Spicy Beef Vindaloo
This beef vindaloo recipe is always a popular curry dish. My version is wonderfully spicy, though you can easily adjust the heat and spice to your preference.
We’ve been going crazy for curries in the Chili Pepper Madness household, and any sort of “vindaloo” recipe is usually a first choice.
My wife, Patty, has really developed a taste for it and you don’t know how happy that makes me. It’s gotten to the point where she actually requests it for special meals.
BONUS! Because I LOVE a good Vindaloo!
I’ve shared with you recipes for Chicken Vindaloo and Lamb Vindaloo, and now I have for you a version made with beef that gets huge flavor from my Vindaloo marinade. It cooks low and slow in the pan until the beef is fall-apart tender.
It has loads of flavor, a nice level of spice, and plenty of HEAT because I’m also using ghost pepper powder to season things up. You can skip the ghost peppers if they’re too spicy for you.
Or add extra! I know how crazy you are, my chilihead friends!
“Vindaloo” is very often made with pork, though any meat is good for vindaloo. Try it with pork, goat, beef, chicken, even potato and/or chickpeas for a vegetarian version.
It’s all good!
A Brief History of Vindaloo
“Vindaloo” originally was a meal of meat marinaded in wine and garlic. It comes from the Portuguese dish, “carne de vinha d’alhos, which translates to “meat in garlic wine marinade”. Portuguese sailors brought it to India, where the locals adopted it and transformed it with local ingredients, including the addition of dried chili peppers and other spices.
As Vindaloo spread to other regions, it continued to change as locals adopted new spices.
Even though it has transformed in its travels around the world, most styles still offer that spice level and flavor we all crave.
Let’s talk about how we make this Beef Vindaloo, shall we?
Preparing Beef Vindaloo (Recipe) – The Marinade
The marinade is a very important part of this dish. It offers an immense amount of flavor that all of us spicy food lovers crave.
Vinegar is hugely important, as is garlic. Then we add in all of our pungent spices to make this dish top notch, including paprika, ginger, coriander, turmeric, mustard powder, cumin, cinnamon, and a healthy dose of spicy red chili flakes.
I’m also using ghost pepper powder from ghost peppers I grew in my garden. I dehydrated them then ground them into powder. It’s very hot this way. You can skip them if ghost peppers are too hot for you. Learn how to dehydrate chili peppers for making chili powders.
You can use this blend to make your own Vindaloo Curry Seasoning to use anytime you’d like.
Whisk all of the seasonings together with the vinegar and fresh garlic, like so. Garlic powder works, too.
Next, pour the Vindaloo marinade over the beef in a bowl, or use a sealable plastic bag. Add the meat and marinade.
Refrigerate the beef for at least 1 hour, though you’ll get better results if you let it marinate overnight.
More marinade time = more flavor.
You can very easily prep this recipe together the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator until dinner time the next evening.
When you’re ready to cook, just pop it out of the fridge and get cooking. Super easy weeknight meal.
How to Make Beef Vindaloo (Recipe) – The Method
Making Beef Vindaloo is simple once your beef has marinated. First, heat some olive oil in a large pan to medium heat. Any vegetable oil is good, too. Ghee is more traditionally used.
Next, add the onion and peppers and cook them down a few minutes to soften them up. I used spicy serrano peppers here, though you can use milder peppers for a version with less heat. Jalapeno peppers are always a great option.
Next, add the marinated beef and stir. Cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring here and there. You want to brown the beef all over.
Add in the tomato paste and give it a quick stir, along with about 1/2 cup of water or chicken broth to form a sauce.
Also add in salt and pepper to taste.
Reduce heat and let the whole pan simmer at least 30 minutes, until the beef cooks through and the flavors develop. You can let it simmer longer if you’d like. I usually go 40 minutes or longer.
The main thing is to let the beef soften up to your personal taste.
If the sauce becomes too thick, just stir in a bit more water or broth until it reaches the consistency you prefer.
BOOM! DONE!
Serve it up over rice with some fresh herbs and extra spicy chili flakes. Spice it up, my friends!
Recipe Variations
Some cooks like to include a bit of sugar in the seasoning blend if you’d like, either white or brown sugar, though I didn’t use them this time.
Other popular ingredients with Vindaloo seasonings are garam masala, mustard seeds, ground black pepper or ground cloves. Feel free to include those if you’d like.
You can also adjust the seasonings ratios to your own preference.
Adjusting the Heat and Spice Levels
As mentioned, this is an extra hot recipe because of the ghost peppers. Even without ghost peppers, vindaloo spice mix can be pretty spicy for some.
If you’d like to keep the heat to a minimum, omit the ghost pepper powder and go easy on the cayenne. Cayenne has a decent level of heat.
If you’d like to up the heat factor a bit, you can add more cayenne. You can also experiment with amounts of ghost pepper powder or flakes to your own preference.
If it gets TOO spicy, serve it alongside this Traditional Indian Raita recipe, which is made from spiced yogurt. It has a nice cooling effect.
Patty’s Perspective
I really do love vindaloo. I’ll take it any way I can, with chicken, lamb, beef, even vegetarian. I just love all the spices and the flavors. Don’t forget the naan. Better than any Indian restaurant.
Try Some of My Popular Curry Dish Recipes
- Chicken Vindaloo
- Lamb Vindaloo
- Ghost Pepper Chicken Curry
- Spicy Thai Curry Chicken Soup
- Homemade Vindaloo Curry Powder
- Phaal Curry (the Hottest Curry in the World)
- Beef Rendang
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Spicy Beef Vindaloo – Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or use ghee (more traditional)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 serrano peppers chopped, or use Indian peppers if you can obtain them
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups beef stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE MARINADE
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon spicy red chili flakes I used ghost pepper flakes for an EXTRA kick
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
OPTIONAL OTHER SPICES: 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
FOR SERVING: Cooked rice, fresh herbs, extra chili flakes
Instructions
- Add the beef to a large bowl.
- Mix your marinade by whisking together the vinegar and all of the seasonings. Pour it over the beef and rub it into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Longer is better, such as overnight.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and peppers and cook about 4-5 minutes, until they soften up.
- Add the beef along with the marinade and cook another 5 minutes to nicely brown up the pieces.
- Add the tomato paste and cook another minute, stirring.
- Add the beef stock (You can also use chicken or veggie stock, or just water) and stir until the mixture thins out and becomes a sauce. You can add more broth or water if needed. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the beef is cooked through and tender.
- Serve as is or over rice with fresh herbs and sprinkled chili flakes. Make it rain!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
56 comments
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The best recipe I have found for Vindaloo, great balance of flavor…..added all the extra suggestions…..have now made using pork, chicken, lamb, pork, and even Wagyu beef. I have converted to instant pot (char first in cast iron ) to really bring out the flavors! 30 minutes for beef, pork, lamb, 15 for chicken……so tender and melts in your mouth. If you find you over did the heat (once in a while your peppers will surprise you), it can be toned down with either coconut milk or Greek yogurt. Thanks for sharing the recipe !!
Awesome! Thanks, Kevin! Super happy you enjoyed it.
Hi Mike,
This recipe is excellent! I followed the recipe fairly closely. No super hot ghost pepper powder, but I doubled the Serrano peppers and added a few jalapeños. To me the heat was perfect. The wife tasted it and asked me to make a Riata to serve on the side. Your Vindaloo turned out well and will be a permeant addition to my meal plan rotation. Tried it on rice the first time and Naan the second time. We loved both but Naan is an especially good way to serve your Vindaloo. Thanks!
Thanks so much, Terry! I’m very happy you enjoyed it. Glad it made it to the rotation! I appreciate it.
This recipe is fabulous! I made it tonight and it was awesome. Yummy to da tummy!
Great! Glad you enjoyed it!
We made this today and holy crap was it GOOD!! The recipe was super easy but the flavor that comes out tastes so deep and complex. We paired it with wild rice and naan. I might look pregnant now but it’s just the 2 bowls I had. Husband gave thumbs up.
Haha! Thanks, Stella! I know, we LOVE this recipe so much here. So good! Glad you enjoyed it.
Hey! How would you recommend turning this into a slow cooker recipe?
Kind regards
Dee
Dee, I would marinate the beef per the recipe, but when ready to cook, I would either sear the beef in a cast iron pan, then set them into the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients, or I would just toss it all in without the sear, then slow cook a couple hours until the meat is nice and tender. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Seems a good recipe. Will try. Thanks.
Enjoy!!
With the OPTIONAL OTHER SPICES when did you add those in? and will off of them be too much?
Cameron, you would add them when adding the other seasonings to the vinegar marinade. It really depends on how “spicy” you prefer. If you are concerned, you can cut the amounts in half and see how that turns out for you. Then adjust to your tastes the next time around. Let me know how it goes.
This was amazing as well, Hot, Hot, Hot but tasty as ever….
Thanks, Shane!
Just wondering if creamed coconut or some coconut milk might be good? I like heat, but also love my coconut in Curry!
Absolutely, Nevada. Would be delicious! Thai curries use coconut quite often. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
Excellent recipe! Thanks for sharing it
Thanks, Frida!
Excellent with lean kangaroo meat and some lentils mixed through.
Can’t say I’ve tried this with kangaroo.
Made this last night and it was just outstanding! We opted to let it simmer for 2 hours and used a fatalii in place of the serrano’s which was just at my wife’s heat threshold. I sprinkled my portion with ground Death Spiral. Looking forward to making this again.
Nice, Bill! I love how you heated it up, a little differently for each. Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Mike
I want to make this using fresh cayenne peppers I have (I have about 100 so far this season and am running out of recipes). How many fresh red cayenne would you suggest I use?
Thanks, love following the recipes!
Ruth, I personally would use 2-4, depending on the size, but maybe start with just a couple. Then you can adjust to your preferred heat preferences moving forward.
Can you use venison
Absolutely, Randy. I have not made this with venison, but surely you can. I think it would be great. Let me know how it turns out for you.
This Vindaloo is incredible! I was hesitant, but I wanted to get out of my cooking rut, and I loved this recipe so much I’ve started to explore the rest of your site. If this is an example of your recipes, I can’t wait to try your other stuff!!!
Excellent! Glad to hear it, Bekah! I’m super happy you enjoyed it. Yes! I love this one.
Do you think this recipe would work with Flank Steak? I have that on hand and didn’t want to have to buy another type of beef? Also I have wimps for children so if I just use the red pepper flakes will it be mildly spicy?
Cathy, yes, I think flank steak would be super interesting here! Tasty! Let me know how it turns out for you. If you just use red pepper flakes, yes, you’ll get milder heat for sure.
Let me start by saying that I have tried countless vindaloo recipes over the last couple of decades. This is my favourite by far and I won’t try any others. Thank you very very much for sharing this recipe. I would suggest to add the options of mustard seeds and cloves as it helps make it a deeper, richer gravy. I also used apple cider vinegar instead of the white wine vinegar as I had none. It did not adversely affect the flavour at all.
Excellent! Great to hear, Tim. Super happy you enjoyed it.
My hubby loves vandeloo I want to try yours can u add coconut milk to it to make a suttle cream curry sauce last one I made from dif web site bit too spicey and he had tried one b4 with coconut milk
Also can you slow cook this after Browning and releasing spices with heat
Ali, absolutely. Just watch the moisture levels. If it gets to thick, you can stir in a bit of water or stock.
Ali, absolutely, this is great with coconut milk. Also, if you feel it might be too spicy, dial back on any peppers and the seasonings. Give the sauce a taste after simmering, then you an adjust and simmer some more. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Thanks Mike,
Cant wait to make this
Cheers
Noel.
I hope you enjoy it, Noel. We love this one.
I wanted to eat some real spicy beef. So, where could I have looked for my recipe if not on chilipeppermadness.com?
This was awesome! I was very familiar with Lamb or Chicken Vindaloo, but it was the first time I cooked a Beef Vindaloo. I decided to use one whole habanero chili pepper per person, for a real Indian experience! It was sooo powerful, so flavourful! thanks Mike ans thanks Patty too, because all the technical work and the pictures you took are amazing!
Thanks, Jeremie! I appreciate it! This is one of Patty’s favorites for sure. She really loves Vindaloo. You really brought the heat with the habaneros! Love it.
This was awesome! I used regular chili flakes but also added finely diced habeneros and jalapenos. Sooooooo good and spicy 🙂
Excellent, Heather! I LOVE the addition of the habaneros. That will REALLY spice things up! Love it. Glad you enjoyed it.
I bought vindaloo seasoning and was wondering how much of it to use in lieu of the spices listed in your recipe.
Leigh, I would use 2 tablespoons and you can adjust from there. Let me know how it turns out for you.
I’m getting to be an old man, but a young vindaloo fan!…..amazing….. next time I make this and I will….doubling down on the sauce and more habaneros!!
I love it, Dave! Great idea with the habaneros! You can definitely spice this up. Nice!!!
We bought good naan and made this incredible dish into a spicy Vindaloo gyro! We even made the Raita sauce to put on top. Can’t wait to try the lamb version!
Awesome, Alberto! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Fabulously spicy! I made it the other night, with the ground ghost peppers flakes ????. For the first time in my life, it was tooo spicy for me! So, determined to get it right, I made it again last night ‘as written’ with the crushed red peppers. LOVED IT!
Awesome, Marnie! Super happy you loved it! Thanks!
I made this tonight & it was amazing!! Thanks!!!
Excellent, Colleen! Super happy you loved it! Thanks!
Now THIS is how you make a tasty beef vindaloo. Love your seasoning blend, btw. Doesn’t get any better than this.
I love it! Thanks!