Chicken Piri-Piri or Frango Piri-Piri is a very popular Portuguese dish, it’s simply a butterflied barbecued chicken served with fries and salad. In Portugal, you can find it in many restaurants and churrasqueiras – places dedicated to barbecued food. What distinguishes the piri-piri chicken from other grilled chickens is the chilli glaze it receives before going on the grill – the piri piri.
What Type of Chilli is the Piri-Piri?
In Portugal, the name Piri-piri is used to describe a chilli variety of the species Capsicum frutescens, the same variety commonly known as malagueta peppers. So, what’s the difference between piri-piri and malagueta? Although some people assume them to be different varieties, both originate from the same plant. The chillis differ in size, maturity stage, and pungency. Piri-piri chillies are usually smaller and can be hotter than malagueta chillies.
These chillies measure around 2-3cm in length and are considered very hot, on the scoville scale they can range between 50,000-175,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). If you’re not familiar with the Scoville scale, a common pepper like a Jalapeño is around 3,500 to 8,000 SHU. Piri piri peppers are much much hotter.
The Origins of Piri-Piri
The species Capsicum frutescens is believed to be native to Central America. It was taken by Portuguese navigators to Brazil, Africa, and Portugal, where they gained popularity. To these days there’s still a debate concerning the origins of both the piri piri sauce and and the chicken piri piri. Most sources point to Portuguese settlers in either South Africa, Angola, or Mozambique. The dish, or an early version of it, would’ve been brought back to Portugal by immigrants from the African continent in the 60s and 70s.
Peri Peri or Piri Piri?
Piri piri is the common name for it in Portugal. However, internationally it is much more commonly known as peri peri chicken. The name is believed to have derived from the Swahili Pilipili which means pepper. Portugal and it’s ex-colonies – piri piri. Internationally and in English – peri peri. Perhaps we can also blame the South African chain Nando’s for popularising the peri peri spelling in the UK too!
Where is the Best Place to Try Piri-Piri Chicken?
In Portugal you can find Piri Piri Chicken in many restaurants and churrasqueiras – places dedicated to barbecued food. It is a casual dish served in even more casual restaurants, and althought appreciated from north to south. However, it is the Algarve that’s widely known as its home.
This classic dish was created in Guia, a small village near Albufeira. And that’s where you will find the best frango piri piri. They are usually served whole or harved and can be order with or without piri piri. Since most places don’t actually serve it very hot, those who like some extra heat can ask for more piri-piri sauce.
Oven Baked Piri Piri Chicken Recipe
Frango Piri-piri is traditionally a barbecued chicken, however, with a few tricks and some adaptation, it can be done in the oven. Resulting in an equally delicious piri piri chicken for a lot less of the work. For this recipe I used a whole butterflied chicken, you can also use chicken legs or thighs. If you are using the whole chicken, I suggest you choose a small one with around 1 to 1,5kg. For the piri-piri sauce I used both fresh and dry chillies, if you live in places where piri-piri is not easy to find, bird’s eye chili, cayenne pepper or red habaneros can be good options too.
You can also double the recipe of the sauce, and keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It goes incredibly well with almost everything. I also did a bonus cooling sauce which pairs very well with the spicy grilled chicken. This is a practical and delicious recipe for those wanting to (literally) spicy it up their standard roast chicken!
Piri Piri Chicken – Authentic Portuguese Grilled Chicken
4
servings40
minutes1
hour15
minutes756
kcalChicken Piri Piri is a Portuguese spicy barbecue chicken very popular in the Algarve.
Ingredients
- Chicken
1 1 small chicken (1,3kg) – butterflied
2 2 garlic cloves – minced
30 g 30 room temp butter
fresh thyme
1 1 lemon – juiced
salt
black pepper
- Piri Piri Sauce
2 2 piri piri chillies – roughly chopped
2 2 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
100 ml 100 extra virgin olive oil
1 1 lemon – juiced
20 ml 20 white port wine
fresh cilantro – to taste
salt – to taste
black pepper – to taste
- For the Cooling Sauce
fresh mint – a handful
fresh parsley – a hanful
fresh chives – a handful
40 g 40 ricotta cheese
70 g 70 greek yoghurt
1 tbsp 1 olive oil
salt – to taste
pepper – to taste
Directions
- Place your chicken on a baking tray, season it with the minced garlic and lemon juice. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Combine the butter and fresh thyme, add it under the skin of the chicken breast, rubbing it from the outside to make sure the butter is well spread. This will add extra flavour to the breasts and make them more moist. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper, then set it aside.
- Pre-heat your oven to 240 °C.
- Meanwhile, add the piri-piri sauce ingredients to a food processor, blend everything for a couple of minutes. It should look like a smooth paste but not super liquid.
- Once the oven is hot, add the seasoned chicken. Cook it for 20 minutes, then brush it with the piri piri sauce, put it back in the oven. Repeat the process one more time.
- Continue to roast for another 15 minutes or until the skin achieves a barbecued look. It should be ready when you poke the chicken, and clear juices come out out. It takes approximately 1h15m total (3x 20min + 15min)
- For the cooling sauce, finely chop your herbs, combine them with Greek yoghurt and the ricotta. Season it with salt, black pepper, and the olive oil.
- Serve your chicken with the sides you prefer. I served mine like the Portuguese do, with a simple salad, French fries and some of the left over piri-piri sauce!
Notes
- It takes around 1h15 minutes to roast a 1,3kg butterflied chicken, time might vary depending the size of chicken and oven used.
This spicy chicken goes exceptionally well with a cold Super Bock or Sagres! Let us know in the comments what you think of this classic Portuguese dish!
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I definitely will try it. It looks amazing!
I made this Piri Piri Chicken. It is absolutely amazing! I got so many compliments. Will definitely make again.
I’ve just vacating Portugal 🇵🇹 and will definitely make this!