Autumn Low-Carb Oxtail Stew

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Oxtail is one of the most underestimated culinarian products. Not only it's great for making bone broth, but it's perfect when slowly cooked.

It's not easy to find grass-fed beef with bones included these days. To get high-quality grass-fed beef, you often have to look for a local farmer or butcher. However, if your only option is a supermarket, you can sometimes find great pieces of beef like oxtail. It's a great source of protein, fat and rich in gelatin.

Any slow-cooked meat is great for a low-carb diet. Once you cook it, you can keep it in the fridge and use in salads, with omelets or with your favourite vegetables.

Suggestions & tips

Leftover slow-cooked oxtail goes great with omelets or vegetables such as sweet peppers. Once cooked, you can keep it in the fridge and use straight away.

You can also try to make your own bone broth using oxtail. This article by Tamara Manelly is the best resource: Everything You Need to Know About the Benefits of Bone Broth!

Most ingredients like spices and vegetables will not add a significant amount of net carbs, as they will be discarded once the meat is cooked. For this reason, their precise weight is not needed. Weight of oxtail includes bones. 2 kg of oxtail will yield about 1 kg of meat.

Health Benefits of Oxtail

• rich in electrolytes (magnesium, sodium and potassium) - helps with keto flu
• rich in other minerals (calcium, phosphorus)
• rich in gelatin and collagen (keeps your joints, ligaments, tendons and bones healthy and reduces joint pain, no need to buy expensive supplements for bone and joint health)
• helps with muscle repair (great for physically active individuals)
• strengthens nails and hair and makes them look gorgeous
• helps heal leaky gut
• fights infections (flu, cold)
• great for thyroid health and helps to fight adrenal fatigue
• reduces inflammation (the main cause of heart disease)

Nutritional values (per serving)

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

• 2 kg oxtail or beef suitable for slow cooking (bones included, 2 kg/ 4.4 lb), this will yield about 50% meat
• 1 tbsp ghee, butter or lard
• 2 cups beef stock, vegetable stock or water ( 480 ml/ 16 fl oz)
• 1 red onion
• 1 garlic head
• 1 carrot
• 2 celery stalks
• juice and peel from 1 average orange
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ¹/₄ tsp nutmeg
• 5-8 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 bay leaves (fresh or dried)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ¹/₂ tsp salt or more to taste
• 4 heads small lettuce or 2 of medium lettuce (400 g/ 14.1 oz)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150 °C/ 300 °F (fan assisted), or 170 °C/ 340 °F (conventional). Season the meat with salt and pepper.
   
2. Place the oxtail in a preheated large non-stick pan greased with ghee. Briefly brown from all sides.
   
3. Transfer the oxtail into a baking dish.
   
   
4. Peel and halve a large red onion, juice the orange, peel the carrot and halve the garlic head.
   
   
5. Place all the spices in a pot, bring to boil and cook for about 5 minutes. When done, take from the heat and set aside.
   
6. Place all the ingredients from the pot on top of the browned oxtail. Cook for 3-4 hours until the meat is soft (almost falls apart).
7. When done, remove from the oven and leave to cool down. Discard all the spices, orange and vegetables - or eat the softened vegetables if you cannot resist :)
8. Using a fork, separate the meat from the bones and place into a bowl. Pour some of the sauce over it.
9. Fold the shredded meat on top of fresh lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Beef (for slow cooking), grass-fed
0 g	48.1 g	45 g	610 kcal
Ghee
0 g	0 g	3.8 g	34 kcal
Beef stock (broth)
0 g	5.3 g	0.1 g	22 kcal
Onion, red, fresh
0.6 g	0.1 g	0 g	4 kcal
Garlic, fresh
0.5 g	0.1 g	0 g	2 kcal
Carrot, fresh
0.3 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Celery stalk, fresh
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Orange, fresh
0.8 g	0.1 g	0 g	4 kcal
Orange peel (zest), fresh
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Cinnamon, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Nutmeg, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Cloves, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Star anise, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Bay leaf, dried
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Pepper, black, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Lettuce (Little Gem), fresh
1.5 g	0.6 g	0.4 g	12 kcal
Total per serving
4 g	54.4 g	49.4 g	693 kcal