This Roasted Peruvian Chicken recipe delivers a delicious, juicy Peruvian-style roast chicken with a spicy and utterly addictive green sauce!
Also called Pollo a la Brasa, this Whole Roasted Peruvian Chicken is bathed in olive oil, lime juice, garlic and spices, and then oven-roasted until it’s succulent with crispy skin. Now for the green sauce, colored from cilantro and jalapeño peppers…it’s so good. A mix of spicy, creamy and downright addictive!
How To Make This Peruvian Chicken Recipe – Step By Step
Remove giblets and carefully rinse the chicken, inside and out. Remove any excess fat or skin and leftover pin feathers. Use paper towels to pat the entire chicken dry and set the chicken on the prepared baking sheet.
Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Truss the chicken (see recipe for video tutorial).
Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken and brush the chicken with 1/4th of the marinade. Refrigerate the chicken 8-48 hours, uncovered, until ready to cook.
When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking and heat oven to 450°F.
Turn the chicken, breast side down, onto the wire rack and set the chicken in the oven (middle rack).
Cook the bird 30 minutes then turn it breast-side up.
Cook an additional 30 minutes. (If the chicken is getting too brown, cover it with a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray. (Don’t wrap the foil around the chicken – just set the foil on top of the chicken.)
Turn off the oven, baste the chicken with reserved marinade, and set the chicken back in the oven. Replace the foil and leave the chicken 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thighs registers 175°F-180°F.
Transfer the chicken to a cooling rack and tent with foil. Allow it to rest 15 minutes before serving.
For The Marinade
Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pour 1/4th of the marinade into a smaller dish and use this portion to brush over the chicken.
Divide the remaining marinade into two smaller dishes and reserve one dish for basting the chicken during cooking and another to serve alongside the cooked chicken. Serve with rice.
Enjoy!
The Right Type Of Chicken To Roast
When shopping for the chicken you may come across different labels on the chicken – ‘broilers’, ‘roasters’ and ‘fryers’. For this recipe we’re using a 4lbs chicken, so grab a ‘fryer’, it’ll do perfectly!
What Is Aji Verde (The Green Sauce)?
Made with a little mayonnaise, nutty cheese, cilantro, spicy peppers, garlic, and lime, Aji Verde is comforting and packed with vibrant flavor. The secret ingredient is a pepper puree commonly used in Peruvian cooking called, Aji Amarillo Paste. You’ll want to slather this delicious sauce on everything!
What To Serve With This Peruvian Chicken Recipe
You can serve this Peruvian chicken recipe with rice, or even with fried yuca. A great idea is to pan-fry a couple of sweet plantains, which are delicious dipped in the tart green sauce! Frying plantains couldn’t be simpler too. Peel them, cut them into rounds and pan fry them over medium-high heat in a little vegetable oil until they’re soft and deep golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle them with a little kosher salt – done!
Top Tips For This Peruvian Chicken Recipe
- Keep the marinade refrigerated in airtight, glass containers until ready to use.
- Marinade the chicken for at least 8 hours in the fridge.
- When roasting the chicken breast side up, if the chicken is getting too brown, cover it with a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Don’t wrap the foil around the chicken – just set the foil on top of the chicken.
- Make sure to wash your hands after handling the chilies, avoid touching your eyes and other sensitive parts!
Check Out These Other Delicious Chicken Recipes
Have you tried this Roasted Peruvian Chicken recipe? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
marinade: 8 hours
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 841kcal
This Roasted Peruvian Chicken recipes delivers a delicious, juicy Peruvian-style roast chicken with a spicy and utterly addictive green sauce!
For the Roast Chicken:
- 1 3½-4 pound whole chicken
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Marinade:
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 fresh jalapeno ribs and seeds removed, diced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder I prefer Penzey’s Chili 3000 or 9000
- ¼-½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- Zest of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons fresh limejuice approx. juice from 1½ limes
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced or 2 tablespoons ginger paste (I use Gourmet Garden Ginger Stir-In Paste)
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- Peruvian Green Sauce for serving (click for recipe)
For the Roast Chicken:
Line a medium, rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a metal rack over the baking sheet. Cover the metal rack with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Be sure to leave space around (or at least on
opposite ends of) the edge of the metal rack for chicken juices to flow into the rimmed baking sheet. (Alternately, a well-seasoned and oiled cast iron skillet can be used for roasting the chicken.)
Remove giblets and carefully rinse the chicken, inside and out. Remove any excess fat or skin and leftover pin feathers. Use paper towels to pat the entire chicken dry and set the chicken on the prepared baking sheet.
Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.
Truss the chicken. Here is a great tutorial: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-domaindev-st_emea&hsimp=yhs-st_emea&hspart=domaindev&p=trussing+a+chicken#id=1&vid=7f4cd7303a5be9be3759d2ed19211cd6&action=click
Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken and brush the chicken with 1/4th of the marinade.
Refrigerate the chicken 8-48 hours, uncovered, until ready to cook.
When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking and heat oven to 450°F.
Turn the chicken, breast side down, onto the wire rack and set the chicken in the oven (middle rack).
Cook the bird 30 minutes then turn it breast-side up.
Cook an additional 30 minutes. (If the chicken is getting too brown, cover it with a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray. (Don’t wrap the foil around the chicken – just set the foil on top of the chicken.)
Turn off the oven, baste the chicken with reserved marinade, and set the chicken back in the oven. Replace the foil and leave the chicken 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thighs registers 175°F-180°F.
Transfer the chicken to a cooling rack and tent with foil. Allow it to rest 15 minutes before serving.
For the Marinade:
Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Pour 1/4th of the marinade into a smaller dish and use this portion to brush over the chicken.
Divide the remaining marinade into two smaller dishes and reserve one dish for basting the chicken during cooking and another to serve alongside the cooked chicken.
Keep the marinade refrigerated in airtight, glass containers until ready to use.
To Serve:
Carve the chicken and place on a serving tray. Drizzle reserved marinade and Peruvian Green Sauce over the chicken and serve.
Serve any extra green sauce and marinade in bowls alongside the chicken.
Serve with your favorite rice.
Enjoy!
Calories: 841kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 218mg | Sodium: 1530mg | Potassium: 734mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 1324IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 4mg
