Beef Rendang: Indonesian Slow Cooked Beef Stew
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Indonesian Beef Rendang (Rendang Daging Sapi) is a popular, traditional slow-cooked beef dish from West Sumatra, Indonesia. Known for its complex blend of spices, it’s slow-cooked to tender perfection in a coconut milk and spice mixture.
This recipe is part of the collection my mother handed down to me when she first began to experience the early stages of Alzheimer’s. She knew she wouldn’t be cooking anymore, so she wanted to pass on the recipes she and my grandmother had made over the years. A dish full of memories!
Check out more traditional dishes to make at home in this collection of Indonesian main dishes.
Beef Rendang offers deep, spicy, and aromatic flavors. It combines savory, sweet, and tangy elements with a rich, coconut-based sauce that gives the beef a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
The stew is prepared by searing the beef and then cooking it slowly with a spice paste known as a bumbu. This spice paste includes ingredients like onions, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemon grass, and chilies. Everything is then simmered and slow-cooked in coconut milk until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened.
The recipe can vary slightly depending on the region of Indonesia, family traditions, personal taste, or even what’s available in one’s pantry. You can prepare it on the stovetop, or in the slow cooker, like I am.
Continue below for the full recipe with ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
Cooking beef rendang in a pot on the stove takes less time compared to a slow cooker because of the higher and more direct heat. This speeds up the cooking process, leading to quicker tenderization of the meat and reduction of the sauce. In contrast, a slow cooker uses lower, consistent heat over a longer period, which allows the flavors to meld slowly and the meat to become tender without the risk of burning.
Beef Rendang is often served as a main dish during special occasions, celebrations, and family gatherings, typically with steamed white rice, or nasi goreng fried rice. It pairs well with simple sides like acar ketimun (pickled cucumber), or sambal (chili paste) for an added kick.
Ingredient Notes
Typical Indonesian ingredients include lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, sweet soy sauce, and palm sugar. These can be found at Asian grocery stores, or online on Amazon (follow the links added for your convenience), but substitutes like brown sugar, lime zest, or lemon grass paste can be used if necessary.
The best cut of beef to use is a tough braising steak like a chuck steak. Tough but very flavorful (and inexpensive!) meat that needs long slow cooking. This makes it perfect for beef rendang. You can also use short ribs.
Beef Rendang (Rendang Sapi)
Learn how to make this authentic family recipe for Beef Rendang, a rich and flavorful slow-cooked beef stew dish, cooked with aromatic spices and coconut milk.
Don't be intimidated by the list of ingredients. It is basically a "throw everything together and let it simmer" recipe.
Fits a gluten-free diet.
Ingredients
- 500 g beef (braising meat like chuck steak)
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-2 tbsp chili paste (sambal oelek)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder (koenjit or kunyit)
- ½ tsp cumin powder (djinten)
- 1 tbsp coriander powder (ketoembar)
- 1 tsp ginger powder (djahe)
- 1/2 tsp galangal powder (laos)
- 2 lemongrass stalks (sereh)
- 2-3 makrut lime leaves (jeruk perut leaves)
- 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick or ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (gula jawa)
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- salt to taste
- 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Brown the Beef: Cut the beef into small pieces. Heat some oil in a pan and cook the beef until it’s browned. This helps to lock in the flavor.
- Blend the Bumbu Spice Paste: Blend the onion, garlic, and chili paste with the spices, the ginger powder, galangal, turmeric, cumin, and coriander powder. If needed, add a tablespoon of oil to help with blending. You can use a mortar and pestle for a traditional touch or a blender or food processor for convenience.
- Cook Aromatics: Heat oil in a large pot, add the blended spice paste, and cook until fragrant.
- Combine in Slow Cooker: Add everything, the seared beef, spice paste, coconut milk, sweet soy sauce, water, tamarind paste, lemongrass (bruised and knotted), makrut lime leaves, cinnamon, and palm sugar to the slow cooker.
- Cook: Set the slow cooker to low and let it cook for 6-8 hours or high for
4-5 hours until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened. If you’re preparing the beef rendang on the stove, simmer on low heat for about 3 hours.
Notes
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, warm on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through.
Adjust the spiciness by varying the amount of chili paste.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 682Total Fat: 49gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 30gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 307mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 5gSugar: 12gProtein: 36g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated. These figures should be considered estimates.
Rendang is featured in the 5 national dishes of Indonesia collection of recipes.
