Portuguese prego with green piri-piri

Name: Portuguese prego with green piri-piri
Prep time: 14 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 39 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients: 1 clove Garlic; 2 small Beef Fillet; 2 tbs Olive Oil; 1 tbs Vinegar; Leaves Parsley; 2 Ciabatta; 2 handfulls Rocket; Small bunch Basil Leaves; Small bunch Parsley; 1 Jalapeno; 1 tbs Vinegar; 2 chopped Spring Onions; 1/2 Garlic; 1/2 tsp Caster Sugar

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Beef recipe with Portuguese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 63 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 39 min total

1 clove Garlic
2 small Beef Fillet
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 tbs Vinegar
Leaves Parsley
2 Ciabatta
2 handfulls Rocket
Small bunch Basil Leaves
Small bunch Parsley
1 Jalapeno
1 tbs Vinegar
2 chopped Spring Onions
1/2 Garlic
1/2 tsp Caster Sugar

Step-by-step instructions

STEP 1.
Rub the garlic over the steaks then put in a sandwich bag and tip in the olive oil, sherry vinegar and parsley stalks. Smoosh everything together, then use a rolling pin to bash the steaks a few times. Leave for 1-2 hours.
STEP 2.
To make the sauce, put all the ingredients into a blender with 1 tbsp water and whizz until as smooth as possible. This will make more than you’ll need for the recipe but will keep for a week in an airtight jar.
STEP 3.
Heat a griddle or frying pan to high. Brush away the garlic and parsley stalks from the steaks and season well. Sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side then rest on a plate. Put the ciabatta halves onto the plate, toasted-side down, to soak up any juices.
STEP 4.
Slice the steaks then stuff into the rolls with the green sauce and rocket.

Why this works on a weeknight

Portuguese prego with green piri-piri lands at about 39 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Portuguese prego with green piri-piri actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Beef Portuguese