Suya is the most famous grilled meat in West Africa. Smoky, nutty, peanut-driven, mildly spicy. Until recently, the only way to eat it in the UK was a Nigerian restaurant or your auntie's kitchen. Now you can cook it at home in 25 minutes.
This is the master suya recipe. The same technique works on beef, chicken, lamb, or prawns. Read this once. After that, the variations are easy.
For the chicken-wing version, see Suya Chicken Wings. For the classic skewer version, see Beef Suya Skewers. For everything you need to know about the spice itself, see our Suya Spice hub.
What you need
- 500 g of your protein. Thin-sliced beef, chicken thighs or wings, lamb chops, or king prawns. Beef is the original.
- 2 tbsp Costack Suya Spice, plus 1 tbsp extra for finishing.
- 1 tbsp neutral oil (sunflower, rapeseed, or groundnut).
- Skewers (metal or soaked bamboo) if you are grilling.
- To serve: sliced red onion, tomato, cucumber, a wedge of lime.
Method
- Slice the protein thin. For beef, 5 mm strips against the grain. For chicken thigh, 2 cm chunks. Wings stay whole. Lamb chops as-is.
- Coat in oil first. Toss the protein with 1 tbsp oil in a bowl. The oil makes the spice stick.
- Add 2 tbsp Costack Suya Spice. Toss again. Every piece should be covered. Press the spice in with your hands.
- Rest 10-15 minutes. Long enough for the salt to start drawing flavour in. Not so long that the meat goes mushy. Suya is a rub, not a marinade.
- Skewer if using. Thread 4-5 pieces per skewer, leaving small gaps so heat circulates.
- Grill hot. BBQ, griddle pan, or oven on grill setting. Beef: 4-5 min per side. Chicken: 6-7 min per side. Lamb: 3 min per side. Prawns: 90 sec per side.
- Finishing dust. The trick most home cooks miss. After cooking, sprinkle the extra 1 tbsp suya over the hot meat. The raw kuli kuli hits differently than the cooked version. This is the flavour you remember.
- Serve. Pile onto a plate with sliced raw onion, tomato, cucumber, and lime wedges. Eat with your hands.
Why this works
Suya is not a marinade. It is a dry rub. The peanut, smoked paprika, and cayenne build a crust on the meat in the hot grill. The fat in the meat carries the flavour. Marinating in oil and water dilutes that.
The second dusting after cooking gives you raw kuli kuli (roasted peanut) on the surface, which is the signature taste of street suya. Skip it and you are eating cooked suya. Add it and you are eating real suya.
Equipment notes
You do not need a BBQ. A cast-iron griddle pan on the hob works fine. The oven grill works for wings and chops. The only thing that does not work is a low-heat pan, because suya needs sear to bloom the spices.
Pairings
Cold lager. Or a bold red. Suya holds up to both. For a full Nigerian spread, serve alongside jollof rice and fried rice.
Buy the spice
Costack Suya Spice is £15 a jar. 250 g. 12-15 batches of skewers per jar. Royal Mail delivery, 2-3 working days, free over £35.
Want the full meat-lovers set? The Meat Lover's 4-Pack bundles Suya, Meat Seasoning, Chicken & Turkey, and BBQ rub for £40.
