South Africa: Recipes and Cuisine

The cooking of South Africa, often called "rainbow cuisine," is a mixture of indigenous African dishes, the cooking of Dutch and English settlers and the well spiced foods of Malays, Indians and Indonesians who were brought to South Africa as slaves and servants in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Typical South African Dishes

Appetizers

Peri-Peri Chicken Livers (Spicy chicken livers)
Samosas (Deep-fried potato pastries)

Soups and Stews

Green Bean Bredie (Lamb and green bean stew)
Isophu (Bean and corn soup)
Tomato Bredie (Lamb and tomato stew)

Salads

Slaphakskeentjies (Creamy onion salad)

Poultry

Chicken Curry
Hoender Pastei (Chicken pie)
Inyama Yenkukhu (Chicken Casserole)

Meats

Biltong (Dried beef)
Bobotie (Curried meat casserole)
Boerewors (Farmers sausage)
Frikkadels (Meatballs)
Green Bean Bredie (Lamb and green bean stew)
Lamb Biryani (Curried lamb with rice)
Oxtail Potjie (Oxtails slow-cooked in an iron pot)
Pofadder (Game sausage)
Sosaties (Grilled curried meat marinated with apricots)
Tomato Bredie (Lamb and tomato stew)

Fish and Seafood

Cape Kidgeree (Fish with rice)
Gesmoorde Vis (Salt cod with tomatoes and potatoes)
Rock Lobster

Vegetables and Beans

Chakalaka (Spicy mixed vegetables)
Green Bean and Potato Stew
Ntomo Krakro (Sweet potato fritters)
Umfino (Wild greens with corn)
Umngqosho (Grits and blackeyed peas)

Breads and Grains

Geelrys (Yellow rice with raisins)
Isidudu (Pumpkin-cornmeal mush)
Lamb Biryani (Curried lamb with rice)
Mabela Porridge (Sorghum porridge)
Mealie Bread (Cornbread)
Mealie-Meal (Cornmeal mush)
Ryskluitjies (Rice dumplings)
Umngqosho (Grits and blackeyed peas)
Vetkoek (Deep-fried biscuits)

Sauces and Condiments

Fruit Chutney (Sweet and sour preserved fruit)
Mango Atchar (Spicy mango pickle)

Desserts

Klappertert (Coconut pie)
Malva Pudding (Pudding with brandy sauce)
Melktert (Custard pie)
Soetkoekies (Spiced wine cookies)

Recommended Cookbooks

South African Recipes

Bobotie

(South African curried meat casserole)

Bobotie is a very old South African dish with probable origins in Indonesia or Malaysia. The name derives from the Indonesian "bobotok," and the dish was likely adapted by Dutch traders and brought back to the region around Cape Town. Read more »

Boerewors

(South African homemade farmer's sausage)

This spiral-shaped sausage is a popular braai (barbecue) meat in South Africa. Made with beef and pork and flavored with coriander and vinegar, boerewors has its roots in the Netherlands. And while it originated with white Afrikaner South Africans, this tasty sausage is now popular throughout southern Africa. Read more »

Bredie

(South African lamb stew)

Bredies are simple, traditional South African mutton stews in the Cape Malay tradition. The most popular are green bean bredie, tomato bredie and cabbage bredie. A basic bredie recipe is listed here, with the more common variations below. (Tip: A bredie will always taste better served the day after it is made.) Read more »

Chakalaka

(South African spicy tomato, pepper and onion dish)

Born in the townships of South Africa, chakalaka is a simple, spicy dish of onions, tomatoes and often beans. It has been a staple for generations of black South Africans, and is a required condiment at South African braais, or barbecues. Read more »

Geelrys

(South African yellow rice with raisins)

Geelrys is one of many South African dishes with roots in the Dutch East Indies. This sunny yellow side dish is the traditional accompaniment to bobotie. Read more »

Mealie Pap

(South African cornmeal mush; see Ugali recipe)

Samosas

(Indian deep-fried potato pastries)

Samosas are the perfect chaat, or Indian snack food. These tetrahedral pastry pockets are made with a variety of stuffings, both vegetarian and with meat. But a simple spiced potato and pea filling is the most popular. Read more »

Sosaties

(South African curry-marinated lamb and apricot kebabs)

Sweet and sour with the subtle spice of curry, sosaties are one of the great braai (barbecue) foods of South Africa and a hallmark of Cape Malay cuisine. This recipe for lamb kebabs was brought to the country by Malaysian laborers. Start the recipe mid-week for a weekend braai; the meat should marinate 3 days for best flavor. Read more »