If you’re looking for something a little different to try for dinner tonight, why not try this great Oxtail Soup? A common staple on the farm, this soup is hearty and filling for a post-work meal. Prefer to use a slow cooker? Here’s how to make slow cooker Oxtail Soup.

What is Oxtail?
Oxtail is exactly what it sounds like, cow tail. It does not, however, come exclusively from an ox. Both genders are perfectly viable. You can find it for relatively cheap at your local butcher and if you are looking for something a little heartier than your average soup, it’s a good option.
This is what Oxtail looks like prior to cooking:

How to Make Oxtail Soup in the Instant Pot
To prepare this is pretty simple, you are first going to toss the oxtail in a combination of flour, salt and pepper to coat it thoroughly. While you don’t normally flour meat for a soup, Oxtail is very fatty so we recommend doing so to cut down on the grease otherwise it will take over the soup.
Once done, turn your Instant Pot to the sauté function, add a little oil to the bottom of the pot and fry the oxtail until it’s well browned.
Once this is done, drain off that excess fat from the bottom of the Instant Pot and add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook according to the instructions in the recipe card.

Love soups? Try our Slow Cooker Macaroni Hamburger Soup Recipe or Crockpot Polish Sausage, Cabbage and Potato Soup.
Happy Cooking!
The Fast & Slow Team

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You’ll need
Ingredients
Oxtail
Soup Ingredients
Instructions
-
Whisk together the flour, salt and pepper. Toss the pieces of oxtail in the mixture until coated. Shake off the excess.
-
In the bottom of your Instant Pot, heat the oil using the saute button. Add in the oxtail and cook until browned. Once done, drain the fat and oil from the bottom.
-
Add in the rest of the ingredients and then stir until combined. Use the soup button and cook for 45 minutes. Let the pot naturally release for 20 minutes while you prep anything else you need to serve. Stir and serve.
Notes
- This is thicker, and you can make it into a stew by adding more barley.
- Oxtail is VERY fatty. You have to enjoy a fatty type of meat if you are going to enjoy this soup! Try browning it a lot to get rid of some of the fat.
Nutrition per serving: 506 calories
- Calories
- 506 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 43 g
- Protein
- 42 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Saturated fat
- 7 g
- Polyunsaturated fat
- 1 g
- Monounsaturated fat
- 8 g
- Cholesterol
- 125 mg
- Sodium
- 1092 mg
- Potassium
- 863 mg
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sugar
- 3 g
- Vitamin A
- 3894 IU
- Vitamin C
- 12 mg
- Calcium
- 75 mg
- Iron
- 7 mg
Nutrition is an automatic estimate and will vary with the brands you use.









This was an excellent base recipe to start from, but now that I’ve made it I would make some twerks. I’d start off with 30 minutes at pressure and check to see if I should cook it any longer, since 45 left the veggies mushier than I like. That, and I’m going to have to find low-sodium beef broth because it was just too salty for my tastes. With those changes this would be a 5-star recipe! I made this last night and chilled the pot, I know it will be better today once I skim the solid fat off the top.
Great recipe! I added a small bag of frozen mixed veggies (in lieu of the potatoes) towards the end of cooking time. The barley has enough starch/carbs to fill you…so I cut out using potatoes.