pepperpot

Pepperpot – a stewed meat dish popular in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean. A special stew simmered in a rich dark gravy flavored with cinnamon and cassareep that will make a great impression for a lifetime!

Pepperpot

Meat

Salt

garlic

thyme

white pepper

½ medium onion (, large dice (about 1 cup))

bouillon powder

brown sugar

garlic (, minced)

onion (, chopped)

green onions (, diced)

thyme (, minced)

scotch bonnet pepper

¾ – 1 cup cassareep

water less

cinnamon (,

salt and pepper

Place oxtail and pork in a large bowl or ziplock bag  then add salt, garlic, thyme, white pepper,onion and bouillon powder, if using any.

Mix oxtail with a spoon or with hands until they are well coated and inch of the meat is covered.  Set aside in the fridge. If possible let it marinate overnight.

When ready to cook, shake off any excess spice from the meat.

Place a large Dutch Oven or heavy bottom pan on medium heat, then add sugar, keep stirring until it caramelize and begin to turn deep brown. Be careful not to let it burn.

Add the pork to the dutch pan and brown to seal in flavors , this might take about 3 minutes. Remove  pork from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Add  oxtail and brown, stirring to prevent any burns, until  brown. If pot is not to large, do so in batches.

Throw in the garlic, onions, thyme and  scotch bonnet . Continue cooking for about 3-5 minutes.

Pour in the ½ of the cassareep, cinnamon stick, thoroughly mix and continue cooking for about 1-2 minutes.

Next add water to cover the the meat , bring to a boil , reduce heat   and let it simmer for for about 40 minutes.

Return pork to the pot , add the other half of the cassareep  , add more water , if needed. Water should not be above the meat.

Continue cooking for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours  or until beef is tender. Sauce should be thick and beef melting tender.

Adjust with seasonings to taste.

Garnish with parsley and serve with bread.

Thanks for representing Guyana. Not the typical meats usesed in Guyana recipes. But looks good. I cooked mine with lamb. Love how versatile it has become.

So happy to see my favorite Guyanese dish! Best with homemade bread

Pepperpot is a rich meat stew that gets its signature dark color from cassareep, a thick &quot;caramel&quot; or reduction sauce made from cassava extract. It is traditionally eaten with bread (preferably homemade plait bread) on Christmas morning.

Guyanese Pepperpot

Beef

lbs Oxtail (fat trimmed)

lbs Cow Heel (also called beef feet/trotters)

brown sugar,

cayenne pepper

tsp black pepper

tbsp dried Guyanese thyme

salt (or salt

onion

garlic (finely chopped)

wiri wiri peppers (may use 1 scotch bonnet

whole cloves

cinnamon

In a ziplock bag or small bowl combine the sugar, salt, cayenne pepper, granulated garlic, fresh ground black pepper and thyme and mix together well. Then divide this dry rub into 3 and set aside

Next season the oxtail using  1/3 of the dry rub and 3 tablespoons of the cassareep. Mix together well then let marinate for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Repeat step two to season the beef and cow heel and also let it marinate for 30 minutes before cooking

Then when ready to cook, bring a large stock pot up to temperature on high heat. When the pot I hot add about 2 tablespoons of oil, then sauté 1/3 of the onion and garlic on high heat, in about 2 tbsp of oil

Add the seasoned beef, cinnamon, cloves (if not putting the cloves in a pouch) and wiri wiri pepper and continue to sauté until all pieces of the beef are brown all over. You may brown the beef in batches if necessary.

Once the meat is brown, add about 6 cups of water to the beef, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer

While the beef if simmering, bring about 1 tbsp oil up to temperature in a pressure cooker on high heat, then add the onion and garlic followed by the seasoned oxtail

Sauté the oxtail until brown, then add 5 cups of water to the pressure cooker. Cover and pressure cook until oxtail is tender but not completely falling off the bone, this should take about 45 minutes depending on the size of the oxtails, but I recommend checking the tenderness of the meat after 30 minutes of pressure cooking. You are looking for fork tender but not fall off the bone tender

Follow the same steps to pressure cook the cow heel, as you did with the oxtail. If you have a large enough pressure cooker you may cook the oxtail and cow heel together but start by pressure cooking the cow heel first for 45 minutes, then adding the oxtail and continuing for another 45 minutes.

Then add the oxtail and cow heel to the beef and mix together well, then add 2 to three more cups of water, just enough to cover the meat

Then add the remaining 1/2 cup of cassareep and 1/4 cup of brown sugar, increase the heat to high and bring pot back up to a roaring boiling. Let it boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, reduce heat to low and simmer until all the meat is falling off the bone tender, about 2.5 hrs.

Lastly, cut open the wiri wiri peppers for additional heat

Serve and Enjoy

Last year was my first time making the pepper pot for Christmas and inused this recipe. It was so delicious and so flavourful. Way better than my moms lol

I make pepperpot and plait bread every Christmas and you not disappoint with these recipes! Fail proof and delicious!!

Mine and my family favorite  recipe to be present on Christmas,

I am definitely going to try this recipe for the holidays

Well I’m Guyanese and how I love to cook. I just paid 17$ for oxtail. Crazy but it’s not my fav. However my husband loves it. So my go to meat is pork hock. Any cheap steak. And pork shoulder and little oxtail. It sweet bad. So easy and you can just dr it till it taste right. After I cook and it goes outside on my deck. Before I warm again I skim the fat off the top. Now time to fry up my garlic pork.

Well I’m Guyanese and how I love to cook. I just paid 17$ for oxtail. Crazy but it’s not my fav. However my husband loves it. So my go to meat is pork hock. Any cheap steak. And pork shoulder and little oxtail. It sweet bad. So easy and you can just dr it till it taste right. After I cook and it goes outside on my deck. Before I warm again I skim the fat off the top

Oh, The Layers Of Flava. I added corned beef brisket, and ran into a problem. But overall it came out fantastic! Thank You.

I understand the value of words, so I don’t use them frivolously.  

Hear me when I say Althea is a treasure! 

I’ve been following her since 2014, and in my opinion, whether you’ve grown up eating these traditional Guyanese staples and have some small measure of how to put a meal together or are from another country looking to broaden your home menu; Althea gives you fail proof recipes to get it done. 

Although I am not Guyanese, I was taught to cook by a much beloved Guyanese woman in my life.  However, the truth is I rarely had to actually “knock pots!” Unfortunately, as often happens in life, Mater’s passing showed me how much I didn’t know or remember.  Talk about depressed. 

Until I found Metemgee on YouTube.

I’ve since cooked bakes, bread, pepperpot, and of course her “metemgee ????, amongst many other recipes. To the pleasure and joy of my Guyanese husband.

Althea, I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating:

“I know how challenging it can be to incorporate a blog into the already busy life of being a daughter, wife, mother and all the other many hats our gender wears on any given day; so I had to take a moment to say thank you.
Thank you, for your detailed Youtube videos and the informative information on your blog. Your explicit steps show your compassion (for those of us navigating new recipes) and your love and passion for GOOD food. Each recipe and post is nourishment not only for our bodies but our souls as well. Helping us to reconnect to the feel good food of old and thereby ministering to the child in each of us yearning for a taste of “home.”
Please know that both your sites are a blessing to those of us who no longer have (or never had) a Mater, or Auntie to guide our hands in the kitchen.
I hope you realize the value and impact of what you do.
Again, I say Thank You and May God Continue to Bless You as you have blessed your readers!

blessed60859212 (@vandersongriffith)
OCTOBER 17, 2014 AT 7:30 AM”

My granny used to make pepperpot with the same recipe, for like 15 years. God rest her soul.

My dad is the Pepper Pot cooker in the family.  He passed away in 2019, so the task was left to me &amp; my children are ruthless! I used stew beef, pig tail &amp; pork shoulder because Oxtail expensive!! Well my children made me feel so good because the pepper pot came out good!!
Thank you so much for this recipe!!

Top 2 pepperpot recipes from across the web

The most viewed pepperpot recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Pepperpot

Guyanese Pepperpot

Top 2 pepperpot recipes from across the web

The most viewed pepperpot recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Pepperpot

Guyanese Pepperpot

The most viewed pepperpot recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine