Suya is a classic West African grilled meat that uses crushed peanuts in the marinade for a distinct flavor. For the original, the nuts get crushed into a paste, and then the oil gets squeezed out.

This easy marinade can give your next grilled venison meal a zesty West African flavor.

For this version, I use creamy natural peanut butter. Is it entirely authentic? No, but the flavors are close, and the peanut butter caramelizes perfectly on a hot Pit Boss grill.

The marinade caramelizes perfectly on a hot grill.

Adjust the heat level of the of the marinade by increasing the cayenne pepper (or eliminating it if you don’t want any spice).

Start by cutting the venison into thick steaks. Trim away any fat or connective tissue if you didn’t when you processed the venison. Set the steaks aside.

Trim up your venison steaks, and remove fat and silver skin.

In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients.

Grate the onion, and measure the ingredients.

If you don’t want to grate the onion, you can pulse it in the food processor until it’s a fine paste. The marinade should be a thin paste. If it’s to thick, you can add a few spoonfuls of water to thin it down.

Stir the marinade into a thin paste.

Add the steaks to the marinade, and stir to blend and evenly coat the meat. Cover and refrigerate for two to four hours to marinate.

Pre-heat your Pit Boss grill to 375 degrees. One of the great features of my Pit Boss Sportsman is the sliding cover that allows direct grilling over the fire chamber. I like to open it when searing steaks.

I like to sear the steaks over the open flame option of my Pit Boss grill.

Grill the venison for six to eight minutes per side, depending on thickness and desired doneness levels. I like to serve this one with rice and slow-simmered greens or grilled vegetables.