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Rich, aromatic CarmiƩn tea leaves handcrafted for authentic South African herbal tea experience, providing health benefits and unique flavours.
Bulk Rooibos
Rich, aromatic CarmiƩn tea leaves handcrafted for authentic South African herbal tea experience, providing health benefits and unique flavours.

Carmen Niehaus: Cooking with Rooibos

CarmiƩn Lekker & Goed Rooibos Cooking Teabags offer a new way to cook with rooibos, transforming this uniquely South African ingredient into a versatile, flavour-rich tea stock for everyday meals. Available in Pure Rooibos and Spicy Rooibos Masala Chai, these larger teabags create a concentrated base to use instead of stock or water. The Pure Rooibos option includes red rooibos for warm, hearty depth and green rooibos for a subtle herbal fynbos note, while the mild chai-spiced blend adds gentle aromatic warmth. Simply steep and stir into your favourite dishes to add clean, natural rooibos flavour to both savoury and sweet recipes.

Buy the New Cooking Teabags

Rooibos Recipes

See how versatile rooibos can be in the kitchen. From a vibrant rainbow salad with rooibos dressing to a fragrant rooibos chicken curry and rich red velvet mini bundt cakes, these recipes show how rooibos tea stock can transform both savoury and sweet dishes. Start building flavour in new ways, with rooibos at the base of every recipe.

Spicy
Chicken Casserole

Rooibos tea used in cooking, featured in a tea bag and a delicious dish on a kitchen countertop.

Serves: 4-6
Cooking time: 1Ā½ hours

A chicken curry layered with warm spices and enriched with rooibos tea stock. The rooibos adds subtle depth, creating a flavourful dish perfect for everyday cooking.

See Recipe
  • 6ā€”8 chicken pieces (drumsticks and legs)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 7,5 ml (1Ā½ tsp) fresh ginger, grated
  • 6 cloves garlic, grated
  • 2 each cardamom pods and star anise
  • 20 ml (4 tsp) ground cumin
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) ground coriander
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) ground paprika
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) roasted masala
  • 10 ml (2 tsp) ground cinnamon
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) tomato paste
  • 400 ml (1 cooking teabag) CarmiĆ©n Lekker & Goed Spicy Rooibos Masala Chai Cooking Teabag
  • Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 250 ml (1 cup) coconut milk
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) brown sugar or honey
  • 4-6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 6 pickling onions, peeled
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 1 can (400 g) butter beans

TO FINISH:

  • 30 ml (2 Tbsp) each chopped coriander leaves, mint and parsley
  • Few chopped almonds
  1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add some oil in a large casserole dish and fry the chicken till slightly brown.
  2. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil till soft. Add the ginger and spices and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
  3. Mix together the tomato paste, lemon juice and peel as well as tea, coconut milk and tea. Mix in the tomato paste, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add some honey to taste.
  4. Arrange the chicken in the casserole dish, add bay leaves. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer till done, about 1 hour. Ā Add the butter beans and heat till warm.
  5. Sprinkle over the herbs and almonds and serve with rice.

Rainbow salad
with Rice Crunch

A box of CarmiƩn Rooibos Tea Teabags with a glass of brewed rooibos tea, alongside a fresh vegetable salad on a kitchen countertop, highlighting the use of rooibos in cooking.

Serves: 6
Preparation: 20 min

A colourful rainbow salad paired with a light rooibos dressing. Fresh, vibrant and full of flavour, it shows how rooibos can add a unique twist to everyday salads.

See Recipe

FOR THE RICE CRUNCH:

  • 200 g Basmati rice
  • 400 ml (1 cooking teabag) Carmien Lekker & Goed Pure Green Rooibos Cooking Teabag
  • Salt to taste
  • 10 ml (2 tsp) soy sauce
  • 5 ml (1 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
  • 5 ml (1 tsp) chilli flakes

FOR THE SALAD DRESSING:

  • 60 ml (Ā¼ cup) unfiltered apple cider vinegar
  • 15 ml (1 Tbsp) sushi vinegar
  • 60 ml (Ā¼ cup) fresh lime juice and grated peel of 4 limes
  • 400 ml Carmien Lekker & Goed green rooibos, (use 1 cooking bag)
  • 30 ml (2 Tbsp) soy sauce
  • 15-30 ml (1-2 Tbsp) raw honey
  • 4 cloves garlic, grated
  • 1 or 2 chillies, chopped
  • 45 ml (3 Tbsp) finely chopped pickled ginger
  • 45 ml (3 Tbsp) coriander leaves, chopped

FOR THE SALAD:

  • 1 small onion or half a red onion, chopped
  • 250 g cabbage (red and/or green), finely sliced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into julienne strips
  • 3-4 mini cucumbers, sliced
  • 45 ml chopped herbs like mint, corianderĀ  and basil
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 60 ml (Ā¼ cup) roasted almonds, chopped
  • 15ā€”30 ml (1ā€”2 Tbsp) sesame seeds

FOR THE RICE CRUNCH:

  • Boil the rice in salted CarmiĆ©n Lekker & Goed Pure Green Rooibos Cooking Teabag stock until soft and drain.
  • Add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes and sesame oil and mix. Spread on to a baking sheet, sprinkle with oil and bake at 200Ā°C till crisp, about 40 min.

FOR THE SALAD DRESSING:

  • Mix together all the ingredients.

FOR THE SALAD:

  • Place the cabbage, carrots, cucumber and herbs in a salad bowl and add half of the dressing. Mix.
  • Arrange the avocado on top and sprinkle the nuts and sesame seeds as well as the rice crunch on top
  • Serve with rest of the salad dressing.

Rooibos Red Velvet
mini bundt cakes

Delicious Rooibos tea desserts with edible flowers, perfect for cooking and baking. Showcasing CarmiƩn Tea's pure Rooibos teabags for flavorful culinary creations.

Makes approximately 24
Bake time: 20 minutes

Soft, velvety red velvet mini bundt cakes infused with rooibos for added richness. A delightful twist on a classic bake, bringing warmth and a gentle rooibos flavour to every bite.

See Recipe

FOR THE CAKES:

  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 500 ml (2 c) cake flour
  • 250-375 ml (1-1Ā½ c) brown sugar
  • 60 ml (Ā¼ c) cacao
  • 20 ml (4 t) baking powder
  • 5 ml (1 t) salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 80 ml (ā…“ c) plain yoghurt
  • 125 ml (Ā½ c) Canola oil
  • 400 ml (1 cooking teabag) CarmiĆ©n Lekker & Goed Pure Rooibos Cooking Teabag
  • 1 bottle (40 ml) pink food colouring

FOR THE ICING:

  • 230 g creamed cottage cheese
  • About 15 ā€“30 ml (1–2 T) fresh lemon juice
  • Enough icing sugar to make a stiff but runny icing

TO FINISH:

  • Edible flowers
  • Pistachio nuts, ground
  • Preheat the oven to 180Ā°C. Spray the hollows of 2 mini Bundt-pans with cooking spray.

FOR THE CAKE:

  • Mix together the dry ingredients.
  • Beat the wet ingredients, except the rooibos tea and food colouring, together. Mix with dry ingredients. Mix the tea and food colouring. Add just enough of the tea mixture to make a smooth, slightly runny batter.
  • Pour into the hollows and bake for about 20 minutes till done and a testing skewer comes out clean.

FOR THE ICING:

  • Mix all the ingredients to make a smooth, runny mixture.

TO FINISH:

  • Spoon some of the icing over each mini cake and sprinkle with some ground nuts. Finish with an edible flower.

About Carmen Niehaus

Rooibos tea expert Carmen Niehaus holding a wooden spoon, showcasing the versatility of CarmiƩn Rooibos in cooking and tea preparation.

Carmen Niehaus spent 32 years as the food editor of South Africaā€™s leading magazines, Huisgenoot and YOU. She worked on the much-loved Wenresepte cookbook series and has authored several cookbooks of her own, including her latest title, Lekker & Goed. The book inspired the television series of the same name on kykNET, with a new season premiering on 9 April 2026. Having grown up on a rooibos farm in the Cederberg region, rooibos has been part of her life from an early age and continues to inspire how she cooks with this uniquely South African ingredient.

AIR DATE TITLE GUEST
9 April Tennis & Tee Hannes van Wyk
16 Apri Saamgooi-Kos Lize du Preez & Ilze Bruwer
23 April Gesond op die Langpad Ewan Strydom
30 April Sondag Kuier Elmarie Berry
7 May Fees vir ā€˜n Kind Rolanda Marais & Charlotte
14 May Rooi, Rooier, Gesond Dr. Ledivia Strauss
21 May Tinfoil, Tupperware & Tee Mari-Louis Guy
28 May Boerekos Opgezoosh Mila Guy
4 June Terug of die Plaas Janine Jantjies
11 June Koesterkos Danie du Toit
18 June Lig die Potte se Deksels Ricky Schroeder
25 June Koek en Tee Yolani Abrahams
2 July Visbraai Johan de Villiers & Lorainne Heyns
Carmen's Blog
Rooibos tea expert Carmen Niehaus holding a wooden spoon, showcasing the versatility of CarmiƩn Rooibos in cooking and tea preparation.

In the Kitchen with Carmen

Lekker & Goed by South African cookbook author Carmen Niehaus is a beautifully curated collection of over 100 recipes that are both wholesome and full of flavour. Blending nostalgic favourites with Mediterranean-inspired dishes, the cookbook focuses on fresh, unprocessed ingredients and lighter alternatives without compromising on taste. With meat, fish, vegetarian and gluten-free options, it offers practical inspiration for balanced, everyday cooking, perfectly aligned with cooking creatively using rooibos.

Carmen Niehaus Lekker & Goed Cookbook

Recipes that not only taste delicious but are loaded with goodness too. A mix of nostalgic South African and family favourites and trendy modern dishes.

R385.00

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