Beef Potjiekos Stew

Name: Beef Potjiekos Stew
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: kg beef potjiekos (bone-in shin, chuck & rib); large onions, diced; cloves garlic, crushed; medium potatoes, quartered; large carrots, thickly sliced; tomatoes, grated (or 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes); ml tomato paste; ml beef stock - Tannie Ina Paarman knows how to make this so buy it!; ml red wine (or an extra 250 ml stock); ml Worcestershire sauce; ml brown sugar; bay leaves; ml dried thyme or fresh thyme if you have; ml paprika; ml cake flour, for dusting; ml sunflower or olive oil; salt and freshly ground black pepper

75 minmedium5 original servings

A proper South African beef stew built for Cape Town weeknights. The bone-in potjiekos cuts deliver that deep, marrow-rich gravy you usually only get from a 4-hour potjie — but done in 55 minutes give or take in the pressure cooker.

Ingredients

Serves

1.5 kg beef potjiekos (bone-in shin, chuck & rib)
2 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 medium potatoes, quartered
3 large carrots, thickly sliced
2 tomatoes, grated (or 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes)
30 ml tomato paste
500 ml beef stock - Tannie Ina Paarman knows how to make this so buy it!
250 ml red wine (or an extra 250 ml stock)
30 ml Worcestershire sauce
15 ml brown sugar
2 bay leaves
5 ml dried thyme or fresh thyme if you have
10 ml paprika
15 ml cake flour, for dusting
30 ml sunflower or olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1
Pat the meat dry, season generously with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with the cake flour.
2
Set pressure cooker to sauté on high. Add the oil. Brown the meat in 3 batches, roughly 4 minutes per batch — don't crowd the pot. Remove to a plate.
3
Add the onions to the pot and cook for 6 minutes until golden, scraping up the brown bits at the bottom. Add the garlic, paprika, and thyme and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
4
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze with the red wine (or stock), scraping the bottom clean — this is where the flavour lives.
5
Add the grated tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, bay leaves, and beef stock. Return the meat to the pot along with any resting juices.
6
Lock the lid. Pressure cook on high for 40 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then quick-release the rest.
7
Open the lid, add the potatoes and carrots on top of the meat. Lock the lid, pressure cook 8 minutes on high, then quick-release.
8
If the sauce is too thin, sauté uncovered for 5 minutes to reduce. Taste and adjust salt. Discard the bay leaves. Nothing wrong with adding some maizena to thicken it up.
9
Serve over basmati rice, pap, or with fresh roti. Don't forget to scoop the marrow out of the bones — spread on bread or stir it into the gravy.

Notes & Tips

Braai room version

Skip the pressure cooker and do the full potjie over coals for 3 hours, lid on, never stir.

Next-day magic

This stew is better on day two. Make it the night before, reheat gently, serve with fresh roti.

Freezer

Freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Cool completely, portion into containers, leave 2 cm headspace.