🍢 SNACK
Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers)
Cubes of beef marinated in onion, garlic, ginger, mustard, lemon and chili, threaded with onion and pepper and grilled over charcoal until browned and smoky.
Congolese · easy · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 15 min · plus 1 h hands-off time
~428 cal · 46g protein · 5g carbs · 24g fat · 1g fiber · 2g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kamundele means skewer in Lingala, the language of Kinshasa, and in Kinshasa it is the name for grilled beef brochettes, a much-loved street food and a fixture of parties and family gatherings. The same family of grilled, spiced meat on sticks runs across much of Africa, from Hausa suya to the brochettes of Rwanda.
The beef is cut into small cubes and left for at least an hour, or overnight, in a marinade that is blended rather than rubbed: onion, garlic, fresh ginger, a spoonful of mustard, lemon juice, chili, oil and a cube. The pieces are threaded onto sticks, often alternating with onion and green pepper, and grilled over charcoal until browned and smoky at the edges.
Kamundele is eaten hot with a dusting of chili or a spoonful of pili-pili, the fiery Congolese pepper sauce, alongside fried or kwanga, the steamed bread.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1 kg (2 lb) beef rump or sirloin, cut into 2 to 3 cm cubes
- 1 onion, roughly chopped, for the marinade
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp chili powder, plus more to serve
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cube, crushed
- to taste salt and black pepper
- 1 each onion and green pepper, cut into squares, for threading
- a small dish pili-pili or other hot chili sauce, to serve
Instructions
- 1Blend the roughly chopped onion, garlic, ginger, mustard, lemon juice, chili powder, oil and stock cube to a smooth marinade.
- 2Pour it over the beef, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.✎ Chef’s noteIf you use wooden skewers, soak them in water while the meat marinates so they do not burn on the grill.
- 3Thread 4 or 5 cubes of beef onto each skewer, alternating with squares of onion and green pepper.
- 4Grill over hot charcoal or on a very hot grill pan for 10 to 12 minutes, turning every few minutes and brushing with any leftover marinade, until browned and charred at the edges.✎ Chef’s noteSmall cubes over a hot fire stay juicy. If the fire is too gentle, the meat stews in its marinade before it browns.
- 5Serve hot, dusted with a little more chili, with pili-pili on the side.
Kinshasa street-food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kinshasa. Kinshasa is a megacity on the Congo River, fed by pondu, cassava leaves pounded and simmered slowly with palm oil and fish. Fufu and chikwangue made from cassava, grilled river fish, and fiery pili pili sauce carry the everyday meal.
🗺️
DR Congo. Congolese cooking centers on cassava, as fufu and as pounded leaves (pondu), with grilled fish, moambe palm-nut stew, and fiery pili pili. Plantain, rice, and communal eating anchor a vast Central African nation's table.
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Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from DR Congo
Pondu (Saka Saka)Cassava leaves pounded and simmered with palm oil, eggplant, and smoked richness, the Congo’s daily green.
MikateSweet Congolese fried dough balls, golden, pillowy, and dusted with sugar, for breakfast with tea.
MadesuWhite beans simmered in a savory palm-oil, onion, and tomato sauce, an everyday staple of the DR Congo table.
Browse all DR Congo recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Grill or barbecue, Blender.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a DR Congo meal
Tangawisi (Congolese Ginger Tonic)Drink
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)Dessert
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KapanaNamibia
Anticuchos de Corazón (Peruvian Beef Heart Skewers)Peru
Dibi (Senegalese Grilled Lamb with Mustard Onions)Senegal
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers)?
Cubes of beef marinated in onion, garlic, ginger, mustard, lemon and chili, threaded with onion and pepper and grilled over charcoal until browned and smoky.
Where does Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) come from?
Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) is a Congolese dish from Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Can Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kamundele (Congolese Beef Skewers) take to make?
About 1 h 40 min in all: 25 minutes prep and 15 minutes cooking, plus 1 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.
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