Biltong Pâté: The 10-Minute Recipe That Uses Up Your Biltong Powder

Every pouch of biltong ends the same way. You get down to the last handful and it is mostly powder and small offcuts, the bits that fell off the bigger slices. Perfectly good beef, just not much fun to eat by the handful.

This is what South Africans have always done with it.

Biltong pâté takes about ten minutes, needs no cooking at all, and turns the dusty bottom of the bag into the best thing on a cheeseboard. It is rich, salty, deeply beefy, and it disappears faster than you expect. If you are having people over, make double.

Why this works

Biltong is concentrated beef. Roughly 3kg of raw meat becomes 1kg of finished biltong, because about 65% of the weight leaves as moisture during the slow-dry. That means the flavour is already three times as intense as the steak it started as.

Blend that into something creamy and the salt and the coriander spread through the whole bowl. You get the depth of a liver pâté without the liver, and without the hour of cooking.

It also works because biltong powder is the ideal texture for this. You are not trying to blend tough slices into submission, you are just folding fine beef dust through soft cheese.

Ingredients

Serves 6 to 8 as a starter.

• 100g biltong, finely ground (powder from the bottom of the pouch is perfect)
• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 100g butter, softened
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Cracked black pepper, to taste
• A small handful of chives, finely chopped

Use Original for a traditional coriander and pepper profile, or Paprika if you want the smoked paprika and garlic coming through. Both work. The Paprika version is the better one for a braai.

Method

1. Grind the biltong. If you are using powder from the bottom of the pouch, skip this. Otherwise, pulse 100g of biltong in a coffee grinder or small food processor for about 5 seconds, until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Do not over-process it into flour, you want a little texture.
2. Soften everything. Make sure the cream cheese and butter are properly at room temperature. Cold dairy will not blend smoothly and you will end up with lumps.
3. Blend. Put the cream cheese, butter, Worcestershire and lemon juice in a bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until completely smooth and slightly whipped.
4. Fold in the biltong. Add the ground biltong and mix through by hand. Do not beat it now, you will lose the texture. Add cracked pepper to taste. Go easy on any extra salt, the biltong is already salt-cured.
5. Chill. Spoon into a ramekin or small dish, smooth the top, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Two is better. The flavour deepens noticeably as it sits.
6. Serve. Scatter the chives over the top and serve with crackers, toasted sourdough, or cucumber and celery sticks if you are keeping it low carb.

Tips from the kitchen

• Do not add salt. Genuinely. Biltong is salt-cured and the cheese carries salt too. Taste first, and you will almost never need more.
• Make it a day ahead. This improves overnight. The coriander and pepper bloom through the cream cheese and the whole thing tastes more like one ingredient than three.
• Want it richer? Swap 50g of the cream cheese for crème fraîche or sour cream. Looser, tangier, still excellent.
• Want it firmer? Press it into a lined bowl or small loaf tin, chill until solid, then turn it out and slice it. Serve it as a proper pâté on a board.
• Freezing. It freezes well for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight and give it a quick stir before serving.

What to serve it with

This is a natural centrepiece for a grazing board. Put the pâté in the middle, surround it with crackers, cornichons, dried figs, a wedge of aged cheddar, and a handful of whole biltong slices so people can see where it came from.

For drinks, a Shiraz stands up to the salt and the pepper beautifully. A hoppy pale ale cuts through the richness if you would rather beer. We went into this properly in our guides to biltong and wine pairing and biltong and beer pairing.

Making it with our biltong

All of ours is Australian grass-fed topside, slow-dried over 7 to 14 days and flipped every few hours so it dries evenly. Five ingredients: beef, vinegar, salt, coriander, black pepper. No sugar, no preservatives, nothing you cannot pronounce.

Every size ships as resealable 250g pouches, so a 1kg order arrives as four sealed pouches and only the one you are working through is ever open. Browse the range here. Free express delivery Australia-wide on orders over $150.

One-off orders get 5% off automatically. Subscribe and it is 10% off every order for as long as you stay, with no obligation and cancel anytime. And if you are not 100% satisfied, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee.

FAQ

What is biltong pâté?

A South African spread made by blending finely ground biltong through softened cream cheese and butter. No cooking required. It has the depth of a traditional pâté without using liver, and takes about ten minutes to make.

Can I use biltong powder from the bottom of the bag?

That is exactly what it is for. The powder and small offcuts left at the end of a pouch are ideal here, which makes this the most useful recipe in the biltong repertoire.

How long does biltong pâté keep?

Covered in the fridge, up to five days. It also freezes for around a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and stir before serving.

Which biltong flavour works best?

Original gives you the traditional coriander and black pepper profile. Paprika adds smoked paprika and garlic, which suits a braai or a heartier board. Both work well.

Is biltong pâté keto friendly?

Yes. Biltong is under 1g of carbohydrate per serve with no added sugar, and cream cheese and butter are both keto staples. Serve with cucumber or celery instead of crackers to keep it low carb.