Preparing this hassle-free hearty INSTANT POT OXTAIL SOUP has never been easier. You’ll definitely fall in love with the tender meaty chunks in glorious harmony with the flavorful sauce and veggies. A quick and easy hearty soup that’ll surely impress any crowd.
There’s still one more holiday before the year ends and we all know what that means – a busy kitchen! But let me be the first to tell you that a busy kitchen doesn’t mean you can’t serve delicious meals.
How? Well with this Oxtail Soup recipe, all you’ll need is to press a few buttons and just relax.
What is Instant Pot Oxtail Soup?
You’re widely mistaken if you think that an instant pot oxtail soup uses ox meats exclusively. In the olden days, the dish was made with actual oxtails however it changed as the recipe developed. The dish often uses beef tails or other bovine meats rather than just oxen.
The meat tenderizes inside a pressure cooker along with some veggies, herbs, and spices to form a thick sauce. This gives a hearty flavor dimension to the entire dish, not to mention the lovely aroma. The dish is so popular that different versions of it can be found in different parts of the world.
Instant Pot Oxtail Soup Recipe
Don’t be intimidated by how this dish sounds. All the ingredients that you’ll need for this one are just at arm’s reach. If you don’t have these in your fridge yet, a quick trip to the grocery will complete your shopping list. Here’s a simplified list of what you’ll need.
- Cooking oil
- Oxtail (cut up into medium pieces)
- Onions
- Minced Garlic – check out How to Mince Garlic HERE.
- Thyme
- Onions – here’s a quick guide on How to Cut Onions
- Smoked Paprika
- All Spice
- Curry
- Bouillon Powder or Cubes (optional)
- Scotch Bonnet Pepper (Optional)
- Tomato Paste
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Salt and Pepper
Recipe Variations
I’ve seen a lot of variations of this recipe from around the world (even I have this Jamaican Oxtail Stew and an African Spicy Oxtail Stew). Trust me, if I could easily travel right now, I’d go to these places for their version of oxtail soup. Here are some of the most interesting versions of this recipe that I’ve seen so far.
Korean
Kkori-gomtang as it is locally known, Korean oxtail soup has a flavorful broth infused with garlic, salt, pepper, and onions. The rich broth is made by simmering the oxtail for several hours. This process makes the broth more flavorful while also tenderizing the meat.
Hawaiian
This version takes a zesty twist to the classic recipe. The ingredient that makes this version different is the long orange peel used as a broth flavoring. Definitely a zingy dish you can serve if you want to surprise your crowd.
Filipino
The Filipino style oxtail soup is often mistaken for Kare-kare (beef stew in peanut sauce.) However, it is totally a different dish. The real Filipino version of this dish has a clear and flavorful broth. The flavors come from the additional mushroom, ginger, and beef bouillon or beef cubes.
Creole
Just like most oxtail soup versions, the main difference comes from the broth. The flavors of the broth come from the hot chili peppers and other spices. The whole stock is also tomato-based which adds just the right amount of acidity.
What Can I Use Instead of Oxtails?
If you can’t find oxtails in your area, you can go for beef shanks, beef short ribs on the bone, veal neck, or other various soup bones.
How Long to Cook Oxtail in a Pressure Cooker?
As we all know, the longer you put it in the pressure cooker, the more tender the meat gets. However, remember that heat plays a great part in doing this which means that you can overcook it. Once you do this, you’ll be left with meat that’s so tender that it’s a bit rubbery. That’s not a good thing.
Because of this, I highly recommend you to follow the instructions below. For this recipe, the recommended setting for the pressure cooker is to set it on high for 45 minutes.
What to Serve with Oxtail Soup?
You can easily find a lot of good pairings for this dish. However, I personally suggest these simple dishes to balance out the already flavorful beef oxtail soup. Most of these are plain tasting starches that you can easily prepare at home.
The main reason why plain tasting dishes make great pairs for this dish is because of flavor balance. If you look at the list of ingredients for our instant pot oxtail soup, you’ll see a lot of flavors. By that, I mean a lot! Plain tasting starches counteract any overpowering flavors.😉
Make-Ahead Instructions
Planning a little get together days ahead? That’s no problem with the instant pot oxtail soup that totally reheats well. I won’t blame you if you made a bit too much of this. It’s just THAT tasty, right?
Refrigerate. Just like most dishes, wait for the dish to cool down before placing it in an airtight container and refrigerating it. This method will keep your dish for around 7 days.
Freezing. Similarly, you can place the container in the freezer and freeze it solid. This makes the shelf life of the dish as long as 3 months max.
Hearty Meaty Soups
How to Make Instant Pot Oxtail Soup
Season oxtail with salt and pepper. Set aside. Press the “Sauté” function on your instant pot. Heat oil and brown the oxtail. You can do so in batches. Set aside.
Add onions, garlic, thyme, green onions and stir for about 2 minutes. Then add smoked paprika, allspice, curry powder, bouillon powder, scotch bonnet pepper, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir for a minute. Pour in the water and thoroughly deglaze the instant pot.
Add the browned oxtail, potatoes, and carrots in layers. (see note 1) Close the Instant pot and set the knob to seal. Pressure cook on high for 45 minutes. Let it release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. And then manually release the rest of the pressure. When the valve drops, open the instant pot and set it to sauté mode. Let the soup thicken to the desired consistency and adjust seasoning. You may adjust the thickness of the soup with water or stock. Serve with rice or bread.
Watch How To Make It
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Instant Pot Oxtail Soup
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons (14ml-28ml) cooking oil
- 2-3 pounds (907.18g-1360.77g) oxtail , cut up to medium pieces
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 tablespoon (8g) minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons (5.48g) fresh chopped thyme
- 2 green onions , chopped
- 1 teaspoon (2g) smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon (2g) all spice
- 1 teaspoon (2g) curry powder or more , adjust to preference
- 1 tablespoon (7g) bouillon powder or cube . optional
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper , optional
- 1 tablespoon (16g) tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon (17g) Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups (237ml) water
- 2 large potatoes , cut into chunks
- 1 pound (453.59g) carrots
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season oxtail with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Press the “Sauté” function on your instant pot. Heat oil and brown the oxtail. You can do so in batches. Set aside.
- Add onions, garlic, thyme, green onions and stir for about 2 minutes.
- Then add smoked paprika, all spice, curry powder, bouillon powder, scotch bonnet pepper, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Stir for a minute.
- Pour in the water and thoroughly deglaze the instant pot.
- Add the browned oxtail, potatoes, and carrots in layers. (see note 1)
- Close the Instant pot and set the knob to seal.
- Pressure cook on high for 45 minutes.
- Let it release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. And then manually release the rest of the pressure.
- When the valve drops, open the instant pot and set it to sauté mode. Let the soup thicken to the desired consistency and adjust seasoning. You may adjust the thickness of the soup with water or stock.
- Serve with rice or bread.
Tips & Notes:
- To get an even thicker sauce, break down some of the potatoes and carrots to thicken the sauce.
- The soup can be served with or without bones. To remove bones, when oxtails are cool enough to handle, use a fork, separate the meat of the bones and place the meat back in the soup.
- If you do not want all the oil that floats at the top of the soup, use a ladle or spoon to skim and discard the oil floating on top. Another tip is to put the soup in the refrigerator. Once the soup is chilled, the oil will separate itself from the soup in a white layer at the top of the soup.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Lisset says
I love your recipes, they look delicious, I’ll try them.
Imma says
Awesome!!! Can’t wait to know how it turns out for you.
Alice C says
This is a good recipe! I was hesitant about the strong curry odor at first, but when the dish was ready, it didn’t taste like curry. I would suggest including bay leaves while pressure cooking, using while sprigs of thyme instead of mincing it, and also adding a bit of Maggi and/or soy sauce at the end for flavor.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Alice! Will definitely try that out! 🙂
Simone Cooper says
I just made your oxtail soup recipe, exactly as you suggested, and it was wonderful. We do like to de-fat the sauce, so we refrigerated the stew overnight and scooped off the fat. Then when we reheated it, we added some blanched kale and a squeeze of lemon juice.
A perfect recipe made simpler by the use of the Instant Pot.
Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear it worked out well. Thanks so much.