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Oxtail Stewed in Red Wine

📍 Spain
⏱️Prep: 30 min
🔥Cook: 150 min
Total: 180 min
🍽️6 servings
Difficulty: Medium

Oxtail stew is the defining dish of Córdoba, closely tied to its bullfighting tradition. Pieces of oxtail are braised for three hours or more in red wine with onion, carrot, garlic and spices until the meat falls away from the bone and the sauce turns rich and glossy. One of those stews that tastes even better reheated the following day.

🛒 Ingredients

6 servings
  • 1.5kg oxtail
  • 1 bottle red wine (Rioja or Ribera)
  • 2 onions
  • 3 carrots
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • cloves, bay leaf, thyme
  • beef broth
  • olive oil

👨‍🍳 Step-by-step instructions

  1. Season the oxtail with salt and pepper and sear on all sides in very hot oil.

  2. Remove the meat and sauté the vegetables in the same oil until golden.

  3. Add the red wine, bring to a boil, and reduce by half.

  4. Return the meat to the pot, add enough broth to cover, and add the spices.

  5. Simmer over very low heat for 2.5 hours, or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker, until the meat falls easily from the bone.

💡 Chef's tip

The slower the cooking, the more tender and succulent the meat will be. Let it rest overnight in the fridge — the flavour improves significantly. Skim the fat from the surface before reheating.

📝 Our take

Oxtail has that collagen fat that melts in the mouth after three hours of slow cooking. There is no shortcut: an hour-long version is a completely different dish. The red wine in the sauce integrates gradually and the result is a dark, glossy reduction that demands good bread. It improves significantly after a day in the fridge.

🍷 Wine & food pairing

A full-bodied Ribera del Duero Tempranillo with some ageing. In Córdoba they traditionally serve it with Montilla-Moriles, which makes historical sense.

Suggested wine: Ribera del Duero Reserva

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