Oxtail cooked slowly until the meat pulls from the bone: braised at Mango Bay in Fort Greene, shredded into a grilled cheese at Fat Fowl and stewed at Likkle More Jerk.

Oxtail is gelatin-rich meat, usually slow-cooked as a stew or braise. Across the Caribbean it is stewed with lima or butter beans and served with rice and peas. In Brooklyn it follows the West Indian community: Likkle More Jerk stews it with carrots and lima beans, Fat Fowl's St. Lucian-born chef Shorne Benjamin turns it into a grilled cheese, and on Labor Day 2026 a Trinidadian-flagged stand on Eastern Parkway sold oxtail with pelau and cabbage for $20.

Where to eat Braised oxtail in Brooklyn

3 editor picks for Braised oxtail in Brooklyn, ranked by editorial score. All Brooklyn signature dishes · Braised oxtail across every city.

Book food experiences in Brooklyn

Williamsburg Food Tasting & Walking Tour★ 4.9 (240)

Viator · 3 h

Williamsburg Food Tasting & Walking Tour

New York City is known for being pricey, but if you know where to look, it doesn’t have to be. Many of the foods that make NYC famous, like pizza, bagels, fried chicke...

fromUSD 95 Check dates

Make it at home

Serves Serves 4 to 64 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds oxtail, trimmed
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 3/4 tablespoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon each all-purpose seasoning, garlic powder and Caribbean browning
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 medium onion, diced, and 2 scallions, chopped
  • 5 to 7 thyme sprigs
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed, and 2 slices ginger
  • 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Caribbean green seasoning
  • 5 cups water and 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 5 to 9 allspice (pimento) berries
  • 1 can butter beans, rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

  1. Rinse the oxtail with lemon juice and cool water, trim excess fat, and pat dry.
  2. Season with salt, pepper, soy sauce, all-purpose seasoning, garlic powder, browning and Worcestershire, and marinate.
  3. Brown the oxtail in oil over medium heat, 4 to 6 minutes per batch, and set aside.
  4. Cook the tomato paste in the remaining oil for 2 to 3 minutes, then return the oxtail with the onion, scallions, thyme, garlic, ginger, Scotch bonnet and green seasoning.
  5. Add the water, bring to a boil, stir in the sugar and allspice berries, then cover partly and cook on low about 2 hours 45 minutes until tender, adding water if it dries.
  6. Add the butter beans and cook 15 minutes. Remove the thyme stems and berries, adjust the salt, and finish with parsley.

Editor tip. Older oxtail takes longer to soften, so keep the heat low and add water to the pot rather than raising the flame.

Common allergens: Soy.