Authentic peri peri chicken is an easy weeknight recipe that balances zesty citrus, aromatic garlic, and African bird’s eye chilies for the perfect heat. This popular grilled chicken will become a part of your dinner rotation!
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Many people are familiar with peri peri chicken because of the restaurant chain Nando’s. Nando’s is a South African fast-food chain that’s not as well-known in the United States but is very popular worldwide. Their specialty is peri peri chicken.
However, Nando’s didn’t invent peri peri chicken. It originated in Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. It was exported to Portugal in the 1970s when many Portuguese returned to Portugal from the colonies in Africa. In Portugal, it’s called frango piri piri (spicy chicken).
Peri peri chicken is also known as piri piri, peli peli or pili pili chicken. Peri peri chicken is made with chili peppers, lemon juice, vinegar, and garlic. Traditionally, peri peri chicken is marinated for a day and grilled over hot charcoal.
➡ If you’re looking for more grilled chicken recipes, try Korean bbq chicken or Thai grilled chicken. Another option is Jamaican jerk chicken.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Piri Piri Chicken
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🥣 Peri peri marinade: I recommend marinating the chicken for 8 hours or overnight. If you’re in a hurry, at least an hour.
🌶️ Thai Bird’s Eye Chili Peppers: If you have access to fresh African or Thai bird’s eye chilis, use about 2 to 5 peppers, depending on your tolerance for spice.
If you can’t find it, use any hot sauce, such as Frank’s hot sauce or Tabasco sauce. You can also use any fresh red chili pepper of your choice.
🍗 Chicken: I love the flavor of bone-in chicken, but I also make this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
🌿 Herbs: There isn’t a strict guideline for which herbs you can include in peri peri sauce. I often use just rosemary or oregano, rather than both. I’ve also experimented with cilantro, thyme, or Italian seasoning. I really enjoy the flavor that cilantro adds.
🍯 Honey: I like adding a touch of sweetness to tart recipes. You can add even more honey to make the sauce sweeter or reduce or omit the honey. Brown sugar is a good substitute for honey, too.
🔴 Paprika: I like to add paprika to this recipe to give the peri-peri sauce a rich red color.
❓FAQS
Yes, you can make this peri peri chicken with the skin on.
You could add more Thai chili peppers. They are quite spicy, so a little goes a long way. If you can’t find them, use chopped red serrano or jalapeno peppers. Or add hot sauce.
How to Make Peri Peri Chicken
🔥 Grill Instructions
- For the peri peri chicken marinade, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, onion powder, black pepper, salt, paprika, and oregano in a blender jar.
- Blend until the marinade is smooth.
- Add marinade to chicken thighs in a large bowl. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably 8 hours to overnight.
- Grill chicken thighs at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) until internal temperature reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping the chicken every 5 minutes, for a total of about 20 minutes.
🎛️ Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Rub the foil with cooking oil.
- Arrange the chicken skin side up on the foil.
- Bake the chicken for about 35 to 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
♨️ Air Fryer Instructions
- Coat the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- Place chicken in the air fryer skin side down.
- Air fry the chicken at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Turn and air fry on the other side for 7 to 10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Peri Peri Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon ginger coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoon garlic coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 6 chicken thighs bone-in
Instructions
- For the peri peri marinade, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, onion powder, black pepper, salt, paprika, and oregano in a blender jar. Blend until the marinade is smooth.
- Place chicken thighs in a large bowl and pour in the marinade. Scrape the blender jar with a silicone spatula to get all the marinade.
- Marinate the chicken for 8 hours to overnight. If you're really short on time, try for 30 minutes at least.
- Preheat grill to medium-high temperature (400 degrees Fahrenheit or 205 degrees Celsius).
- Remove chicken from marinade using tongs or a slotted spoon and discard marinade.
- Grill chicken thighs until internal temperature reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping the chicken every 5 minutes, for a total of about 20 minutes.
Notes
- Prep time does not include marination time.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Jill says
This is a wonderful recipe. I love the combination of flavors and the chicken is so tender. Thank you so much for sharing. This is be a go to for our family !
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jill, I’m really glad you like the peri peri chicken recipe – thank you for sharing!
Paul and Jaci says
Very aromatic, colourful and tastes great. Thank you for the recipe. We served this with some vegetable curry and a kale Mediterranean pasta salad. Again thank you.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for your comment. I’m thrilled that you tried the recipe and enjoyed it!
Dena says
I love the thoroughness of the instructions.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you, Dena!