The Roasted Dad’s Recipes

I am an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw my business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep me sane. To keep track of my recipes, and encourage friends and families to join me, I started my instagram account The Roasted Dad.

Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim I (encouraged by my wife) enter MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when I get selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, I decide to go all in. Leaving my 7-month-pregnant wife to look after our then three and one-year-old children, I battled it out and came back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in my pocket.

It all started with an Instagram account, and then entering -and winning- MasterChef. But The Roasted Dad is so much more now. I now host Private Dinner Parties, Restaurant Take-Overs and Pop-Ups and Cook-with-Me Demos, and am a Key Note Speaker at events. I share recipes on my website and regularly post accommodation and restaurant reviews too. This is a glimpse into the wild and wonderful life I lead with my wife Lianne, and our three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).

After winning MasterChef South Africa, I started sharing recipes on this blog. They are easy to produce at home, using basic cooking techniques with ingredients found at your local grocery store.

Recipe Index

Poultry Recipes

Red Meat Recipes

Seafood Recipes

Vegetarian Recipes

Salad Recipes

Dessert Recipes

Outdoor cooking

Whole chicken on the braai and in the oven
main Shawn Godfrey main Shawn Godfrey

Whole chicken on the braai and in the oven

In this recipe, I give away my secrets making a delicious whole chicken on the braai. My top tip is to cook the chicken on a fire, to get the skin crispy and full of smoky flavour, but to finish it off in the oven on a low heat, so that the meat becomes succulent and doesn’t dry out.

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Fennel and Apple Salad Recipe
Shawn Godfrey Shawn Godfrey

Fennel and Apple Salad Recipe

As South Africans we often tend to make the same old salad to accompany our braai meat: it includes lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. And if we want to get fancy, we add feta. Or olives. Or feta and olives - shoo, then we have really made it a bougie salad. But what if I told you, it could be so much better? A good salad can be eaten as a meal.

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Chicken, Cauliflower and Aubergine Noodle Recipe
Shawn Godfrey Shawn Godfrey

Chicken, Cauliflower and Aubergine Noodle Recipe

If you need to make a quick supper as the kids are driving you up the wall, the clock is ticking and you have no energy to get all fancy, then you should really give this leftover chicken recipe a go!

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A South African Inspired Paella
dinner Shawn Godfrey dinner Shawn Godfrey

A South African Inspired Paella

If you have followed me since I won MasterChef South Africa in 2022, you will know that I like to do things a little different. I love a Spanish paella, but what would it be to cook it South African style? I decided to cook one on a skottel braai, and it was delicious! Try this recipe.

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