Name: The Best Satay Beef recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: asian, thai
Ingredients: 500g beef rump steak, thinly sliced; 1 tbs peanut oil; 1 onion large sliced; 1 garlic clove; 1 red chilli optional small thinly sliced; 1 tsp lemon rind grated; 3 tsp curry powder *to taste; 1 tbs soy sauce; 2 tbs peanut butter heaped; 250ml Essentials Coconut Milk; 2 tbs fresh coriander

by Natasha Shaw Last updated on 10/31/2025

Stay in tonight, shun the takeaway, and make your own satay beef. It’s much easier than you think, and these tender beef strips bathed in a creamy peanut sauce will soon become a firm family favourite.

How to make the best satay beef: key tips

Start by cooking the onion, garlic, rind and spices. Cooking these first before adding any liquid releases their flavours and is an essential step in cooking any spices. Just a minute stirring over medium heat will do it.

The pan will then be lovely and hot, which is perfect for searing the beef strips, trapping in all their tender juices. When you add the soy sauce, coconut milk and peanut butter, give the mixture a good stir, to lift all the flavours from the base of the pan and incorporate them in the sauce.

As the beef strips are thin, they will cook quickly, so don’t feel the need to cook this dish for a long time – just long enough to warm everything through and combine the flavours. If you cook the beef for much longer, it will become tough and chewy.

Serve the satay beef over steamed basmati or jasmine rice, which will soak up the sauce.

Key ingredients in the best satay beef recipe

Beef rump is a natural choice for stir-frying, as it is a lean and flavourful cut that is at its best when thinly sliced. You could also use rib-eye or porterhouse steak, if you wish. You could also substitute the beef for chicken breast tenderloins.

Choose regular smooth peanut butter, over crunchy, for this dish, which will help create the creamy sauce.

Long red chilli makes this dish sing, but feel free to adjust how much you use depending on your family’s preference. You could also remove the seeds before you slice it to reduce the heat. I personally love coriander, but if it’s not to your taste, then simply leave it out.

Enjoy fakeaway at home with these delicious Thai recipes, Indian dishes and Chinese meals.

This recipe was originally submitted by Beljekali, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.

- Natasha Shaw

Ingredients

500g beef rump steak, thinly sliced
1 tbs peanut oil
1 onion large sliced
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli optional small thinly sliced
1 tsp lemon rind grated
3 tsp curry powder *to taste
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs peanut butter heaped
250ml Woolworths Essentials Coconut Milk
2 tbs fresh coriander

Method

Step 1

Heat pan, add oil, onions, chilli, garlic, lemon rind and curry powder and cook for 1 minute.
Step 2

Add meat and cook until just brown.
Step 3

Add soy sauce, coconut milk and peanut butter and stir until smooth.
Step 4

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 5

Stir in coriander and serve.

Recipe Notes

from Australia’s Best Recipes team

How can I make this satay beef lower in fat?

To make this dish low fat, you could use light peanut butter and light coconut milk. Note that the result won’t be as creamy.

Can I add vegies to the best satay beef?

Of course. Feel free to add capsicum strips, chopped green beans, carrot sticks and/or snow peas to this dish for a veg boost. After step 2, remove the meat from the pan, stir-fry the vegies until tender-crisp, then return the meat and continue with the recipe.