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    Home » Chicken Recipes » Chicken Piri Piri

    Published: May 29, 2019 by Ajoke

    Chicken Piri Piri

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    If you love hot and spicy food, then this Piri Piri chicken is for you. It is delicious and moist and you can adjust the hotness of the recipe by adding more or fewer chillies to hot sauce. If you want to know how to make Piri Piri chicken like Nando’s, then you are at the right place.

    spactchcocked chicken piri piri and chips on a serving board.

    Piri Piri chicken also called Peri Peri chicken is easy to make. You will be happy to know it doesn’t require much effort too. In fact, just the chicken marinade (Piri Piri sauce) and the oven or grill does most of the job for you.

    The chicken requires marinating, the longer the better. Marinade in homemade Piri Piri sauce for at least an hour in a cool place or in the refrigerator overnight for optimised flavour.

    piri piri sauce

    I have spatchcocked the chicken and grilled in the oven but it can also be oven baked as well. This recipe is great with a whole chicken, you can use any other part of chicken like thigh, wings or breast. Chicken Piri Piri is best made on an open fire or grill just like you have in Nando. Can I just quickly that this easy homemade Piri Piri is better than Nando’s.

    Ingredients

    1 whole chicken 1.2 kg (substitute with other chicken parts)

    11/2 cups Piri Piri sauce

    ½ tbsp salt

    How to spatchcock chicken

    Spatchcock simply means splitting a chicken open and then grilling it. In this case, the backbone (spine) of the chicken is removed by laying the whole chicken flat to form a butterfly shape. This method of cooking is used to allow the chicken to cook faster. If a whole chicken would take about 1.5 hours to cook, a spatchcocked chicken would take lesser time

    1. Remove any giblet from the chicken and clean it.
    2. Place the chicken breast down, i.e. the back of the chicken would be face up to you
    3. Using kitchen scissors, carefully cut along the back of the chicken. This bit is around the neckline of the poultry.
    4. Break the breastbone. Turn the chicken breast to face you and press down the two ends of the chicken to break the middle (breast region)
    5. Chicken is ready to be seasoned and slathered with marinade.

    spactchcocked chicken piri piri and chips on a serving board.

    How to make chicken Piri Piri 

    Season the chicken with salt.

    Place chicken in a ziplock bag. Add half a cup of the Piri Piri sauce and rub together making sure it is well distributed on the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight preferably. If you need to make the chicken immediately, make incisions on it or remove the skin, marinade with the hot sauce and oven bake or grill immediately.

    Preheat the oven at 200°C/ 392°F or medium-high heat if using the oven/gas grill. Alternatively, cook on an open fire (barbeque)

    Bring out the chicken from the fridge, remove chicken from marinade and shake off any excess drips.

    Transfer chicken to a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes to 45 minutes or according to the cooking instruction on the chicken package. Baste chicken every 10 minutes with another half cup from the remaining marinade.

    After chicken is fully cooked, leave to rest for some minutes. Serve with remaining ½ cup Piri Piri sauce and side of choice with a lemon wedge.

    What to serve with Piri Piri chicken

    Spinach rice

    Jollof rice

    Stovetop Broccoli

    Easy roasted potatoes

    Crispy potato wedges

    spatchcocked chicken piri piri and chips on a serving board.
    Print Recipe
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    Chicken Piri Piri

    If you love hot and spicy food, then this piri piri chicken is for you. It is delicious and moist and you can adjust the hotness of the recipe by adding more or fewer chillies to hot sauce. If you want to know how to make piri piri chicken like Nando’s then you are at the right place.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time35 mins
    Marination time1 hr
    Total Time1 hr 40 mins
    Course: piri piri chicken, Side Dish
    Cuisine: African, Continental
    Keyword: chicken piri piri, homemade piri piri sauce, how to make piri piri chicken, piri piri chicken
    Servings: 6
    Author: Ajoke
    Cost: £6

    Equipment

    • Grill, Oven or Barbecue

    Ingredients

    • 1 whole chicken substitute with other chicken parts
    • 11/2 cups piri piri sauce
    • ½ tbsp salt

    Instructions

    How to spatchcock chicken

    • Remove any giblet from the chicken and clean it.
    • Place the chicken breast down, i.e. the back of the chicken would be face up to you
    • Using kitchen scissors, carefully cut along the back if the chicken. This bit is around the neckline of the poultry.
    • Break the breastbone. Turn the chicken breast facing you and press down the two ends of the chicken to break the middle (breast region)
    • Chicken is ready to be seasoned and slathered with marinade.

    How to make chicken piri piri

    • Season the chicken with salt.
    • Place chicken in a ziplock bag. Add half of the piri piri sauce and rub together making sure it is well distributed on the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight preferably. If you need to make the chicken immediately, make incisions on it or remove the skin, marinade with the hot sauce and oven bake or grill immediately.
    • Preheat the oven at 200°C/ 392°F or medium-high heat if using the oven/gas grill. Alternatively, cook on open fire (barbeque)
    • Bring out the chicken from the fridge, remove chicken from marinade and shake off any excess drips.
    • Transfer chicken to a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes to 45 minutes or according to the cooking instruction on the chicken package. Baste chicken every 10 minutes with another half a cup of the remaining marinade.
    • After chicken is fully cooked, leave to rest for some minutes and serve with remaining ½ cup piri piri sauce, side of choice and a lemon wedge.

    If you made this recipe, don’t forget to leave me feedback. Tag me @myactivekitchen on Instagram and save away to your Pinterest

     

    « How To Make Piri Piri Sauce
    How to Make Efo Riro »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. ronke says

      June 16, 2016 at 7:34 pm

      This is a challenge, gotta try it. Thanks

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        June 18, 2016 at 8:04 am

        Kindly let me know how it turns out.

        Reply
    2. Jumai says

      March 26, 2015 at 12:29 pm

      something to look forward to this weekend. thanks for the lovely recipe

      Reply
      • Ajoke says

        April 06, 2015 at 6:50 pm

        thanks Jumai

        Reply

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    Hello, my name is Ajoke, and welcome to my food world,  I love to cook in my lively little kitchen. Join me in the adventure of cooking what we all call warm, hearty, and quick meals...

    More about me →

    Hello, my name is Ajoke, and welcome to my food world,  I love to cook in my lively little kitchen. Join me in the adventure of cooking what we all call warm, hearty, and quick meals...

    More about me →

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