Perfect Instant Pot Oxtails

Prep time: 5 mins      Cook time: 1 hr      Rest time: 10 mins     Total time: 1 hr 15 mins

Macronutrients per serving: 80g fat | 10g protein | 0g carbohydrates

Servings: 4

Make it AIP or Dairy-Free: Use animal fat other than ghee or butter

With slightly charred tops, fall-off-the-bone-meat, and extra ghee to make the broth slightly sweet and buttery, these oxtails are wonderful – the perfect base for a hearty, fatty soup.

What you need to make Perfect Instant Pot Oxtails

Ingredients:

Equipment:

Substitutions

You can substitute the ghee for your animal fat of choice, although I do highly recommend ghee with this recipe due to its sweet and buttery flavor.

How to make Perfect Instant Pot Oxtails

To start – begin by prepping the oxtails. Salt both sides liberally with sea salt. I salt the hell out of mine. I’ve made this plenty of times and I haven’t oversalted yet, although I do trend toward salty when it comes to my palette.

Next, char the oxtails. Press Saute on your Instant Pot for 30 minutes. (Note: for older versions, press the ‘Saute’ button then the ‘Adjust’ button; for newer versions, press the ‘Saute’ button twice.)

While the Instant Pot is warming up, place 2 tbsp of ghee (or fat of choice, although I do highly recommend ghee with this due to its buttery flavor) inside of the Instant Pot.

Once the unit displays “HOT” on the LED screen, swish around the melted ghee to get an even layer on the floor of the Instant Pot. Place the oxtails inside in an even layer. All bottoms should be touching the floor.

Saute the oxtails on one side for 5 minutes. To get an even char, rotate the oxtails 180 degrees about halfway through.

Flip the oxtails and repeat on the other side: saute for five minutes and rotate 180 degrees about halfway through.

Unplug the Instant Pot (I do this to reset it and change function – I haven’t figured out how to change function midway through without unplugging it).

Set it to Manual/High Pressure for 50 minutes. Add 3/4 cup of water. Close and allow to cook.

When the Instant Pot turns off, let it slow release for 10 minutes. Once slow release is complete, vent the pressure cooker. The oxtails are done!

Divide the oxtails and broth in two, and place in bowls. Eat alone, or pair with my Crispy Sauteed Purple Sweet Potatoes and make my Simple Oxtail Soup.

Serve, savor, and enjoy!

Tips to make the best Instant Pot Oxtails

  • Make sure to saute the oxtails before pressure cooking them. Don’t skip this step. It gives them their charred/crispy tops and edges which provides for a great texture with the fall-off-the-bone feature the meat gets from pressure cooking.
  • Do not salt the oxtails inside of the pressure cooker. If you salt them on the inside, the salt residue that misses the oxtail will go into your broth, and the broth will likely come out way too salty. I have made this mistake more than once. Salt both sides of the oxtail outside of the pressure cooker, then saute them inside the pressure cooker.
  • Rotate the oxtails horizontally (spin them around, basically) while sauteing. The pressure cooker doesn’t saute evenly (mine is hotter in the center). If you rotate the oxtails, this will give them an even char.

A word about macronutrients

Considering bone makes up a large part of oxtails, it was a challenge to calculate macronutrients precisely. I found a resource online that said every 2 kg of oxtail yields 1 kg of meat, so for this recipe, if using 2 lbs of oxtails, I calculate macronutrients based on 1 lb of meat. Rough at best, but oxtails are quite fatty, so you shouldn’t have to worry about meeting a 2:1 fat:protein ratio with this meal, especially with the added ghee or animal fat.

A few of my other hearty & savory recipes:

Roasted Bone Marrow with Carnivore Baguette and Honey Butter

Serve with my Crispy Sauteed Purple Sweet Potatoes and Carnivore Baguettes

Or, make my Simple Oxtail Soup!

Perfect Instant Pot Oxtails

Perfect Instant Pot Oxtails

With slightly charred tops, fall-off-the-bone-meat, and extra ghee to make the broth buttery, these oxtails are wonderful - the perfect base for a hearty, fatty soup.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ashrothstein or tag #asheats!
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Resting Time10 mins
Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  • If you’re interested solely in the recipe, skip this bullet point and keep on reading. For those interested in sourcing nutrient-dense food, low-toxic household products, and discounts on brands that may support your AB journey, you may find value in my product guides. Head over to this page if you’d like to check them out. All are free (and always will be).
  • Prep the oxtails. Salt both sides liberally with sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off).
  • Note: if you go through tons of salt in your household like we do, check out this salt purchasing hack that will save you money + make things more efficient. We started this last year, and I'm so happy we did!
  • Press Saute on your Instant Pot for 30 minutes. (Note: for older versions, press 'Saute' button then 'Adjust' button; for newer versions, press 'Saute' button twice.)
  • While it's warming up, place 2 tbsp of ghee (or fat of choice, although I do highly recommend ghee with this due to its buttery flavor) in the Instant Pot.
  • Once the unit displays "HOT" on the LED screen, swish around the melted ghee to get an even layer on the floor of the Instant Pot, and place the oxtails inside in an even layer (all bottoms should be touching the floor).
  • Saute the oxtails on one side for 5 minutes. To get an even char, rotate the oxtails 180 degrees about halfway through.
  • Flip the oxtails and repeat on the other side: saute for five minutes and rotate 180 degrees about halfway through.
  • Unplug the Instant Pot (I do this to reset it and change function - I haven't figured out how to change function midway through without unplugging it).
  • Set it to Manual/High Pressure for 50 minutes. Add 3/4 cup of water. Close and allow to cook.
  • When the Instant Pot turns off, let it slow release for 10 minutes.
  • Once slow release is complete, vent the pressure cooker. The oxtails are done!
  • Divide the oxtails and broth in two, and place in bowls. If you have a salty palette, top with more salt of your choice.
  • Serve, savor, and enjoy!

What I used for this recipe:

Looking for some more recipes with oxtails? Try this:

Make my Simple Oxtail Soup!

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Ashley Rothstein
Ashley Rothstein

Ashley Rothstein develops tasty, whole food, animal-based recipes that include a moderate amount of “minimally toxic” plant foods. To fix her own health issues, she bounced around between the carnivore, keto, and paleo diets for a few years. After experiencing and studying each diet philosophy, she learned she feels her best by merging the three and following an animal-based diet. As a glut at heart, she likes to channel her creativity and create meals that are healthy but also satisfy her inner gluttonous spirits.

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1 Comment

  1. October 23, 2021 / 1:00 am

    5 stars
    This recipe is awesome! It also works perfectly for shanks/osso buco. Previously, in adapting other recipes and trying to avoid a bunch of recipes, it was coming out too bland and watery. With this one, despite keeping it simple, it makes a delicious broth and the meat is perfectly cooked and tasty.

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