Peri Peri Chicken

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 40 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4 Servings

Peri peri chicken was popularized all over the world by the famous South African chicken chain, Nando’s, and often when my family wanted to make it at home, we would use a store-bought marinade. Later in life, I married into a Mozambican family, and learned that making it from scratch wasn’t only tastier, but also a lot simpler than I thought. Often attributed to Portuguese cuisine, peri peri, (also called piri piri or pili pili) originates in Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. It has been adopted and adapted all over Lusophonic countries, and there is certainly more than one way to make it.

Ingredients

4 medium red Fresno peppers (medium spicy) or 1/2 loosely packed cup red Thai or African bird’s-eye chiles (very spicy), stems trimmed and Fresno peppers coarsely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Juice of 1 medium lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or a combination

Instructions

Process 4 trimmed and chopped medium red Fresno peppers, 1 trimmed and chopped medium red bell pepper, 6 coarsely chopped garlic cloves, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a food processor until finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the vessel if needed, about 20 seconds total. If you have difficulty blending, add some of the lemon juice to assist in the blending. Transfer to a large bowl.
Stir in the juice of 1 medium lemon, 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. The marinade should be just loose enough to be easily spreadable. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade (cover and refrigerate) for brushing the cooked chicken.
Pat 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks dry with paper towels. Add to the marinade in the large bowl and toss until evenly coated. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes, or cover and refrigerate up to overnight.
Heat a gas grill for direct, medium heat (about 350ºF), or prepare a charcoal grill for both direct and indirect medium heat (pile the coals on one half the grill). If the chicken has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature while the grill heats.
When the grill is ready, scrape the grates clean. Oil the grill grates with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the remaining marinade) and place on the grill skin-side down in a single layer, grilling over direct heat if grilling on charcoal. Cover and cook undisturbed until grill marks appear on the bottom, about 10 minutes.
Flip the chicken. Reduce the heat to low on a gas grill, or transfer to indirect heat on a charcoal grill. Continue to grill, flipping the chicken every 5 minutes, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the meat not touching bone registers at least 165ºF, 20 to 30 minutes more. Brush with the reserved 2 tablespoons marinade before serving.
Heat the oven to 350°F. If the chicken has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature while the oven heats. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Remove the chicken from the marinade (reserve the remaining marinade) and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Brush with some of the reserved marinade in the bowl and bake for 15 minutes more. Discard any remaining marinade left in the bowl.
Turn on the broiler and broil until the chicken is cooked through and the skin and bits of the marinade have browned and charred slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Brush with the reserved 2 tablespoons marinade before serving.