A compilation of my favourite South African recipes
South African dishes I like to cook
South African vetkoek with curried mince, grated cheddar cheese and apricot jam
I am a proudly South African, but before being on MasterChef my cooking was mostly focussed on Asian and Middle Eastern flavours. Being on MasterChef taught me about the amazing local ingredients we have available in South Africa, and I was challenged quite a bit on the show to steer towards our dishes. Fun fact: I ended up winning season four with a dish that included a malva pudding, the quintessential South African dessert. I have published quite a few of my favourite recipes on this blog, and it’s about time that I share my favourite South African dishes. There are a few international dishes on this list as well, that I have “South African-ised” with a local twist.
Traditional South African vetkoek with curried mince
Every South African has childhood memories eating vetkoek with curried mince
These fried dough balls are a real winter warmer, and in Cape Town the winter months are long, cold and rainy. The perfect weather to stay indoors and cook up a storm!
What’s not to love? Deepfried, soft bread with a crispy outside, filled with flavourfull curried mince, grated cheddar cheese and of course some apricot jam.
Ostrich steak
Most people are too intimidated to cook ostrich steak, and opt to order it only at a restaurant. This is a real shame, because although you can easily overcook an ostrich steak and make it tough and flavourless, when you follow a few simple tips and tricks a delicious medium-rare ostrich steak is easy to achieve.
Ostrich pairs very well with some rosemary, and by scooping butter over it repeatedly, the flavour is enhanced. As a side,e I pan-fried some asparagus for this recipe, which is delicious topped with pine nuts for some crunch. A simple salad for freshness finishes the meal.
Traditional South African Pancakes
Every South African market has a pannekoek stand. Traditionally thin compared to the European versions, and much larger than American flapjacks, South African pancakes are generally served rolled up with cinnamon and sugar. we often make this recipe at home and add many more toppings on the table to choose from, as they are delicious with Nutella or another nut butter, banana slices, strawberry jam or golden syrup.
Banana Bread made from scratch
The best banana bread is eaten straight out the oven, and what better way to achieve that, than to bake your own? Slicing it up whilst still warm, banana bread is delicious with generous dollop of butter, which will melt and fill the whole slice with deliciousness! Make your own from scratch, using my recipe.
Smoked snoek on the braai
Having a braai is a quintessentially South African cooking method. Lamb Chops from the Karoo, boerewors, ostrich steak and good old chicken drum sticks are firm favourites.
In and around Cape Town in the Western Cape, we also love to put snoek on the braai. Because it is quite an oily and salty fish, it is often paired with apricot jam as the salty/sweet combination goes well together. For this recipe I made a plum jam and served my snoek with grilled peaches.
Karoo lamb potjie
Cooking on a fire is one of life’s greatest pleasures and it is within our South African culture to make a good potjie.
The conventional way to make a South African potjie is to add the meat, vegetables and the herbs and spices at the same time and leave them to stew for hours. I don’t like cooking a potjie that way as the flavour and textures then end up all being the same.
If you want to make a good South African potjie, you should cook the elements separately, as they all have a different cooking time or even heat requirement. So my preference is to separately cook the meat and the sides, and bring them all together for the final dish.
This recipe with Karoo lamb is always a winner and super simple.
Braai Broodjies
Sticking with braai recipes, I cannot leave out my tips and tricks or “Ten Commandments” for making the best braai broodjies.
This recipe includes step-by-step how to instructions, as well as a golden tip for a secret ingredient that will take your braai broodjie to the next level. You have to try it.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you make any of these recipe, I’d love to see it!
More Recipes
If you’re looking for something else, have a look at the recipes just below the newsletter block.
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Have you ever made your own Dutch Apple Pie? This recipe is a goodie, past down generations and shared with me by my Dutch wife, Lianne. It’s the real deal. She also makes the Fluffiest Flapjacks, using this recipe, which pairs wonderfully with Pecan Nut Brittle and with a Berry Compote.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters 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 Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (7), Olivia (5) and Harvey (3).
Sign up to the newsletter below to be kept up to date with events, new recipes and reviews, or contact Shawn to chat about recipe creation, restaurant takeovers and public speaking events.
While it should be no surprise that I am the cook of the Roasted family, few of you will know that The Roasted Mom is the baker. She’s been making this traditional Dutch apple pie for me since we first got together fourteen years ago, and the Cape Town weather this week sure called for a slice of hot Dutch apple pie!