Peri peri chicken is spicy chicken marinated in a tasty combination of peppers and spices and then grilled or baked to perfection. It’s a great addition to your summer grilling menu.

Nando's copycat Peri Peri Chicken


 

This amazing Peri Peri Chicken recipe uses that easy homemade peri peri sauce we shared with you yesterday.

Tender chicken quarters are basted in the spicy sauce until they are perfectly cooked. The bold sauce made from a blend of chili peppers, roasted peppers and onions and spice is so yummy that we put it on everything. It’s bright, bold and spicy and makes this peri peri chicken absolutely mouth wateringly delicious.

If you want to experiment with some other bold spices make sure to try our za’atar chicken and harissa chicken too!

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Peri Peri sauce for Nando's copycat peri peri chicken

What You’ll Need

Once you have the sauce made, there’s not much to this chicken recipe. To make this you’ll need:

Chicken – We recommend bone in, skin on chicken quarters for this recipe but any chicken pieces will work including boneless and skinless pieces.

Peri Peri sauce – For this sauce you need a red bell pepper, onion, garlic, spices and red chili peppers.

Portuguese Peri Peri Chicken is a spicy low carb chicken recipe

How to Make It

Marinate the chicken. Put the chicken into a freezer bag with 2 cups of peri peri sauce. Make sure the sauce evenly covers the chicken. Seal the bag and pop it in the fridge for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Cook the chicken. You can cook the chicken in the oven or grill it. Either way, remove the chicken from the bag and scrape off the excess marinade. If you are baking the chicken, put the chicken in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet and bake it in a 425 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165.

If you are grilling the chicken, place the chicken on a grill that’s preheated to 350-400 degrees F. Let it cook for 15 minutes before flipping and cooking for about 15 minutes more. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

grilled Peri Peri Chicken
What is Peri Peri chicken?

Peri peri chicken is a zesty chicken dish that has roots in both South Africa and Portugal. The dish coats chicken quarters in a zesty homemade peri peri sauce. This sauce consists of pureed chili peppers, garlic and spices. Check out our post on how to make this sauce here. The sauce gives this chicken bold flavor that we absolutely adore.

Is Peri Peri Chicken Hot?

The spice level of this recipe depends on how spicy you make the peri peri sauce. The sauce can be made with varying degrees of heat. When you make the sauce, you can add the chili peppers one at a time to control the heat level. If you use more chili peppers, the sauce will be spicier. For a milder version you can use more roasted red peppers and less hot peppers. 

Do I Have to Use Chicken Quarters?

No, any chicken pieces will work. It doesn’t matter if it is boneless or skinless. Use whatever chicken you have and like. We like chicken quarters because the dark meat stays juicier as it cooks, especially if you’re grilling it.

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Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Marinate: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 45 minutes

Peri Peri Chicken

Peri peri chicken is spicy chicken marinated in a tasty combination of peppers and spices and then grilled or baked to perfection. It’s a great addition to your summer grilling menu.
Nando's copycat Peri Peri Chicken
Print Recipe
4.50 from 2 votes

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken quarters, this is the leg and thigh, bone-in, skin-on
  • 2 cups Peri Peri sauce, divided

Instructions

Oven Instructions:

  • Sprinkle chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon of salt before placing them in a freezer bag with 1 cup of the Peri Peri sauce. Seal and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 4 hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Remove the marinated chicken from the freezer bag and scrape off the excess marinade.
  • Pour ½ cup of the unused peri peri sauce in a small bowl.
  • Place the chicken pieces in a large casserole dish, or on a baking sheet, and bake for 20-30 minutes. As the chicken cooks baste it every 10 minutes with the peri peri sauce you put in the bowl. The chicken is done when it’s internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
  • Serve with remaining 1/2 cup of Peri Peri sauce on the side.

Grill Instructions:

  • Heat grill to 350-400 degrees F.
  • Remove the marinated chicken from the freezer bag and scrape off the excess marinade.
  • Pour ½ cup of the unused peri peri sauce in a small bowl.
  • Place the chicken pieces on the hot grill and cook for 15 minutes before flipping and cooking for approximately 15 minutes more. As the chicken cooks baste it every 10 minutes with the peri peri sauce you put in the bowl. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
  • Serve with remaining 1/2 cup of Peri Peri sauce on the side.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece, Calories: 520kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 27g, Fat: 44g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 142mg, Sodium: 1767mg, Potassium: 508mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 929IU, Vitamin C: 36mg, Calcium: 56mg, Iron: 5mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.
Author: Kat Jeter & Melinda Caldwell
Course: Main
Cuisine: Portuguese
Keyword: peri peri chicken, piri piri chicken
Handwritten signature for Kat & Melinda

This recipe was originally published on October 11, 2014. It was republished on July 8, 2020 with updated recipe and photos.