes? The recipe for them is even linked in step 6.