Learn how to make this hearty and delicious one-pot GAPS oxtail soup. It combines melt-in-your-mouth oxtail meat and tender vegetables to make a nourishing gut-healing soup.
Oxtail soup is one of my favourite soups, it’s so easy to make, and full of collagen and immunity-boosting properties. The perfect nourishing meal for my gut-healing journey.
To make this gut-healing GAPS oxtail soup recipe you’ll need oxtail and a few basic ingredients combined with filtered water, simmered to make a delicious gelatinous meat stock perfect for healing leaky gut. Learn about the powerful benefits of meat stock compared to bone broth here.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It’s good for you – The oxtail is cooked low and slow to produce a beef meat stock that is full of gut-healing properties as well as fat, making it the perfect energy source for anyone on a higher-fat diet like GAPS, Keto, or AIP.
One pot meal –You only need one pot to make everything, making clean up easy.
Freezer-friendly – This soup freezes well, making it perfect for batch cooking.
Oxtail Soup and the GAPS Diet
Meat stock is a cornerstone of the GAPS diet and oxtail is the perfect cut of meat to make it! This unique cut of meat offers a perfect blend of meaty bones packed with connective tissues, cartilage, fat and bone.
It’s cooked for 4-6 hours at a gentle simmer for the connective tissue to break down and the deep rich flavour to develop in the meat stock.
Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride creator of the GAPS Diet recommends consuming lots of meat stock daily! The more meat stock consumed, the quicker the gut lining heals! Think of meat stock as the glue that seals up your intestinal lining.
This nourishing GAPS Oxtail Soup recipe offers a delicious addition to your GAPS Diet meal plan. Suitable for Stage 6 of the GAPS Introduction Diet due to the fibrous nature of the celery pieces though it can be modified to be eaten from Stage 2, see variation details later in the post.
Choosing Quality Ingredients
To get the maximum healing benefits that this soup has to offer you’ll want to consider the quality of ingredients and where you source them from. Use the best quality oxtail that you can afford or is available to you.
- Good: Free range
- Better: Grass-fed / pasture-raised
- Best: Organic Grass-fed / pasture-raised
When possible, select organic produce to support better nutrient absorption and significantly lower your exposure to harmful toxins and pesticides.
Look for a Celtic Sea salt as it is less processed than other salts and retains a rich profile of trace minerals including magnesium, calcium, and potassium, which play a crucial role in maintaining the body’s optimal electrolyte balance.
Ingredients
Oxtail – Oxtail is a fatty and collagen-rich cut of meat that contains all the essential building blocks to repair leaky gut.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
- Knife and chopping board
- 6L heavy-based saucepan with lid
How to Make GAPS Oxtail Soup
This recipe is incredibly easy to make! Follow along below for the full how-to.
Add the oxtail, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper to a heavy-based pot or Dutch oven.
Add the filtered water, and then cover the pot with a lid. The right ratio of meaty bones to water is required to achieve a gelatinous consistency, ratio = 1kg meaty bones to 1.5L filtered water.
During the cooking process you will need to skim the scum off the top of your pot contents using a metal skimmer, strainer or slotted spoon.
On high heat bring the pot to a gentle boil and skim the scum off using a metal skimmer, strainer, or slotted spoon; and discard.
Reduce to a gentle simmer with a lid on and cook for 4 hours or until the meat is just falling off the bone.
Remove the oxtail from the soup and separate the meat from the bones. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and return to pot.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
GAPS Intro Stage 2 – Chop the celery into large chuck and remove at the end of the cook time.
GAPS Intro Stage 4 – The oxtail can be seared in tallow or ghee, but don’t crowd the pot so you get a nice brown colour instead of steaming.
Slow cooker – Cook for 1 hour on high then 8 hours on low.
Veggie Noodles – Add spiralised zucchini into noodles and add once the bones been removed and let them sit in the soup for 10-15, min or until tender.
How to Introduce and Serve
Serve in your favourite bowl, mug or thermos for on the go.
We love to top ours with homemade Sour Cream or Dill Pickle Sauerkraut.
From GAPS Intro Stage 2, you can blend in an egg yolk or 2.
From GAPS Intro Stage 4 add a drizzle of olive oil for more healthy fats.
How to Store and Reheat
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat in a saucepan on low, stirring consistently or in a glass container in the oven.
Tips for making Oxtail Soup for Gut Healing
- Choose filtered water. Chlorine in city tap water
- Skim the top – Once the oxtail reaches a simmer, you may need to skim the top of the soup for impurities aka skim the scum.
- Oxtail soup tends to be a little too oily for some people, so you can emulsify the fat in the cooking liquid so it doesn’t float on top. At the end of the cooking time remove the fat on top plus 1-2 cups of the cooking liquid and blend with an immersion blender before returning to the pot.
FAQ
What is Oxtail?
If you’re new to oxtails, they are a cut of meat and bone from the tail of cattle. Traditional the word meant the tail of an ox but today refers to the of any cattle and most commonly from beef.
Is oxtail good for you?
Oxtail supports joint health and skin vitality; provides essential amino acids for muscle repair and gut health; and is high in iron and zinc, which are crucial for energy and immune function.
Can I cook Oxtail in a slow cooker?
This recipe can be cooked on the stove, in the oven or a slow cooker.
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More Soup Recipes from the Kitchen
Resources
GAPS Diet – Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride
- Gut and Psychology Syndrome (Yellow Book)
- Gut and Physiology Syndrome (Blue Book)
GAPS Oxtail Soup
Learn how to make this hearty and delicious one-pot GAPS oxtail soup. It combines melt-in-your-mouth oxtail meat and tender vegetables to make a nourishing gut-healing soup.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg Oxtail
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 tsp Celtic Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 2L filtered water
Instructions
- Add the oxtail, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to a heavy-based pot or Dutch oven.
- Add the filtered water, and then cover the pot with a lid. The right ratio of meaty bones to water is required to achieve a gelatinous consistency, ratio = 1kg meaty bones to 1.5L filtered water.
- During the cooking process, you will need to skim the scum off the top of your pot contents using a metal skimmer, strainer, or slotted spoon.
- On high heat bring the pot to a gentle boil and skim the scum off using a metal skimmer, strainer, or slotted spoon; and discard.
- Reduce to a gentle simmer with a lid on and cook for 4 hours or until the meat is just falling off the bone.
- Remove the oxtail from the soup and separate the meat from the bones. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and return to pot.
Notes
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- GAPS Intro Stage 2 – Chop the celery into large chuck and remove at the end of the cook time.
- GAPS Intro Stage 4 – The oxtail can be seared in tallow or ghee, but don’t crowd the pot so you get a nice brown colour instead of steaming.
- Slow cooker – Cook for 1 hour on high then 8 hours on low.
- Veggie Noodles – Add spiralised zucchini into noodles and add once the bones been removed and let them sit in the soup for 10-15, min or until tender.
How to Introduce and Serve
Serve in your favourite bowl, mug or thermos for on the go.
We love to top ours with homemade Sour Cream or Dill Pickle Sauerkraut.
From GAPS Intro Stage 2 you can also blend in an egg yolk or 2.
From GAPS Intro Stage 4 add a drizzle of olive oil for more healthy fats.
GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.
The information in this blog post is my personal experience and for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease; and does not consider your individual situation. If you have medical questions, please consult with a qualified medical practitioner.
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