What Is Droewors? The South African Dried Sausage Explained

Droewors is a South African dried sausage: spiced ground meat, usually beef, packed into a thin casing and air-dried until firm. The name is Afrikaans for "dry sausage." It is a close cousin of biltong, but it is a sausage, not a sliced strip of whole muscle.

We make certified Glatt Kosher biltong and Meat Candy, not droewors, so we will say that plainly once: this is an explainer from a biltong maker, not a droewors product page. We know the family it belongs to well, though, and people often arrive at us asking about it. Here is what it is, how it is made, how it differs from biltong, and how to think about it if you keep kosher. You can read how Grub's certification works on our kosher page.

What the word means

Droewors comes from Afrikaans. "Droë" means dry and "wors" means sausage. So the name is literally dry sausage, and that is exactly what it is. In South Africa it sits next to biltong as a standard snack.

If you have not met either, think of biltong as the sliced, whole-muscle one and droewors as the sausage one. Both are air-dried. Both are savory rather than sweet. Both are ready to eat as they are.

How droewors is made

The method is simple in outline, and the details are where makers differ.

1. Grind the meat. Beef is the common base. Some makers add other meats, and a share of fat is usually included, because fat carries flavor and keeps the sausage from tasting dry.
2. Season it. The classic spice profile leans on coriander, with salt, pepper and often vinegar. Roughly the same flavor family as biltong, which is no accident.
3. Fill the casing. The mixture goes into a thin casing, giving the long, narrow sticks droewors is known for. Thin matters. A thin sausage dries evenly and quickly.
4. Hang and dry. The sausages hang in moving air until they are firm. How long depends on the thickness, the climate and the maker's preference. Some people like droewors still slightly soft in the center. Others like it dry enough to snap.

Compare that with biltong, where a whole piece of beef is cut into strips, cured with vinegar, salt and spices, and hung to dry. We explain that in what is biltong. The shared ground is the air-drying. The difference is the starting material: ground meat in a casing versus a whole-muscle strip.

What it tastes and feels like

If you have only had the sticks sold in American gas stations, droewors will be a surprise. It is not smoky and it is not sweet. It tastes of beef and coriander first, with a salty, peppery finish. The texture is firmer and denser than a soft sausage, and more brittle than a slice of biltong. Many people eat it like a thin stick, biting off pieces, and the better versions have a clean snap before the chew. Because the meat is ground, the texture is more uniform from end to end than biltong. A strip of biltong can have a soft center and a firm edge. A stick of droewors is much more even.

Fat is the other major difference. Droewors is a ground mixture, and makers commonly include fat in it. That is a style choice rather than a flaw, and it is part of the flavor, but it means the two snacks do not feel the same in the mouth. We are not going to put numbers on it, since they vary by maker.

How people eat it, and how to judge a stick

Most people eat droewors the simple way: straight from the pack, biting off a piece at a time. It is ready to eat, and nothing needs cooking. Some cut it into short lengths for a snack board, where a firm stick holds its shape better than a soft sausage would.

If you are choosing between sticks, a few plain checks help, and they apply to any maker:

• Look at the ingredient list. It should name the meat and give a short list of spices, not a paragraph.
• Check the dryness. A stick that bends a little before it breaks is usually a pleasant one. One that shatters has probably been dried past the point of flavor.
• Look for a certification mark if you keep kosher. Without it, nothing else about the stick matters.

The honest trade-off with droewors is that it is a different eating experience from what most Americans expect. It is not smoky like a gas-station stick and not sweet like jerky. If you want one of those, droewors will not be it.

Droewors and biltong side by side

They come from the same food culture and often sit on the same shelf. Here is a quick comparison.

• Starting meat. Droewors: ground meat, with fat. Biltong: a whole piece of muscle, cut into strips or slabs.
• Shape. Droewors: thin sausage sticks. Biltong: slices or a slab.
• Texture. Droewors: even, firm, with a snap. Biltong: varies from edge to center, and gives way rather than fighting back.
• How you eat it. Droewors: bite off a piece. Biltong: eat a slice, or cut a slab to your thickness.
• Flavor. Both: savory, coriander-led, not sweet.

This explainer is about droewors on its own.

Droewors and kosher

This is where the sausage gets more complicated, and it is worth being clear about why.

For any dried meat to be kosher, the beef must come from a kosher animal, slaughtered according to kosher law, and the other ingredients and the process must be acceptable too. A sausage adds extra questions that a plain strip of beef does not, because it has a casing and a mixed filling. The casing and every ingredient in the mix, including the spices and any vinegar, need to be acceptable. Kosher shoppers should look for a clear certification mark on the package rather than assume. We will not claim anything about kosher droewors beyond that, because we do not make it. If you want a certified Glatt Kosher dried-beef snack from us, that is biltong and Meat Candy. If you are looking at any droewors, check the package for a certification mark, and ask your rabbi if you have a question on how it applies to your household. Meat remains meat, so keep it away from dairy.

What to buy from us instead

If you came looking for droewors because you like savory, air-dried South African beef, biltong is the nearest thing we make, and it is where we would send you. Our Sliced Biltong is the everyday bag: three ounces of sliced, ready-to-eat biltong in Original, Peri Peri or Loaded Garlic, with nothing to cut and no refrigeration. Original is the reference point, beef first and then the warm citrus note of coriander. Start there if you have not had biltong before.

If you are after something with more bite and some sweetness, Meat Candy is our jerky, cooked and glazed, in Hickory Kickory Dock and Baa-Baa BBQ Sheep. It is a different snack and we do not pretend it is droewors. It has a glaze, so check the label for anything you need to avoid. You can browse the whole range in our biltong collection and our kosher beef jerky collection. Orders over $50 ship free within the US.

Bottom line

Droewors is South African dry sausage: spiced ground beef in a thin casing, air-dried until firm. It shares a flavor family with biltong but is a different food, firmer and more even, with a sausage's mixed filling. We do not sell it. We make certified Glatt Kosher biltong and Meat Candy, and if you want that savory South African taste, biltong is where to begin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does droewors mean?

It is Afrikaans for "dry sausage." "Droë" means dry and "wors" means sausage. The name describes the food exactly: a sausage that has been air-dried.

Is droewors a sausage or a jerky?

A sausage. It is made from ground meat in a casing and then air-dried. Jerky is sliced whole meat, usually marinated and often sweet, and biltong is sliced or slab whole-muscle beef that is cured and air-dried.

Is droewors the same as biltong?

No. Both are air-dried South African meat snacks with a coriander-led flavor, but biltong is strips or slabs of whole muscle, and droewors is a sausage made from ground meat in a casing.

Is droewors raw or cooked?

It is cured and air-dried rather than cooked with heat, which is the same general approach as biltong. If you are wondering about safety, read our explanation in is biltong raw, cooked or safe, and buy only from makers who explain their process.

Does Grub sell droewors?

No. We make biltong and Meat Candy, not droewors. Both are certified Glatt Kosher.

Is droewors kosher?

Only if the meat, the casing and every other ingredient are kosher and the product carries a clear certification. Do not assume. Check the package, and ask your rabbi if you are unsure how it applies to your household.

What is the closest thing Grub makes to droewors?

Sliced Biltong. It shares the savory, coriander-led flavor and the air-dried method, though it is a sliced whole-muscle strip rather than a sausage.