Jerk Oxtail Recipe – Jamaican Grilled and Braised Street Food

Difficulty:

3/5

Serves:

4 PEOPLE

Prep Time:

4 hours minutes

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Jerk Oxtail Recipe (Jamaica)

Jerk Oxtail Recipe brings together scotch bonnet-fired marinade with charred grill marks and slow-braised collagen-rich tenderness, creating Jamaica’s ultimate street food evolution that’s perfect for backyard cookouts, family gatherings, or impressive dinner party centerpieces. Featured on Global Street Eats, Devan Rajkumar captures authentic jerk pit technique with 24-hour marinade penetration, high-heat charring, and 3.5-hour oven braise that transforms humble oxtail into fall-off-the-bone perfection served with rice and peas, balancing fiery allspice heat with sweet Maggi depth and aromatic pimento wood complexity.

The Inspiration

Jerk Oxtail Recipe represents Jamaica’s street food evolution—traditional pork shoulder technique applied to collagen-rich oxtail by Port Antonio pit masters who marinate days ahead, char over pimento wood, then braise until meat yields to spoon. Boston Bay vendors serve it with rice and peas from smoky stalls, balancing scotch bonnet nuclear heat with Maggi depth and allspice complexity.

Devan Rajkumar honors this heritage on Global Street Eats, teaching proper marinade blending, high-heat charring before braising, and whole spice sachet that extracts maximum flavor during 3.5-hour transformation. This isn’t stew—it’s jerk pit engineering where grill smoke meets slow-braise soul.

Ingredients

For the Marinated Oxtail:

4 lbs oxtail
1 inch knob ginger, peeled
1 tbsp (14.8ml) ground allspice
4 scallions
2 scotch bonnet peppers
4 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp (29.6ml) white vinegar
4 tbsp (59ml) soy sauce
1 tbsp (14.8ml) Maggi sauce
2 tbsp (29.6ml) brown sugar
1 tbsp (14.8ml) salt

For the Stew:

1 liter beef stock
¼ cup (60ml) all-purpose flour
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch knob ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp (14.8ml) browning sauce
1 scotch bonnet pepper, halved
3 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves, crushed
10 allspice berries, crushed
2 tbsp (29.6ml) neutral oil such as vegetable or canola
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Rice and peas for serving, optional

Methods

Prepare the Oxtail:

Add the ginger, ground allspice, scallions, scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, lime juice, white vinegar, soy sauce, Maggi sauce, brown sugar, and salt to a food processor and blend to combine into a marinade.
Add the oxtails and marinade to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
Heat a grill or grill pan on high heat. Add the oxtail, reserving the leftover marinade, and grill until they are charred on all sides. Remove oxtail from the grill and set aside.

Make the Stew:

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C).
Heat the oil in a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Add the cloves, allspice, cinnamon stick, scotch bonnet halves, thyme, and bay leaf and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes more.
Add the flour, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.
Pour the stock in slowly while stirring to lift up any flavorful bits on the bottom of the pot and bring to a boil.
Add the browning, salt, pepper, grilled oxtail, and excess marinade. Cover with a lid, place in the oven, and cook for 3 and a half hours.
Serve the oxtail with rice and peas, if desired.

Serving Suggestions

Serve Jerk Oxtail Recipe with family-style from communal Dutch oven with serving spoons and rice bowls for authentic jerk centre drama, perfect for backyard cookouts, Sunday dinners, or birthday feasts where glossy sauce-coated oxtail steals the show. Pair with Red Stripe beer, sorrel drink, or ginger beer while scotch bonnet fire demands cold beverage refreshment, creating addictive spicy-tender cycle.

Create tasting progression: sauce-soaked rice first, vegetable pieces second, oxtail marrow finale. Kids love tender meat, adults crave charred edges—28-hour investment yields 4 generous servings with leftovers for days.

Final Thoughts

This Jerk Oxtail Recipe captures Jamaican street food genius—collagen-rich cuts transformed by jerk pit engineering into smoky-braised perfection. Devan Rajkumar’s Global Street Eats version makes authentic Portland technique accessible while preserving 24-hour marinade, proper charring, slow braise timing that creates texture symphony impossible to replicate.

The beauty lives in patience: deep flavor penetration, controlled spice release, gelatinous finish define proper jerk oxtail. Whether hosting backyard feasts or feeding family comfort heroes, jerk oxtail converts everyone instantly—bones picked clean, rice bowls emptied, beer flowing.

Find more recipes from Global Street Eats here!