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 his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join me, he 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 their 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 (7), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).
After winning MasterChef South Africa, I started sharing recipes on his blog. They are easy to produce at home, using basic cooking techniques with ingredients found at your local grocery store.
Recipe Index
Recipes per Cuisine
Recipes per Type of Meal
Seasonal Recipes
How-to Recipes
Salad Recipes
Steak Recipes
Chicken Recipes
Pork Recipes
Lamb Recipes
Duck Recipes
Turkey Recipes
Seafood Recipes
Vegetarian Recipes
South African Recipes
Italian Recipes
French Recipes
Asian Recipes
Mexican Recipes
Sweet Recipes
Savoury Recipes
Easter Recipes
Breakfast Recipes
Side Dishes
Dinner Recipes
Lunch Recipes
Christmas Recipes
Exotic Pumpkin & Butternut Salad on Whipped Feta
Easter is traditionally when South Africans serve up a leg of lamb or lamb roast, but a good host includes some vegetarian dishes as well, to serve as either a side for the meat-eaters in your midst, or for vegetarians to dish up as their main.
South African Banana Bread made from scratch
Banana bread has gained in popularity in recent years. I have seen it on menus at trendy coffee shops like the very popular Butter All Day and Baard and Co., but franchised coffee shops like Ou Meul and Bootlegger serve banana bread as well!
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, using this recipe.
Slow-cooked fall-off-the bone Turkey
Throw away any other turkey recipe you have and use this one. It’s fail proof!
South African Style Slow-Roast Leg of Lamb with Atchar
It takes a bit of planning and preparation to prepare this dish, as you need to start early in the morning or (even better) the day before, but this really comes out in the flavours!
Beetroot Salad with Whipped Feta, Bacon, Roasted Olives and Toasted Pecan Nuts
With December here, Christmas is fast approaching and so over the next few weeks I will be sharing my favourite Christmas recipes. This Beetroot Salad with Whipped Feta, Bacon, Roasted Olives and Toasted Pecan Nuts is a crowd pleaser. To make a vegetarian version, you can replace the bacon with citrus slices.
Bobotie Quesadilla Fold Overs with an Avo Dip & Bean and Atchar Side
South African food culture includes many international influences. I love Mexican food, but also enjoy adding South African flavours to it. I cooked these bobotie-inspired quesadilla fold overs on the Expresso show using the Kiln pizza oven, and they turned out great! Try the recipe yourself and let me know what you think.
Rib, Slaw and Smokey Mayo Garlic Rolls
I was invited to be on Expresso again, and cooked this irresistable lunch recipe with Carl Wastie! If you want to make it too, here is the recipe to make your own Rib, Slaw and Smokey Mayo Garlic Rolls.
Banana, Oats and Egg Pancake Recipe
On Sundays we like to make a bit more effort for breakfast. And these banana and egg pancakes are a firm favourite! The kids see it like a real treat, yet they’re a lot healthier (and quicker and easier to make) than the usual flapjacks.
Garlic rolls with Yoghurt/Mayo Coleslaw Mix and Pork Rashers
This is a simple recipe that you can quickly put together. All ingredients are available at your local Pick n Pay.
Blistered Tomatoes, Bocconcini, and Basil Leaf Salad
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sometimes it’s the simplest salad that’s the biggest hit on the menu.
Blistered tomatoes, bocconcini, basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and of course salt and ground pepper.
The recipe is simple, and if you’re looking for step-by-step, this is it!
Best authentic South African 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. This recipe is super simple!
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.
T-Bone Steak Sandwich
I made this steak sandwich the other day and whilst easy to put together, the flavours are out of this world. Adding a mouth watering steak to a sandwich is always a good idea, but in this case I elevated it by using a T-Bone. The combination of Hellmann’s mayonnaise and French mustard is to die for and to use both pickled onions and ‘normal’ onions, your steak sandwich gets an extra punch! Adding some honey for sweetness and truffle oil to really impress your guests and you have a steak sandwich that’s come down straight from heaven. Try make it yourself and tell me if I’m wrong, but I’m definitely making this one again!
How to make your own pasta
Discovering home made pasta has given me the energy to never turn back! The flavour, texture and just how easy it is to make home made pasta gives me no excuse not to make it fresh. Making pasta by hand is also great activity to do with kids.
MasterChef Tips: How to Cook Ostrich Steak to Perfect Medium-Rare
Pick n Pay has ostrich steak in their Livewell range and it’s great! My wife Lianne (The Roasted Mom) asked me to help her prepare this and I gave her this easy but delicious ostrich steak that she could repeat as a simple 20 minute recipe.
Pink Lady Apple Donut Flapjack Recipe
We often take some time on the weekend to make a nice breakfast together with the kids. I’ve previously shared my fluffiest flapjacks recipe, but this is something totally different! By dipping apple slices in the batter, you can include some fruit in your child’s diet. You can opt to cut the apple slices thinner, or poach the apple beforehand if you want it to be soft. I cut thick slices and didn’t poach them as we like the crunchy texture of the apple inside the flapjacks, but this is up to you!
A Healthy Alternative to a regular Potato Salad Recipe
Us South Africans love to have a potato salad with a braai but this often doesn’t always help our weight loss plans going into summer. This healthy alternative to the regular potato salad will reduce your calorie intake yet still makes a delicious side dish to serve alongside your chops at your next braai!
How to make your own homemade Vegetarian Ravioli
Ravioli is a firm favourite in our family as you can fill these little pockets with whatever your heart desires. For this dish, we embraced meatless Monday and made them vegetarian!
Upside Down Layered Stir Fry Recipe
I love a good stir fry, as it’s a great way to add many different vegetables to your dish. For this recipe, I decided to try something I’d never done before and make an ‘upside down stir fry’. This basically means that you assemble your dish in reverse in a bowl, and then place a flat plate upside down on top before gently turning your dish the right way around. Find the recipe below and try make yours at home!
How to make the Best Braai Broodjie
South Africans love a good Braai Broodjie. While South Africans love meat, this vegetarian alternative is a crowdpleaser. And if a braai is not a braai without meat, I challenge you to think differently: a braai is not a braai without a braai broodjie!
Pork belly dishes have always been my favourite to cook. I have smoked pork belly, oven baked, braised, pressure potted and put it in the Weber. But ultimately I have found the best pork belly is done in an oven where consistency and accurate temperature control can be kept. After tons of trials I formulated my favourite recipe for pork belly.