This is my copycat of the FAMOUS Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger! A homemade Peri Peri Sauce does double duty as the marinade for the Portuguese style grilled chicken and to make a tingly creamy Peri Peri “Perinaise” pink sauce. Excellent for summer BBQs!
Nando’s copycat Peri Peri Chicken Burgers
Nando’s is a global chain that is known for the Portuguese style flame grilled chicken cooked with their famous Peri Peri sauce. Here in Australia, it has a cult following!
Since I created this copycat version, it’s been a favourite for outdoor BBQ gatherings, and for many several years it was one of my most requested recipes in my circles (until they tasted the Next Big Thing!). The Peri Peri sauce is a chilli based sauce which comes in a variety of spice levels, from very mild to very hot. It’s full flavoured yet fresh, and I describe it as “a party in your mouth”.
It does triple duty as a marinade for the chicken and two sauces for the burger: a creamy tingly pink Perinaise sauce (also a shameless Nando’s copycat) and using it as a sauce as is. The combination of the creamy sauce with the fresh Peri Peri sauce in the burger is a killer!
About the copycat Nando’s Peri Peri Sauce
The homemade Nando’s Peri Peri sauce is a copycat that tastes remarkably similar to the store bought version. But better, because it’s made from real ingredients!
It’s a blend of fresh red chillies, capsicum/bell pepper, garlic, vinegar, oil plus herbs and spices (paprika, oregano, onion, sugar, salt, pepper). A concoction I cobbled together after an inspection of the Nando’s bottle – minus additives and other mystery ingredients. 🙂
As for the making part? Just blitz everything together. It literally takes seconds!
Ingredients in Nando’s Peri Peri Sauce recipe
Here’s what goes into my copy-cat Nando’s Peri Peri Sauce. If you compare my recipe to the ingredient label of Nando’s Peri Peri sauce, you will notice that I don’t use exactly the same ingredients because this is a home-version copycat, intended to achieve a similar flavour using readily accessible ingredients.
For example, Nando’s uses a variety of chillies (cayenne pepper, serrano and African Birds Eye chillis). I can’t imagine making this sauce without making it insanely spicy using only fresh chillis, so I’ve used capsicum (bell pepper) instead for spice-free pepper flavour, and added spiciness using Birds Eye chillis. Don’t worry if you can’t get these, it’s easy to substitute – see below.
Birds Eye chillis – These are common here in Australia and are fairly spicy. Use 3 for a mild Peri Peri sauce (this is what I use), 1 for barely noticeable, and 5 for extra spicy. Note: Bear in mind that the spiciness is diluted in the end result through the cooking process, addition of mayonnaise and sour cream into the Perinaise Sauce. So I like to make my sauce a little spicier than ideal because I know it’s not that spicy once used in the burger.
Substitute with other fresh chillies of choice or dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes). Start with less, blitz, then you can add more later and blitz again.
Capsicum / bell pepper – As noted above, this adds good fresh pepper flavour into the Peri Peri sauce without spiciness. Use a medium one – if it’s too big, your sauce may end up too thick.
Garlic – It’s not Peri Peri Sauce without a good amount of garlic in it!
Malt vinegar – This brown vinegar is made from ale, is less sharp and has a warmer flavour than regular white vinegar. Substitute with red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
Oil – Any plain neutral flavoured oil is fine here, like canola or vegetable oil, or even an olive oil.
Spices – Just regular everyday spices! Onion, paprika and dried oregano. I like to use smoked paprika when I’ve got it for a touch of free extra smokey flavour. However, I use regular paprika in a pinch if I don’t have it.
Red food colouring (optional) – To give it a red colour boost! Entirely optional. I use natural red food colouring so I don’t hold back using colouring in foods. 🙂
Ingredients for Peri Peri Chicken Burgers
And here’s what you need to make the burgers.
Chicken breast or thigh fillets
Thigh fillets is the easier option because you can just use them without pounding as they are a juicier cut of meat. For breast, I like to pound them so they are more even thickness so they cook through evenly. Makes a difference for this lean cut!
Peri-naise (pink sauce!)
This is my copycat of the Nando’s Peri-Naise which is a Peri Peri creamy mayonnaise sauce. I think Nando’s just uses mayonnaise but I prefer to lighten it up a bit by using a mix of sour cream and mayonnaise, that way I can be generous with the amount I use on my burgers and not feel as guilty! (And trust me, you will want to be generous with this sauce, it’s an essential part of the Peri Peri Burger experience!).
The other burger things
And lastly, to complete our Peri Peri Burgers, we just need some soft white rolls, lettuce and tomato. Any lettuce you have / can get is fine here. I use butter lettuce (the lovely soft kind). Rocket and baby spinach will be great too, though I’d probably avoid using chicory or other bitter lettuce varieties. If using cos (romaine) or iceberg lettuce, consider shredding it.
How to make Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burgers
I pound chicken breast to make it even thickness so it cooks evenly, and it makes the meat more tender. This makes a real difference here because breast is such a lean cut and prone to drying out (though the marinade also helps trap juices).
Because thigh fillets are a juicier cut, I do not pound them unless they are extremely thick (ie make them a bit thinner) or if they are not large enough (pound to make a larger footprint so they are a little larger than the buns).
1. Pound and trim breast
Cover the chicken breast with go-between, a freezer bag or double layer of cling wrap, to protect it from tearing when you pound.
Pound to 1cm / 0.4″ thickness using a meat mallet or rollling pin.
Cut the chicken into burger-size pieces that are a little larger than the buns. Factor in 20% shrinkage!
Comparison or bun to chicken piece. 🙂
2. MAKING THE BURGERS
Peri Peri Sauce – Blitz all the ingredients until smooth using a stick blender, food processor, or blender. It won’t be completely smooth, but it shouldn’t have hard lumps in it.
Peri-naise sauce – Use 3 tablespoons of the Peri Peri Sauce and mix it with the sour cream and mayonnaise to make the Per-naise.
Marinade chicken – Then use 1/2 cup of the Peri Peri Sauce to marinade the chicken. Marinade for at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours. (Even 48 hours is fine, I just find beyond 24 hours I don’t notice any difference).
Cook the chicken on the stove or BBQ on medium heat, or medium high if your stove is on the weaker side. Don’t cook it on too high a heat else the marinade stuck on the chicken will completely burn! We just want some authentic flame-grilled chargrilled spots on the chicken, without making it completely black.
Rest – Once cooked, rest the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes before assembling the burger. This step allows the juices inside the chicken to be re-absorbed into the meat fibres so you have lovely juicy chicken. Don’t skip this step!
Assemble burger – Here’s my assembly order: Peri-naise slathered on the base, then top with lettuce, tomato and the chicken. Then I slather with more Peri-naise and a heaping dollop of extra Peri Peri Sauce.
Eat! Pop the lid onto your burger then sink your teeth into it!
Excellent for summer gatherings
This Nando’s Peri Peri Burger was one of my “go-to” recipes for gatherings during warmer months. I’d marinade huge quantities of chicken then happily let others volunteer to do the BBQ’ing while I did important hostessing duties like sipping wine and discussing the best value hairdressers in town with my friends.
As with all my “food for a crowd”, I put these burgers out in a DIY situation. Baskets of soft rolls, platters of lettuce and tomato slices with bowls of the Perinaise Sauce and Peri Peri Sauce on the side. Then everyone builds their own burgers. NO PLATES. Te he! Napkins only! Don’t make me wash up! -Nagi x
PS Pictured in post with a peek of homemade wedges. Boy, what a combo. And excellent for dipping into the Perinaise Sauce!
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
Peri Peri Sauce/Marinade
- 1 – 3 birds eye red chilies (1 is very mild, 3 is mildly spicy) (Note 1)
- 1 medium red capsicum / bell pepper , roughly cut into 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces
- 5 garlic cloves , peeled, whole
- 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil , or other plain flavoured oil
- 4 tbsp malt vinegar (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika (substitute regular / sweet paprika)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp onion powder (substitute garlic powder)
- 1 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 3 drops red food colouring (optional, Note 3)
Perinaise
- 3 tbsp Peri Peri Sauce (above)
- 1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise (or other mayonnaise)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (or yoghurt)
Burgers
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts or chicken thigh fillets , skinless boneless (each large enough for a burger)
- 4 soft rolls , split and lightly toasted (if desired)
- 2 tomatoes , sliced
- Lettuce of choice
Instructions
- Prepare chicken breast – If using breast, pound to 1 cm / 0.4" even thickness (cover with go-between or freezer bags, use a meat mallet or rolling pin). Then trim each chicken piece so it is a bit larger than the buns (factor in 20% shrinkage when it cooks).
- Peri Peri Sauce – Put the Per Peri Sauce ingredients in a jug and blitz until smooth using a stick blender, or other appliance of choice (food processor, blender, NutriBullet).
- Marinade chicken – Pour 1/2 cup of the sauce into a bowl or ziplock bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Marinate for at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours, in the fridge.
- Perinaise – Mix together the Perinaise ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook chicken – Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a fry pan over medium / medium-high heat, OR brush BBQ grill with oil then heat. Cook breast for 3 minutes on each side, thighs for 4 minutes (in batches, if they won't fit in the pan), lowering the heat as needed if they are charring too much (char = legit!).
- Rest – Remove the chicken onto a plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 5 minutes. (Meanwhile, toast the rolls)
- Assemble – To make the burgers, spread the base of a roll with Peri-naise. Top with lettuce, tomato then chicken, then top with more Peri-naise and extra Peri Peri sauce if desired!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More Burgers, Sliders and Sandwiches
Life of Dozer
And Life of Dozer on the book tour continues!
Last weekend we had two more book signing events in Sydney. The first at Westfield Warringah Mall, my old stomping ground where it all began. So lovely to talk to locals!! And on Sunday in the Shire at Westfield Miranda.
Dozer was quite the social butterfly, wondering around amongst the crowds to greet everyone while I was firmly planted at my signing station! Here’s a little home video I put together. The sight of Dozer waddling through the Westfield is just everything!
The next legs of the book tour are interstate, which sadly Dozer cannot accompany me to because, can you believe it, Australia wouldn’t change their aviation laws and allow dogs in the cabin so he could come with me. 😤😂
Nevertheless, he is with me in spirit. Or more specifically, in my homework, as I continue to sign book plates on his behalf at every opportunity, everywhere and anywhere!
how many thai chillies should i substitute for one birds eye chilli
Hi! I would really like to try this recipe but as I’m allergic to gluten I don’t think I can use any brown vinegar (I think all of them contain malt). Would it be possible to replace with maybe 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, red- or white vinegar or maybe balsamico instead? What do you think is the best option? Or should I omit the vinegar completely? Thank you 🙂
Hi Carlin, I would just substitute with apple cider vinegar – you’ll love it! N x
Can you use peri peri seasoning in the pink sauce instead of sauce ? Looking at how I can reduce calories.
Recipe sounds delicious! I only have white wine vinegar as it has to be gluten free is This ok?
Hi Nagi, how many servings of the peri peri marinade will be required for a whole chicken (1.5kg)? Thanks 😊
Hi Vanisha, I would make two just to be sure – N x
My pink sauce was a little runny maybe i put To much yoghurt tastes great tho,and i might try using chicken breast instead of thighs.
Hi Nagi…thanks a ton for your wonderful recipes.Have followed many with delicious results.Had a query here..can we use chicken brests in this recipe?
Hi Nagi,
I’m in Melbourne, love your recipes which have reinvigorated my love of cooking and I’m learning so much from you!
My 26yo son has moved back in with me during lockdown ( he was actually the one that recommended your site to me!)
He has severe allergies to dairy, eggs, nuts, sesame and fish. I’m cooking the Peri Peri chicken burgers. Can I use the sauce without adding the dairy components?
Thanks!
Hi Bethany, I’m so glad you’re loving my recipes! To make the sauce I’d sub coconut yogurt (or lactose free yogurt if he can) for the sour cream 🙂 N x
Great idea, thanks Nagi! I’ve never tried coconut yoghurt before, have used coconut milk and cream but didn’t know about the yoghurt – will definitely try it! Thanks Nagi😊
Hi Nagi! Do you think the chicken could be baked?
Hi Jeni, the caramelisation on the chicken is what produces a great flavour – you could grill/broil it to achieve the same result here! N x
Hi Nagi,
Made this recipe using red wine vinegar which was the only one I had at home . Came out really sharp. Any idea how I can cut off the sharpness ? Add sugar or more red pepper ? Thank you so much
Hi Neha, add a little sugar to cut the sharpness, just adjust to taste here. N x
Hi Nagi,
Thank you for coming back to me ! As I didn’t hear from you I went out specially to buy the malt vinegar and it was delicious. Now I’ve my answer I’ve put sugar in the too vinegary version and popped it In the freezer for when I needed next time ! Can’t wait to have it again ! Thank you for your amazing recipes . I’ve become a better cook for my family thanks to you !
Hi Nagi, I just made my hubby a club sandwich with the leftover chicken, peri peri sauce instead of mayonnaise, and bacon…it was so so good. This recipe just keeps on giving! I’ve made it several times and each time I catch someone eating the peri peri sauce with a spoon, seriously who can blame them? I have a question for you, I’d like to make this for a dinner party, but one of my guests doesn’t eat meat. Any suggestions for a fish burger? Have you ever subbed in fish instead of meat? In general, I go to your site every time I’m at a loss for a meal idea, you never fail. I am very thankful for all your great pictures and outstanding recipes. Much appreciation from halfway around the world, Montreal Canada!!
Nagi this recipe is the BEST!
Quick question
Can I freeze the peri peri marinade?
Sure can Maria!! N x
This is so super good!! We aren’t big on bread so we slice the chicken after grilling and put it on top of turmeric rice with sautéed/somewhat blackened zucchini and corn. We drizzle the pink sauce over the top, that stuff takes it next level and the combination of flavors is outstanding! Thanks for yet another winner Nagi, you are like a member of our family now😍
How much Cayenne Pepper would you substitute if fresh peppers are not available?
Hi Gianna, you need the bell peppers to be fresh for this sauce but you could sub the chillies with 1 tsp cayenne pepper. N x
OMG, PeriPeri Sauce was better than any sauce I have ever tasted.
Nagi, Do you have a recipe book I could purchase?
I’m so glad you loved it Debra! I have a recipe book on the cards for next year 🙂 N x
Carn’t wait please let me know when it’s available. I’m old school not real good with technology. Managed to find your beautiful recipes though Lol. You are one amazing chef.😘 People like yourself would show any good chef up
Oh Nagi. You just did my meal prep for the week with those
Double duty suggestions above. thankyou
Wahoo! That’s great to hear Noelene! N x
Okay, Nagi… this is good. Real good! I’m Portuguese and this Piri Piri chicken recipe is absolutely delicious! You nailed it again! Thank you for making our bellies so happy!
That’s the best! Thanks so much Tania! N x
Great recipe! Friday night dinner sorted!
So, so good! Served with the wedges and pink sauce! Yum! I’m thinking of using the marinade recipe for a butterflied chicken roasted in a kettle bbq. Thankyou Nagi
Hi Nagi! We don’t have Nando’s in Hong Kong or in France, so nothing to compare to but the chicken and the potato wedges were amazing! We also enjoyed the peri peri sauce by itself. We will definitely be making this again. Thanks for another great recipe!!
You’re so welcome Elodie, I’m so glad you loved it! N x
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say these were better than Nando’s version but everyone who has tried them seems to think so (and I quietly agree). So bloody clever to work this recipe out- you rock!!!!
Hi Nagi,
I was just wondering how much of the marinades i would use to marinate 6 large chicken maryland and have enough to baste with?
Love your work.
Hi Jasmine, I would just double the recipe to be safe 🙂