Nothing quite beats peri-peri chicken on the braai (barbecue). There is something about that smokey flavour the wood brings to the party that just sets this marinated peri-peri chicken over the top. The marinade is pretty easy to make and you can make it as spicy as you want by adding more chili.
If you don’t want to braai (barbecue) the peri-peri chicken you can also quite easily roast it in the oven.
I like serving this dish with some fresh Portuguese rolls and large home made fries. Don’t forget some Nandos peri-peri sauce for the side!
PrintPeri-Peri Chicken
(7 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading…
Spicy tangy peri-peri chicken grilled to perfection. Serve with large home made fries and Portuguese rolls.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes plus marinating
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes plus marinating time
- Yield: 5 to 6
- Category: Mains
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: African
Ingredients
1 whole chicken spatchcocked
Marinade
4 to 6 large red chillies roughly chopped
2 to 4 birds-eye chilies roughly chopped (adjust for spiciness)
4 garlic cloves, peeled
20g parsley finely chopped
juice of 2 lemons
5ml smoked paprika, sweet or hot
5ml oregano
5ml sugar
10ml sea salt
45ml peri-peri sauce (optional)
Instructions
Start by spatchcocking the chicken. You do this by cutting down each side of the backbone with a sharp kitchen scissors. Turn the chicken over and push down hard to flatten the chicken. You can also ask your butcher to do this step.
Place the chicken in a large dish that will fit the chicken lying flat. I prefer to use two large ziplock bags placed inside each other (in case of leaks) and placing the chicken inside the bags instead of using a dish.
By using the bag method it’s also easier to move the chicken around in the marinade.
For the marinade combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz to combine
Transfer the marinade into the bag with the chicken and seal the bag
Carefully massage the marinade into the chicken and place in a dish as extra protection if the bag does leak
Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours but overnight is best
If you are going to grill the chicken on the braai (barbecue) make sure that the coals are on one side of the barbecue because you will initially grill directly over the coals to get a good char on the chicken and then you will move it over for indirect cooking to cook the chicken all the way through.
For oven grilling pre-heat the oven to 410 degrees f (210 degrees c) and place the chicken on a rack. Cook for 50 to 60 minutes. The juices will run clear when you pierce the largest part of the leg when the chicken is cooked
Let rest covered with foil for 10 minutes before carving
Serve with peri-peri sauce and extra lemon wedges.
Keywords: Peri-Peri Chicken, Spicy peri-peri chicken, grilled peri-peri chicken, grilled chicken, portuguese peri-peri chicken
Leave a Reply