Beef Satay

4.39 from 18 votes
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Beef Satay - beef is marinated overnight with spices, skewed to satay and grilled. Best beef satay recipe with spicy peanut sauce. 

Easy homemade Malaysian beef satay skewers.
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Satay is probably Malaysia’s “King of Street Food.” Satay such as beef satay and chicken satay are well loved by many people.

Satay is perfect as an appetizer.

The skewered meat never fails to impress, especially for those people who have never tried Malaysian street food.

Serve the beef satay with a spicy peanut sauce and you have the most amazing tasting skewered meat ever, with a flavor so complex and deep that you want more with each bite.

Closed up beef satay.

Anyway, here is my easy, authentic, and super delicious beef satay recipe, with a spicy peanut sauce for dipping.

Serve the beef satay with some onion and cucumber.

Take some cucumber and onion after each bite of the beef satay to refresh your palate.

Trust me, it’s the most amazing combinations ever.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 504 calories per serving.

Grilled beef skewers served on banana leaves.

What To Serve With Beef Satay

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

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4.39 from 18 votes

Beef Satay

Beef Satay – beef is marinated overnight with spices, skewed to satay and grilled. Best beef satay recipe with spicy peanut sauce.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 10 people
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Equipment

  • 16-20 Bamboo skewers soaked in water

Ingredients  

  • 2 lbs (1kg) beef, sirloin, cut into 1/4 inch thick or 3/4-1 inch cubes
  • 1 small cucumber, cut into small pieces
  • 1 red onion, cut into quarters
  • Malaysian rice cakes, optional, cut into bite size pieces

Marinade:

  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons coriander powder
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
  • 10 shallots, peeled, cut and halved
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 4 stalks lemongrass, white part only, cut into 1-inch length
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons oil
  • 1-2 tablespoon water

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce:

  • 5 tablespoons oil
  • 3/4 tablespoon seedless tamarind pulp, soaked in 3 1/2 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 cup roasted peanuts, skins removed and coarsely blended
  • 3/4 cup water
  • Sugar, to taste
  • Salt, to taste

Spice Paste:

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 5-6 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, cut into 1-inch length
  • 3/4 inch (2cm) galangal, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 shallots, peeled
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • salt and sugar to taste

Instructions 

  • Blend all the marinade ingredients into a smooth paste. Heat some oil in a wok and stir-fry the marinade until fragrant and the oil slightly separates. Transfer it out and set aside.
  • Marinate the beef pieces with the marinade overnight in the refrigerator.

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce:

  • Extract the juice from the tamarind pulp and discard the solids. Blend the spice paste ingredients into a smooth paste, adding water if needed.
  • Heat the oil in a pan and stir-fry the spice paste until fragrant. Then, turn the heat to medium-high and continue cooking until the oil slightly separates.
  • Add the tamarind juice, peanuts, and water, then stir well and bring to a quick boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste. Dish out and set aside.

Making and Cooking Beef Satay:

  • Thread 3-4 pieces of the marinated beef onto each bamboo skewer to make the satay. Repeat until all the meat is used. Grill the satay over a charcoal or outdoor gas grill until both sides are slightly charred and the meat is cooked through.

Nutrition

Serving: 10people, Calories: 504kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 38g, Saturated Fat: 19g, Cholesterol: 64mg, Sodium: 534mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 11g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Rasa Malaysia

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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Recipe Rating





41 Comments

  1. Paul says:

    Awsum dish – cooked over coals this is as authentic as it comes !! 12/10 :):)

    I look forward
    To more Malaysian rescipe’s

  2. Cynthia Rivera says:

    What’s the difference between the marinade and the spice paste?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Marinade for the beef and spice paste for the peanut sauce.

  3. Adiah says:

    This is my first attempt to bake a thin slice of skewers. This technique is very appropriate. That said, there are problems along the way. By the time I got a good burn on all sides of the skewered meat, the meat was overdone. I fix this with my second skewer by spraying meat with Pam right before placing it on the grill. This allows the meat to free from the gate sooner than later. Basically, there isn’t enough oil in the marinade as stated in the recipe. I think all this can be reduced by using fatter cuts of meat, such as skirts, or rib steak. As for the taste, I tried it with and without peanut sauce. Without peanut sauce, ginger is the dominant spice. Ginger is a refreshing taste, but I’m not looking for soft drinks. Peanut sauce changes the taste completely, for the better I think. In the end, I will use this technique and make again using a different piece of meat with the steak seasoning that I have tried and correct.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks for your feedback. You need to just turning the beef satay to cook evenly.

  4. Peter Zeegers says:

    The recipe is confusing. Are the spice paste and dipping sauce two different dishes?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Spice paste is part of the satay dipping sauce.

  5. Edith Tan says:

    4 stars
    The flavors from this recipe were legitimate!!! I added a lot more water and extra peanuts (1 & 1/4 cup) as well as gula melaka palm sugar to the peanut sauce and it was fantastic. I served it with pressed jasmine rice cooked with pandan leaves and the satay was grilled over charcoal. This is as close to the satay I would find in Singapore as I can get here in Belgium! Thank you!

  6. Jaky says:

    Is there a reason why the chicken satay marinade recipe is different from your beef satay recipe? I’m making both and it would be easier to just make one marinade.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      You can use the chicken marinade. :)

    2. Tony says:

      We lived in Malaysia and brought the recipe home. Chicken marinade is different to meet ( either beef or lamb are good)

  7. Muna says:

    Hi Bee, I look forward to receiving your Malaysian recipes.
    I am going to try the Satay recipe, as well as the
    Penang Hokkien Mee.
    Thank you so much for your delicious recipes.
    Hugs and kind regards.

    Muna.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Muna, thanks for trying my recipes. Beef satay is amazing.

  8. Carolyn says:

    Could you marinade and skewer and then freeze until you wanted to use these?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes, you can!

      1. Siangboon says:

        yes , but make sure you wrap the skewers very tightly in saran wrap, eliminating air pockets. Or vacuum seal the skewered marinaded meat, then freeze . NO AIR POCKETS !!! This prevents freezer burn- otherwise meat becomes sawdust.

  9. Thuc Nguyen Vo says:

    I forgot to heat the marinade ingredients before mixing it with the beef :( Does it make that huge of a difference? I will let it marinade overnight and hopefully it will turn out good…

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      It’s fine.

  10. Gourmet Getaways says:

    Oh Yum!
    I need this in my life!
    Thanks for sharing
    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways