Biltong Recipe – A Favorite South African Snack

Biltong is an all-time favorite South African snack. This biltong recipe will let you experience what the fuss is all about.

It might be a little work to make biltong, but it is well worth the effort.

If you don’t know what biltong is, in short, it is seasoned, dried meat strips similar to jerky… but in any South African’s view, much tastier!

biltong recipe

Thanks to our friend, Mano Thanos from the Bay Area South Africans for this one.

The Biltong Recipe

biltong recipe

Biltong Recipe

Mano Thanos
Biltong is seasoned, dried meat strips and a favorite snack among South Africans.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Snack
Cuisine South African

Ingredients
  

  • 5 lbs of Beef – Eye of Round (silverside in SA or Bottom Round or Tri-tip steak)
  • 3 cups Rock salt
  • ¼ cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 1 cup Coriander seeds – toasted
  • 1½ cups of Malt vinegar mixed with ¾ cup of Worchestershire sauce
  • Black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Cut the beef into strips (approx. 1½ – 2 inches wide and ¾ – 1 inch thick).
  • Pour a layer of rock salt into a plastic tub or large bowl
  • Lay the steaks down and cover with rock salt (Repeat)
  • When all the steaks have been covered with rock salt, put the tub in the fridge for half an hour.
  • In another plastic tub or bowl pour the malt vinegar and Worchestershire sauce.
  • Add the sugar and the bicarbonate of soda to the brine.
  • Mix the brine well.
  • Now pour the toasted coriander seeds into a Kitchen Aid machine and pulse, just enough to break the seeds in half and to make a little powder. (You can also put the seeds on a cutting board and roll a rolling pin over them to crush them.)
  • Remove the tub with the salted steaks from the fridge and remove all the rock salt from each steak. The meat should be firm right now. Lay all the steaks with the salt removed aside.
  • Now dunk all the steaks into the brine and let them sit there for about 5 minutes.
  • Start removing each steak and squeeze each steak to remove liquid, but not too much liquid!
  • Do this to all the steaks and lay the aside.
  • Now pour the crushed coriander seeds onto a flat surface and press each steak, both sides into the crushed coriander and powder.
  • Lay all the coriander encrusted steaks flat now and carefully sprinkle the ground black pepper on the steaks, both sides.
  • Now hang each steak in your biltong box (Make sure that the pieces do not touch each other!)
  • Let dry in the box for 3 to 7 days.
  • Remove dried biltong from Biltong box and cut yourself a piece! Enjoy!

 
This recipe uses a biltong box to make your biltong. Here’s how to make a biltong box.

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  • You make biltong making so complicated.The floor in this method is you can never control the salt content in you biltong.

    Reply

  • I tried this recipe and its nice had all ingredients in my house. Really nice
    Instead of 30mins with the salt i leave for 20mins

    Reply

    • It depends on how much you make and how fast you eat it 😉

      (If you’re talking about storing it long-term, I have frozen some of ours before, and when we want to eat some, I let it sit outside for about 45 minutes before carving it. Works well.)

      Reply

  • This was disappointing. The bicarb neutralizes the vinegar/worcestershire sauce aiding mould growth. The bicarb also gave the biltong an alkaline taste. Really didn’t enjoy it.

    Reply

  • I make my own biltong in a cardboard box in which I place a desk fan in front of pieces of meat hanging from hooks, and a small bedside 60w lamp (without the shade) The open front of the box is covered with netting…After leaving the meat hanging to dry for 4/5 days, I have the most fabulous tasty biltong
    My recipe is as follows: all the pieces of beef meat (Silverside or Topside) is sprinkled with a good vinegar (Kressi) and pressed into the meat. Sprinkle with rock salt and freshly ground black pepper and toasted coriander seeds (toasted for a few minutes in a frying pan) After pressing the coriander, pepper & salt and vinegar into the meat, it is left in a dish to marinate for 24hours. Each piece is placed on a hook inside the box and left for 4/5 days

    Reply

      • Hi John … I have a question about the
        • 3 Cups of ROCK SALT suggested by Mano Thanos in this biltong recipe.

        Because pure Rock Salt is NOT an edible product (due to the dirt and other impurities that come with it), please contact Mano Thanos and ask him to please adjust his recipe to use either MORTON’s brand or DIAMOND’s brand Kosher Salt, (and please specify WHICH one he equates to Rock salt) because all these have different weights (and saltiness) for a given volume because of their differently sized salt crystals.
        Thank you

        Reply
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