Peruvian Chicken combines marinated chicken that’s roasted until tender and juicy on the inside with a perfectly crisp skin, and is served with a delicious green sauce you’ll want to drizzle on everything.
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The best chicken ever
For years, Tara worked in Brooklyn and would often bring home dinner from Tio Pio, an incredible little restaurant known for their rotisserie chicken with green sauce, or pollo ala brasa con aji verde. It didn’t matter that the chicken sat in a styrofoam container on the Long Island railroad for close to 2 hours – the second she walked through that door, we’d devour it. The Peruvian chicken was perfectly tender, the skin was out of this world delicious, and the creamy green sauce was something I’d drizzle on the chicken, the rice and beans, and even the sweet plantains that came as a side.
Our love of this chicken led us to try other places, such as Pio Pio (which has a Long Island location), whenever we needed a Peruvian chicken fix, but in reality, I just wanted to be able to make the chicken at home.
While I don’t have a rotisserie, my recipe outlined here is the closest I’ve come to duplicating the taste and texture of the chicken, and it is truly one of the best ways to make chicken. It’s just as flavorful and comforting as my Italian baked chicken and potatoes, but great when I want to change things up a bit. And the green sauce…heaven!
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. I’m using a small whole chicken (broiler chicken). I remove the backbone and halve the chicken, but you can ask your butcher to do this, or you can use chicken pieces if desired.
- The marinade. I’m combining soy sauce, white vinegar, garlic, and two Peruvian pastes: aji amarillo and aji panca paste, to make the marinade. The Peruvian pastes can be found online and I do recommend using them to make this dish as authentic as possible.
- Green sauce. You’ll need fresh cilantro, jalapenos, mayo, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and olive oil to make the aji verde.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make roast Peruvian chicken and green sauce
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Mix together the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, kosher salt, pepper, grated garlic, aji amarillo, and aji panca paste in a bowl.
- Remove the backbone from the chicken, split in half, pat it dry with paper towels, and place in a baking dish.
- Spread the marinade on the outside of the chicken and under the skin on all sides, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
- In the meantime, make the green sauce by placing all green sauce ingredients into a food processor and blending until smooth. Taste test and season with salt and pepper if needed. If you’d like it hotter, add a touch more jalapeno.
- 1 hour before roasting, remove the chicken from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 475°F and set the rack to the middle level. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and place the halves, skin side up, on a wire rack lined baking sheet or roasting pan. Rub the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil all over the skin.
- Roast the chicken for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425°F and continue roasting until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast reaches 160°F (approximately 45 minutes). Allow the Peruvian chicken to rest for 5 minutes before cutting, then carve into pieces and serve on a platter with a side of green sauce.
Top tips
- Marinate overnight. For best results, I recommend marinating the chicken overnight. This will impart maximum flavor.
- Use a digital thermometer. As with my other chicken dishes, like my maple roasted chicken, I recommend using a digital thermometer to ensure accuracy and remove any guesswork.
- Don’t skip the green sauce. The aji verde is truly one of the best condiments you can use. It’s a must for this dish, but also goes great on other Latin dishes such as rice and beans, tostones, fried yucca, and sweet plantains.
More amazing chicken recipes
If you love roasted or broiled chicken, give these other recipes a try.
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Peruvian Chicken with Green Sauce
Ingredients
For the chicken and marinade
- 1 small chicken backbone removed and halved
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Diamond crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons aji panca paste
- 8 cloves garlic grated
For the green sauce
- 1 packed cup cilantro leaves and thinner stems
- 2 large jalapenos chopped
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon distilled vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
For the chicken and marinade
- Whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, soy sauce, distilled vinegar, kosher salt, pepper, aji amarillo paste, aji panca paste, and garlic.
- Cut the backbone out of the chicken and split the chicken in half. Pat dry with paper towels then place the chicken in a flat dish and spread the marinade on the outside and under the skin and on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Note: marinate at least 6 hours but preferably overnight. At this time, you can make the green sauce, or you can make it while the chicken is roasting.
- Preheat oven to 475°F and set the rack to the middle level.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to roasting. Pat the chicken with paper towels to remove excess moisture and place the chicken halves, skin side up on a wire rack lined baking sheet or roasting pan. Rub the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil all over the skin. Roast the chicken for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 425°F and continue to roast until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast meat registers 160°F (about 45 minutes total cooking time).
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Carve the chicken into pieces and serve on a platter with the green sauce on the side.
For the green sauce
- Place all of the green sauce ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste test and season with salt and pepper if required. If you want a hotter paste, simply add another jalapeno pepper.
Notes
- Chicken. A smaller chicken (broiler chicken) around 3.5-4 pounds works best. Individual pieces such as all thighs or a combination of thighs and legs can be used too.
- Cook time. 45 minutes is a rough estimate based on a 4 pound chicken. A larger chicken will take a bit longer. Using a instant read thermometer or digital oven safe thermometer is recommended.
- Cilantro. Use all of the leaves and the smaller stems.
- Peruvian paste. Both of the pastes can be purchased online. You can substitute another type of pepper paste, but for best results, use authentic Peruvian aji amarillo paste and aji panca paste.
- Marinating overnight. To get maximum flavor and juiciness, I recommend marianting the chicken overnight.
- Leftovers. Perivian chicken with green sauce can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave or oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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