Piri piri chicken is a simple yet delectable dish that is ideal for any summer barbecue. Comprised of bone-in chicken that is grilled and basted in a spicy piri piri sauce. It is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!
What is Piri Piri Chicken?
Piri piri chicken is a dish that originated in the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, particularly Mozambique. And has since become popular worldwide, thanks in part to chains like Nando’s.
Overall it’s a simple dish consisting of grilled (or sometimes roasted) bone-in chicken that is basted in a piri piri sauce while it cooks. Piri piri sauce can vary from recipe to recipe, but it is often made by blending together garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, butter, herbs, and piri piri peppers. The resulting mixture of ingredients creates a buttery, citrusy, herbaceous, and spicy flavor that perfectly complements the smoky and tender meat of the grilled chicken.
Piri Piri Peppers
Traditionally, piri piri sauce is made with piri piri peppers, hence the name. However, these peppers are rather difficult to obtain outside of specific regions of the world. But don’t worry because you can still achieve a similar flavor and level of heat with other peppers.
- Fresh chili peppers: Cayenne, Tabasco, and Thai peppers are all good options. If you choose one of these peppers, make sure they are red or mostly red, so that your dish will have the same lovely color as piri piri peppers.
- Dry chilies: Bird’s eye chilies, chili de arbol, and pequin(my personal favorite) chilies are all good options. If you have time, I highly recommend soaking your dry chilies in warm water for an hour before using them. This will rehydrate them and make them easier to blend.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Use a whole chicken: I would strongly suggest that you use a whole chicken for today’s recipe. Not only is it the most authentic way to prepare piri piri chicken, but it also results in an exceptional flavor. However, if you would prefer to use chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, legs), then you are free to do so. Just ensure that they are bone-in and skin-on, as both will add to the flavor of the chicken and help to keep it moist.
- Spatchcocking a chicken: If you decide to follow my recommendation above and use a whole chicken, you will need to to spatchcock it. This will ensure that the chicken cooks quickly and evenly. And don’t worry if you’ve never done this before it’s a quick and easy process. First, you need to either remove the backbone (the most common method) or cut through the breastbone (the more traditional method for piri piri). Then once you have removed the backbone or cut through the breastbone, press down on the chicken with your hands to flatten it out. That’s it, but if you’d like a more detailed explanation then check out our post on How To Spachcock a Chicken.
- Use a grill cage: Another non-essential but highly recommended tool is a grill cage. It is a simple device that helps to keep the chicken flat while it cooks and makes it very easy to turn over the chicken. You can usually find these at your local hardware store (I got mine at Ace), or you can easily find them on Amazon.
- Can’t take the heat?: No worries, not all of us are chili heads. So if you want to lower the spiciness of the sauce simply substitute half or all of the spicy peppers with red bell peppers. You will still end up with a delicious tasting sauce that everyone will enjoy.
Serving suggestions
I enjoy pairing the spiciness of the piri piri chicken with a mildly flavored starch like potatoes (Baked Frech Fries, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes), or some sort of rice (Chicken and Herb Rice, Rice Pilaf with Orzo). Along with a refreshing salad (Coleslaw, Dads Summer Salad, Ensalada Chilena, Shirazi Salad, Tabbouleh).
Other Chicken Recipes You Might Enjoy
Piri Piri Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
1 Whole Chicken, or 2 to 3 Lbs of chicken pieces (bone-in, skin-on)
Salt to taste
For the piri piri sauce
6 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon of vinegar (white, red wine, or cider)
6 Cloves of garlic
8 to 10 Hot red chili peppers (piri piri, thai, cayenne, chili de arbol)
1 Bay leaf
2 Teaspoons of smoked paprika, sweet paprika will work as well
½ Teaspoon of dried oregano
½ Teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoon of butter
Juice from a large lemon
Instructions
- Prep the chicken: If you are using a whole chicken then you will first need to spatchcock it. Do this by either removing the backbone, or by cutting through the breast bone. And then press down on the chicken so it flattens and there is a noticeable front and backside. Check out the “Tips, Tricks & Suggestion” section above if you’d like more detail on how to spatchcock chicken. Once the chicken is flat use your knife to cut slits into the chicken meat every inch.
- Preheat your grill to high
- Make the sauce: Add all of the ingredients for the piri piri sauce (except the butter and lemon juice) to a food processor or blender. Blend/process these ingredients for a minute or two until they are relatively smooth and combined.
Pour this sauce into a small pot, add the butter, and place over some heat. Let the sauce heat up until the butter has melted then continue to cook it for 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and squeeze the juice of one lemon into the sauce. Give the sauce a good stir and set it aside.
- Grill and baste: Sprinkle both sides of your chicken with salt. Then place the chicken on your hot grill skin side down and let it cook for 4 minutes.
Then flip the chicken over and apply some of the piri piri sauce with a basting brush. Let the chicken cook for another 4 minutes then flip it and apply more sauce. Repeat this process of flipping the chicken every 3 to 4 minutes, making sure to apply sauce every time until you have used up all of the piri piri sauce and the chicken has an internal temp of 165℉/74℃. Depending on how hot your grill is and the size of your chicken this should take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.
- Take the piri piri chicken off the grill, cut it into individual portions, and enjoy!
Piri Piri Chicken Recipe
Piri piri chicken is a simple yet delectable dish that is ideal for any summer barbecue. Comprised of bone-in chicken that is grilled and basted in a spicy piri piri sauce. It is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken or 2 to 3 Lbs of chicken pieces (bone-in, skin-on)
- Salt to taste
For the piri piri sauce
- 6 Tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon of vinegar white, red wine, or cider
- 6 Cloves of garlic
- 8 to 10 Hot red chili peppers piri piri, thai, cayenne, chili de arbol
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 Teaspoons of smoked paprika sweet paprika will work as well
- ½ Teaspoon of dried oregano
- ½ Teaspoon of salt
- 2 Tablespoon of butter
- Juice from a large lemon
Instructions
- Prep the chicken: If you are using a whole chicken then you will first need to spatchcock it. Do this by either removing the backbone, or by cutting through the breast bone. And then press down on the chicken so it flattens and there is a noticeable front and backside. Check out the “Tips, Tricks & Suggestion” section above if you’d like more detail on how to spatchcock chicken. Once the chicken is flat use your knife to cut slits into the chicken meat every inch.
- Preheat your grill to high
- Make the sauce: Add all of the ingredients for the piri piri sauce (except the butter and lemon juice) to a food processor or blender. Blend/process these ingredients for a minute or two until they are relatively smooth and combined. Pour this sauce into a small pot, add the butter, and place over some heat. Let the sauce heat up until the butter has melted then continue to cook it for 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and squeeze the juice of one lemon into the sauce. Give the sauce a good stir and set it aside.
- Grill and baste: Sprinkle both sides of your chicken with salt. Then place the chicken on your hot grill skin side down and let it cook for 4 minutes. Then flip the chicken over and apply some of the piri piri sauce with a basting brush. Let the chicken cook for another 4 minutes then flip it and apply more sauce. Repeat this process of flipping the chicken every 3 to 4 minutes, making sure to apply sauce every time until you have used up all of the piri piri sauce and the chicken has an internal temp of 165℉/74℃. Depending on how hot your grill is and the size of your chicken this should take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.
- Take the piri piri chicken off the grill, cut it into individual portions and enjoy!
Notes
- Use a whole chicken: I would strongly suggest that you use a whole chicken for today’s recipe. Not only is it the most authentic way to prepare piri piri chicken, but it also results in an exceptional flavor. However, if you would prefer to use chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, legs), then you are free to do so. Just ensure that they are bone-in and skin-on, as both will add to the flavor of the chicken and help to keep it moist.
- Spatchcocking a chicken: If you decide to follow my recommendation above and use a whole chicken, you will need to to spatchcock it. This will ensure that the chicken cooks quickly and evenly. And don’t worry if you’ve never done this before it’s a quick and easy process. First, you need to either remove the backbone (the most common method) or cut through the breastbone (the more traditional method for piri piri). Then once you have removed the backbone or cut through the breastbone, press down on the chicken with your hands to flatten it out. That’s it, but if you’d like a more detailed explanation then check out our post on How To Spachcock a Chicken.
- Use a grill cage: Another non-essential but highly recommended tool is a grill cage. It is a simple device that helps to keep the chicken flat while it cooks and makes it very easy to turn over the chicken. You can usually find these at your local hardware store (I got mine at Ace), or you can easily find them on Amazon.
- Subsitiutes for piri piri peppers:
- Fresh chili peppers: Cayenne, Tabasco, and Thai peppers are all good options. If you choose one of these peppers, make sure they are red or mostly red, so that your dish will have the same lovely color as piri piri peppers.
- Dry chilies: Bird’s eye chilies, chili de arbol, and pequin(my personal favorite) chilies are all good options. If you have time, I highly recommend soaking your dry chilies in warm water for an hour before using them. This will rehydrate them and make them easier to blend.
- Can’t take the heat?: No worries, not all of us are chili heads. So if you want to lower the spiciness of the sauce simply substitute half or all of the spicy peppers with red bell peppers. You will still end up with a delicious tasting sauce that everyone will enjoy.
