When I was about 15 years old, my family and I took a vacation to the beautiful country of Peru. It was during this trip that I received my introduction to the great, diverse, and in my opinion, underappreciated cuisine of Peru. Needless to say, I loved everything I ate, but the one dish that I will never forget was the pollo a la brasa, or Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Ever since then, I have done my best to find the perfect recipe for succulent pollo a la brasa. And after many years of tweaking and combining recipes, I have come up with something that I believe best resembles what I had in Peru.
Now before we jump into the recipe itself, I would like to make two points.
First, we need to talk a little bit about the cooking method, rotisserie. While the chicken is best when done on the spit of a rotisserie, the truth of the matter is that it’s not a common option for most people. However, that doesn’t mean that you are left out, as you can still make this recipe in your oven. To do it, simply marinate the chicken in the same ingredients, and then roast it in your oven at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
The second point I want to discuss is what to serve this dish with. Now obviously you could serve pollo a la brasa with just about anything, but the most traditional method is to quarter the chicken and serve it with french fries, a salad, and of course aje verde. Either way just give this recipe a shot, as I guarantee it will become one of your new “go-to” recipes for chicken.
Pollo a la Brasa Recipe
Prep time: 1 to 3 hours
Cook time: 2 to 3 hours
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients
1 Whole chicken (5 to 6 Lbs)
Marinade:
4-5 Cloves of garlic
2 ½ Teaspoons of smoked paprika
1 ½ Teaspoon of dried oregano
1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
1 Teaspoon of black pepper
1 Tablespoon of salt
2 Teaspoons of granulated white sugar
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
Juice from 3 limes (about ¼ cup)
Instructions
- Make the marinade: Add all of the ingredients for the marinade into either a food processor or a blender, and process/blend them until they form a smooth liquid.
- Marinate the Chicken: Clean the chicken and then pour the marinade on both sides of the chicken. If you can, try to lift the skin off of the breast and thighs, and rub some of the marinate in them. Let the chicken marinate for 1 to 3 hours
- Preheat your rotisserie, or oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cook the chicken: Place the chicken on your rotisserie spit and make sure that it is secured properly. Then place the spit on your rotisserie and let it cook for about 2 to 3 hours or until the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once it has reached that temperature, take the chicken off of the rotisserie and let it sit for 10 minutes before quartering it.
- Serve & enjoy
Pollo a la Brasa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Whole chicken 5 to 6 Lbs
Marinade:
- 4-5 Cloves of garlic
- 2 ½ Teaspoons of smoked paprika
- 1 ½ Teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
- 1 Teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of salt
- 2 Teaspoons of granulated white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
- Juice from 3 limes about ¼ cup
Instructions
- Make the marinade: Add all of the ingredients for the marinade into either a food processor or a blender, and process/blend them until they form a smooth liquid.
- Marinate the Chicken: Clean the chicken and then pour the marinade on both sides of the chicken. If you can, try to lift the skin off of the breast and thighs, and rub some of the marinate in them. Let the chicken marinate for 1 to 3 hours
- Preheat your rotisserie, or oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cook the chicken: Place the chicken on your rotisserie spit and make sure that it is secured properly. Then place the spit on your rotisserie and let it cook for about 2 to 3 hours or until the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it has reached that temperature, take the chicken off of the rotisserie and let it sit for 10 minutes before quartering it.
Inspiration from other blogs
From Bacon Is Magic
From Salt and Spine
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