Packed with outrageous flavor, Peri Peri Chicken is the perfect summer chicken to make when you’re craving something extraordinary with just the right amount of heat. Marinated in a blend of bird’s-eye chilis, smoked paprika, and lemon juice, and served with grilled lemons, this is a chicken dinner you’ll make again and again!
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Very very good chicken
Peri peri, or piri piri chicken, is a dish that combines African and Portuguese flavors and couldn’t be more delicious. I’ve been making peri peri chicken for about a decade now but never wrote a recipe for it. Then recently, with the popularity of my Peruvian chicken, I received many requests for this one.
The tangy vinegar and lemon juice lend just the right acidity, the bell pepper and smoked paprika lend color and flavor, and the bird’s-eye chilis give this chicken just the right amount of heat.
I always grill some lemons to serve with it, and love to pair it with a rice pilaf. Garlic and oil green beans also go well with this one.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken (not shown). If you’re looking at the empty plate in the picture, that was where my chicken was supposed to go. I forgot to add it when I took the photo. I am using a whole young chicken that I spatchcocked. To save time, you can buy an already spatchcocked chicken, as many grocery stores now sell them. Spatchcocking is great for ensuring even cooking, and I use this method for other recipes as well, like my spatchcock rosemary chicken and spatchcock turkey.
- Acid. I’m using both lemon juice and red wine vinegar. The red wine vinegar is also not shown.
- Birds-eye chilis. These dried chilis, also known as piri-piri, are what give this dish its name. They are a hot pepper, so if heat is not your thing, you may want to use less, omit, or use a few fresh Fresno peppers. It’s easier to find Thai birds eye chilis over African ones but either can be used.
- Herbs and spices. I’m using a blend of smoked paprika, oregano, and bay leaves for my peri peri chicken.
- Lemons. In addition to using lemon juice, I also like to grill halved lemons to serve with the chicken.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast side down, with the tail facing you. Pat it dry with paper towels and use kitchen shears to cut from the tail end to the neck. Repeat for the other side of the backbone.
- Flip the chicken over and use your hands to press the breastbone down until the chicken is flattened. Flattening it allows for more even cooking.
- Place the kosher salt, red bell pepper, shallot, bird’s eye chilis, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, smoked paprika, dried oregano, and bay leaves into a blender and blend until smooth, then place the chicken in a baking dish and pour the marinade on top. Use gloved hands to massage the marinade into the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but ideally overnight.
- 1 hour before cooking, remove the peri peri chicken from the fridge and transfer the chicken to a plate. Pour the marinade into a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. The boiling process will cause the sauce to reduce and thicken, so you may need to add some water to it. I used a 1/2 cup of water.
- Heat half of a gas or charcoal grill to medium to medium-high heat (400-425°F), leaving a cooler zone for indirect cooking. Wipe the grates with oil or cooking spray and grill the chicken until well charred on both sides.
- Flip occasionally to prevent burning.
- Move the chicken to the cool zone. If you have a wireless thermometer, place it into the thickest part of the breast, otherwise, use an instant-read thermometer. Cook, with the lid covered, until the thickest part of the breast reaches 160°F (about 30-40 minutes), then transfer to a platter and cover with tented foil to rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the lemons to the hot side of the grill and cook until charred, then transfer to a platter. Baste some of the boiled marinade all over the chicken before serving with the grilled lemons and more cooked marinade.
Top tips
- Spice level. Peri peri chicken is spicy. If you don’t enjoy heat, use less bird’s eye chilies, or omit entirely and use a milder chili pepper or a touch of hot red pepper flakes. Taste the marinade after blending and before placing on the chicken to test the spice level and adjust as needed.
- Use gloves. If you are using hot chilies, protect your skin with gloves to rub the marinade into the chicken.
- No grill? To make peri peri chicken in the oven, roast the chicken on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, breast side up, for 20 minutes at 475°F, then lower heat to 375°F and continue to cook until the breast reaches 160°F internally.
- Let it rest. Be sure to let your piri piri chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. This will help lock in the juices.
More whole chicken recipes
I love using a whole chicken for recipes because it truly is more economical. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use a whole chicken.
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Peri Peri Chicken – Spicy Spatchcocked Chicken
Peri Peri Chicken combines a whole chicken marinated in a blend of bell pepper, bird's-eye chilis, smoked paprika, and vinegar, and served with grilled lemons on the side.
Ingredients
Base ingredients
- 1 whole young chicken
- 2 large lemons halved
For the marinade
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt divided
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 large shallot chopped
- 5 dried bird's eye chilis use less if you don't like it too spicy, see notes below
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 large bay leaves
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Instructions
- Place the chicken on a large cutting board, breast side down and with the tail side facing you. Pat it very dry with paper towels. Using kitchen shears, cut from the tail end on one side of the backbone all the way to the neck. Repeat the same cut on the other side of the backbone. You can cut away any loose overhanging skin by the neck opening. Save the backbone for chicken stock.
- Flip the chicken over and with two hands press the breast bone down until the chicken is flattened. You should hear a couple of cracks during this process. The goal is to flatten the chicken for even cooking. Poke holes into the chicken skin so that the marinade can penetrate.
- Place all of the marinade ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Place the chicken into a baking dish and pour the marinade onto it. Using your hands massage the marinade all over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours but ideally overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to grilling. Remove the chicken from the marinade onto a plate. Pour the marinade along with a 1/2 cup of water into a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Heat half of a gas or charcoal grill to medium to medium-high heat (400- 425°F), leaving a cool side for indirect cooking. Wipe the grates with oil or cooking spray. Grill the chicken until well charred on both sides, flipping occasionally to prevent burning, then move the chicken over to the cool spot and close the grill. If you have a wireless thermometer, place it into the thickest part of the breast, otherwise use an instant read thermometer. Cook until the thickest part of the breast reaches an internal temperature of 160°F (approximately 30-40 minutes) then remove it to a platter and tent with foil.
- Add the lemons to the hot side of the grill and cook until charred then remove to the platter as well. Baste some of the boiled marinade all over the chicken before serving and serve the remainader at the table with the grilled lemons. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chili peppers. Birds eye chilis are very spicy. This recipe calls for 5 dried chilis but you can sub fresh or dried chilis of any variety or even crushed red pepper flakes. For a milder version, a few fresh fresno peppers work well. Or for no spice, simply omit the chili peppers.
- Spice level. Simply start out with 1 pepper or as little spice as you like then taste test the marinade after blending. Add more chili peppers until you reach your desired spice level.
- Grilling technique. Whenever grilling a large piece of meat, it’s important to have both a hot zone and a cool zone on the grill. If the chicken starts to brown too quickly or begins to burn, simply move it to the cool side of the grill. The cool zone is also where the chicken finishes cooking over indirect heat after getting a good sear. Leaving the chicken over direct heat for the entire cooking time can easily burn the outside before the inside is fully cooked. For Peri Peri chicken, a deep char is part of what makes it so delicious, but there’s a big difference between charred and completely black.
- Oven method. Roast on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, breast side up, for 20 minutes at 475°F then turn the heat down to 375°F and continue to bake until the chicken breast reaches an internal temperature of 160°F (30-40 more minutes).
- Let the chicken rest. Let the chicken sit for 10-15 minutes before eating. This will help the chicken reabsorb all the pan juices.
- Leftovers. Peri Peri chicken can be saved for up to 3 days in the fridge and can be reheated in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 740kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.5g | Protein: 53.5g | Fat: 52.3g | Saturated Fat: 12.8g | Cholesterol: 235mg | Sodium: 1180mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 1.5g | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you really put the 3 bay leaves into the blender with the marinade !
Yes.
It’s not “peri peri”, it is “piri-piri”.
Peri peri is the African spelling, while piri piri is the Portuguese spelling. Both are acceptable and used.