🥙 LUNCH
Rwandan Brochettes
Marinated goat skewers grilled over charcoal and served with grilled plantain, Rwanda's favorite social food.
Rwandan · easy · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 20 min · plus 30 min hands-off time
~910 cal · 52g protein · 89g carbs · 39g fat · 11g fiber · 36g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Brochettes are Rwanda's favourite social food, skewers of marinated grilled meat eaten at bars, roadside grills, and gatherings across the country, often with a cold drink and good company. Ordering brochettes is as much about the occasion as the food.
Cubes of goat (the classic), beef, or chicken are marinated in oil, garlic, and spices, threaded onto skewers, and grilled over charcoal until charred outside and juicy within. They are served hot off the grill with grilled (ibitoki) and sometimes a little chili sauce or salad. Simple, smoky, and deeply satisfying, brochettes are the taste of an easy Rwandan evening among friends.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- 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 4
- 1 1/2 lb goat or beef, cubed
- 3 tbsp garlic and ginger, minced
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato paste
- 2-6 pili-pili chilies, pounded to a paste, to taste
- 1 tsp paprika
- to taste salt and black pepper
- 2 onions
- 3 , to grill
- 1 lb sweet potato or French fries, to serve
Instructions
- 1Blend the crushed tomatoes with half an onion, the garlic, ginger, pili-pili, paprika, oil and salt into a medium-thick sauce. Set half aside for dipping, and marinate the cubed meat in the rest for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- 2Cut the remaining onions into chunks and thread them onto skewers alternating with the meat, packed closely together. Soak wooden skewers first so they do not burn.
- 3Grill over hot charcoal, turning about three times and basting with the marinade each time, until the meat takes on a reddish colour and chars at the edges, 10 to 15 minutes.✎ Chef’s noteCharcoal, not gas, is what gives brochettes their smoky Rwandan character. Cut the cubes evenly and do not overcook: charred outside, still juicy inside. Rwandan brochettes are savoury rather than fiery, so the pili-pili is there for warmth, not heat.
- 4Grill the plantains alongside and serve everything hot with the reserved sauce for dipping, sweet potato or French fries, and a kachumbari of chopped tomato and onion.
Rwandan social-grill tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kigali. The hills do the farming. Rwanda is cultivated intensively up steep slopes, so beans, sweet potato, cassava and bananas come off small plots and the everyday plate carries several starches at once. Brochettes over charcoal, usually goat, are the sociable evening exception to an otherwise mild kitchen.
🗺️
Rwanda. Brochettes are the national street food: goat or beef cubed and grilled over charcoal, ordered by the stick and eaten with grilled plantain, and the argument is about whether the fat should be left on. Beans and cooking bananas do the daily work underneath, and the hills that give the country its nickname also give it a temperate climate that grows both.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Rwanda
IsombePounded cassava leaves stewed with spinach, eggplant, and peanut into a soft, savory green.
Ibijumba n'IkivugutoThe classic Rwandan breakfast: warm boiled sweet potatoes served with ikivuguto, a tangy cultured fermented milk.
IgikomaRwanda's morning porridge of sorghum, maize, and soya flour, whisked smooth and drunk warm and sweet from a mug.
Browse all Rwanda 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Rwandan Brochettes?
Marinated goat skewers grilled over charcoal and served with grilled plantain, Rwanda's favorite social food.
Where does Rwandan Brochettes come from?
Rwandan Brochettes is a Rwandan dish from Kigali, Rwanda.
Can Rwandan Brochettes be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Rwandan Brochettes 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 Rwandan Brochettes 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 Rwandan Brochettes take to make?
About 1 h 20 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 20 minutes cooking, plus 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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