Biltong
Strips of whole-muscle beef or game seasoned with salt, vinegar, roasted coriander and pepper and air-dried without cooking, sold anywhere from soft and moist to hard and very salty.
Biltong potjie with creamy pasta
Biltong Pasta Potjie · Biltong potjie
Biltong, bacon and vegetables simmer in tomato-herb stock, then join cooked pasta, milk, cream and Cheddar in this outdoor potjie.
A contemporary creamy pasta potjie
LK’s Kitchen calls its dish Biltong Pasta Potjie and provides recipes for two sizes of pot: a No. 3 version serving 16 and a No. 6 version serving 48. This page records the No. 3 batch only, preserving its quantities as a set. The recipe combines biltong with bacon, onions, green pepper, tinned mushrooms and a tomato-and-stock sauce, then folds in cooked pasta, milk, cream and grated Cheddar.
The result sits between a potjie stew and a creamy pasta bake: the potjie is cooked over hot coals, but the pasta is prepared separately according to its packet, then warmed in the sauce. The named source is a cookware company’s modern recipe published in 2022. It does not claim an old origin for this combination.
Sources for this section
The No. 3 potjie ingredients
For the pot, LK’s lists 1.5 kg biltong, one pack of bacon, two tots of sunflower oil, three crushed and chopped garlic cloves, two tins of mushrooms, six sliced onions, one cup full-cream milk, one cup fresh cream, one kilogram pasta shells, two sliced green peppers, 500 g grated Cheddar, one teaspoon braai spice, and salt and pepper to season. The sauce is 1.5 L boiling water, two teaspoons mixed green herbs, four chicken-stock blocks and one sachet tomato paste.
The recipe keeps South African culinary units such as tot and sachet as published; the source gives no conversion or brand-specific pack sizes for bacon, mushrooms, stock or tomato paste. It also leaves salt and pepper to taste. The 48-serving No. 6 list scales quantities differently and is not a substitute for the No. 3 amount list. For this page, all quantities stay within the 16-serving version.
Sources for this section
Build the potjie base and sauce
Cook the pasta separately by its packet instructions and set it aside. Place the potjie over hot coals, add sunflower oil and soften the onions. Add the chopped garlic, sliced peppers, tinned mushrooms and bacon, cooking until the bacon is sizzling and cooked. The source gives no duration for these stages, so don’t infer a standard time from the later simmer instructions.
Mix the boiling water, herbs, stock blocks and tomato paste to make the sauce, then stir this into the potjie vegetables and bacon. The tomato paste supplies colour and a concentrated savoury-tangy base; the stock blocks season the liquid. The order gives the stock and tomato time to distribute through the pot before the biltong and pasta are added.
Sources for this section
Add biltong, pasta and dairy in stages
Add biltong, cover and simmer for about five minutes. Then remove the lid and stir in the milk, cream and already cooked pasta. Cover again and let the pot simmer for about ten minutes. The biltong is therefore heated within the moist sauce, rather than cooked for the full duration from the beginning; this staging preserves its identity as a dried meat while allowing its flavour to season the liquid.
Finish by sprinkling on the grated Cheddar, mixing well and serving. LK’s notes that if the potjie cooks dry, the cook can add a little more milk or water until the consistency is right. This is a source-supported adjustment, but the quantity is intentionally flexible. Do not add all extra liquid by default: the starting moisture and heat loss depend on the pot and fire.
Sources for this section
Serving and the limits of the recipe
The large stated yield makes this a communal meal suited to a group around the braai. The source does not specify accompaniments, a detailed serving weight, or a cooling and storage plan. It is best represented as LK’s source recipe, not as a universal formula for all potjies. A smaller batch can’t be obtained reliably by dividing every ingredient without considering the different pot size and evaporation; LK’s separate No. 6 batch is documented, but no small home batch is given.
The recipe uses purchased biltong and does not teach its manufacture. Biltong itself varies in dryness, fat, salt and particle size, so the finished sauce and chew may differ by product. The source gives no claim that biltong becomes shelf-stable after mixing with dairy. Treat the finished dish as a prepared cooked food and follow ordinary safe chilling guidance for leftovers rather than making an unsupported shelf-life claim.
Sources for this section
History
LK’s Kitchen published this biltong pasta potjie in May 2022 and offers separate No. 3 and No. 6 batch sizes. It documents a contemporary recipe combining potjie cooking with cooked pasta and dairy, not a historical claim about the origins of potjie or biltong.
Ingredients
Yield 16 servings · Scaling: source batch only
Biltong
1.5 kg
Bacon
1 pack
Sunflower oil
2 tots
Garlic clovesCrushed and chopped
3 cloves
Mushrooms
2 tins
OnionsSliced
6
Full-cream milk
237 mL1 cup as recorded
Fresh cream
237 mL1 cup as recorded
Pasta shellsCook according to packet instructions and set aside.
1 kg
Green peppersSliced
2
Cheddar cheeseGrated
500 g
Braai spice
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Salt and pepperTo season
No quantity supplied.
Boiling waterFor the sauce
1.5 L
Mixed green herbsFor the sauce
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
Chicken stockFor the sauce
4 blocks
Tomato pasteFor the sauce
1 sachet
Method
Risks and precautions
Hot coals and heavy cast-iron vessel
The recipe cooks outdoors over hot coals in a lidded cast-iron potjie.
Hazard sourceUse the potjie over a stable fire and handle its hot lid and vessel with suitable heat protection.
Control sourceThe source uses ready-to-eat biltong; this recipe does not describe or validate biltong manufacture.
- Prepare the pasta according to its packet instructions and set it aside, as LK’s directs.
- Set the potjie over hot coals. Add sunflower oil and fry the sliced onions until soft. Add garlic, sliced green pepper, mushrooms and bacon, and continue cooking until the bacon is cooked and sizzling.
- For the sauce, combine the boiling water, mixed green herbs, chicken-stock blocks and tomato paste. Add this mixture to the potjie and stir it with the onion, pepper, mushroom and bacon mixture.
- Add the biltong, cover the pot and simmer for about 5 minutes, then remove the lid. Add the full-cream milk, fresh cream and cooked pasta. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the grated Cheddar, mix well and serve. If the potjie cooks dry, LK’s suggests adding a little more milk or water until the consistency suits you.
Conditions
Yield16 servings
Places
South Africa
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe recipe source documents a modern version. It does not establish an origin date for the dish.
Related
Made from
Cream
The fat-rich fraction of milk, used as a pouring ingredient, a whipped foam, a cultured dairy substrate or the starting material for butter.
Milk
Milk is the fluid produced by dairy animals. Its species, fat level, heat treatment and handling shape the way it can be drunk, cultured or turned into curd.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are the edible fruiting bodies of fungi, cultivated or gathered, and each species has its own texture, aroma and handling needs. Fresh, dried and roasted forms differ in water and in flavour compounds.
Onion
The onion is the bulb of Allium cepa, built from swollen leaf bases, and is eaten raw, cooked, pickled and as a seasoning in ferments. It is known only from cultivation and probably began in Central Asia.
Equipment
Potjie
A lidded, rounded cast-iron pot with three legs, used over open fires and embers across southern Africa. Its African history belongs to the vessel's adoption and use, not a claim of European invention.
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Sources
LK’s KitchenRecipe · Method · Equipment · Image
Biltong PotjieNo. 3 potjie version serves 16 and uses 1.5 kg biltong, one pack bacon, 2 tots sunflower oil, 3 chopped garlic cloves, 2 tins mushrooms, 6 onions, 1 cup milk, 1 cup cream, 1 kg pasta shells, 2 green peppers, 500 g Cheddar, 1 tsp braai spice and salt and pepper.
Sauce: 1.5 L boiling water, 2 tsp mixed green herbs, 4 chicken stock blocks, 1 sachet tomato paste.
Cook pasta by package instructions; fry onions, then add garlic, peppers, mushrooms and bacon until bacon cooks; make and add the sauce; add biltong and simmer covered about 5 minutes; add milk, cream and cooked pasta and simmer covered about 10 minutes; stir in cheese and serve.
LK’s also publishes a No. 6 formulation for 48 servings; its quantities are separate from the No. 3 recipe.
Cited in: A contemporary creamy pasta potjie; The No. 3 potjie ingredients; Build the potjie base and sauce; Add biltong, pasta and dairy in stages; Serving and the limits of the recipe
Food Standards AgencySafety
How to chill, freeze and defrost food safelyOfficial guidance says cooked dishes and dairy products should be refrigerated and storage instructions followed.
Cited in: Serving and the limits of the recipe