Flavour infused and juicy on the inside. Deep red and crispy on the outside. AND garlicky buttery rice. For just 10 minutes of active effort? Yes please!
I know I shared a baked chicken recipe last week but this is so good, I didn’t have the patience to wait longer!
I saw Peruvian rotisserie chicken being made on a cooking show once and unsurprisingly, it was added to my ever growing list of “things to make”.
Do you keep a list of “things to make”? I actually have 4 5 lists. “Make for blog”, “Clients” (being recipes I create and shoot for clients), “Meals” (being my normal meals), “Ideas” (that list where 95% of the things on it never get made) and “ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY”.
This chicken made the “ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY” list instantly. Straight to the top of the queue! As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew it was my type of food. Easy to make, every day ingredients and kapow! flavours.
I’ve never been to Peru, but from the research I’ve done, this chicken is known as Pollo la Brasa (Peruvian Blackened Chicken) and is by far the most popular chicken dish in Peru.
Traditionally, this is made like a rotisserie chicken over charcoals. So this version I’m sharing doesn’t have that lovely smokey flavour but there’s certainly plenty of flavour from the marinade to make up for it!
Soy sauce is a surprising ingredient in the marinade for this recipe. I was very interested to read about Chinese and Japanese influence on Peruvian cuisine owing to waves of immigration starting in the 1900’s. I love that Peruvians embraced the new ingredients the early immigrants introduced, like soy sauce.
I decided to serve this with a buttery garlic rice. Not sure if it’s strictly Peruvian, but honestly, it goes with it so well and is so delicious that you can eat it plain. Seriously!
I must have read 20+ recipes for Peruvian Roast chicken. And unsurprisingly, every single recipe is different! As with every traditional dish, there is no single recipe. The key ingredients that are common across all recipes are soy sauce, garlic, paprika, cumin and something to add tag (lime or vinegar).
So I made my own guided by those recipes I read – I’ve referenced a few in the recipe. The marinade is actually very straight forward and it’s a matter of just getting the proportions right to suit your palette. I like strong flavours so the marinade for mine is probably stronger than other recipes. I also up the flavour a bit to compensate for the absence of the charcoal flavour.
Hope you consider trying this!! – Nagi x
PS I roasted this in the oven to get the beautiful even browning on the skin you can see in the photos but it’s also really delicious cooked on the BBQ or even on the stove.
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Peruvian Chicken with Garlic Butter Rice
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb (1.2 kg) chicken pieces (Note 1)
Marinade
- 1 tbsp garlic powder OR 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp paprika powder (preferably smoked but plain is ok)
- 4 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp lime juice , fresh (1 lime)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Garlic Butter Rice
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 onion , finely diced (white, brown, yellow)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups long grain rice , uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth / stock
- 1 cup water
- 2 - 4 tbsp butter (Note 3)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix until lump free.
- Place the chicken in a ziplock bag (my preferred method) or non reactive bowl and coat with Marinade. Marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight (24 hours) OR freeze it straight away, then it will marinade while it defrosts.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Place chicken in a baking dish, skin side up. Slather leftover marinade onto the skin. Roast for 45 minutes or until deep burnt-red golden brown in colour.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving with Garlic Butter Rice and a green salad.
Garlic Butter Rice
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
- Add rice and stir so the rice becomes translucent. Add broth and water, then cover and turn heat down to medium low.
- Cook for 12 to 15 minutes until the liquid has JUST evaporated, then remove from stove and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- After resting, add the butter and stir the rice to fluff it up and disperse the butter.
Recipe Notes:
- Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Yellow Potatoes - Pollo a la Brasa
- Peruvian Grilled Chicken
- The Food Lab: Peruvian-Style Whole Grilled Chicken 6. Nutrition for chicken assuming 5 servings. This does not take into account the fat that renders out during roasting that remains in the pan so the actual calories will be considerably less. I estimate it is between 60 and 100 calories less, assuming you don't drink the pan juices!
Nutrition per serving for the rice, assuming 6 servings (that's quite generous servings!).
Nutrition Information:
Tried it. Loved it. ‘Nuf said <3
That’s so terrific Saleha! I’m so pleased to hear that, thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
This was another great food! Loved the earthy flavors. But with the temperature in the mid-80s I didn’t feel like butter rice. I ended up using your cilantro lime recipe. They went well together. Thank you!
Mmmm! Sounds amazing J-Mom! So pleased you enjoyed this!
This looks so good! Do you think it’d be possible to cook the rice in a rice cooker – and if so, how would I adapt it for the rice cooker?
Thanks so much!
Hi JL! After the onion is cooked, add some of the liquid into the pan then pour it all into the rice cooker, and add remaining ingredients. 🙂
We call this here in Peru : Pollo al sillao. Sillao means soy sauce.
Ohhhh!!! I love knowing the real name, thanks Evelyn!
Hi Nagi, I’m making this tonight. For the rice, do I keep the 4 garlic cloves whole or crush them?
Minced! I’m so sorry, no one has mentioned that before. And I have a terrible tech glitch and can’t update the recipe right now 🙁 I have to make a note to do that. Thanks for picking that up Jacqui!
Looks amazing!
I’ll definitely be making this!
Thanks, Nagi!
Hope you do Maggie! It is SO GOOD!
Reminder to fix up, I’m cooking now and had to read through comments hoping someone had asked. 😊
Was this in relation to the garlic?? If so, THANK YOU for the reminder! Fixed! N xx
We just emptied a whole baking dish with your wonderful chicken Nagi!!! It works, and it tastes fantastic! The only thing we changed, was adding half sweet soy sauce and half regular.
Thank you for a delicious meal!
Mirella and Panos
Woo hoo! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it Mirella and Panos, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi,
I’ll be making this for dinner some time next week.
Wondering how it would work out if I used half regular soy sauce and half dark soy sauce (which is a sweeter soy sauce)? Would the end result change much?
Thank you!
HI Maggie! I think that will be just fine 🙂 Hope you love it!
OMG the rice is the best what I cooked ever..thanks again Nagi
Fantastic to hear Krisztina! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! N x
Can I use lemon instead of lime?
Yes it will be lovely with lemon! N x
I made this yesterday and it’s YUMMY! I love this sauce!! My boyfriend liked it but wasn’t as crazy about it as I was because of the lime juice, but I personally really love citrus juice or vinegar in sauces.
I used boneless skinless thighs and low sodium soy sauce but kept everything else the same. I cooked it in the oven at 425F for 25 minutes and the sauce was perfect over the buttered rice.
Thanks for trying my recipe Viva! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Oh! I forgot to mention that I marinated the chicken for 2 days. I always marinate meat as far in advance as I can (if I plan properly lol), I find that makes a big difference.
This was quite good – interesting flavors, and very simple to make. I doubled the marinade recipe, and the rice is enough for an army, so would probably half that next time. I wish I could post a photo.
So glad you enjoyed it Suzie!! I would love to see a photo – are you on Instagram? If you are, tag it #recipetineats and I will see it! N x
Tonight I have guest coming so we are having your Peruvian Roast Chicken with Garlic Butter Rice. I have had the chicken marinating in the fridge since yesterday and I have already made the Garlic Butter Rice (will just reheat in microwave) I have to go to the gym after work and as I will not be home till 30 mins before my guests arrive this is a fantastic dish to prepare the night before, the Peruvian Chicken I mean. I am having it with a side dish or capsicum, onion & garlic that I cooked on slow with a tablespoon of olive oil…. yummy can’t wait to try it. Oh and yes I mean to say for desert we are having your chocolate fudge cake with fresh berries….
I literally just broke into a HUGE GRIN at the thought of you making so many of my recipes for your dinner!!! Thank you so much for trying my recipes Jane, I really am touched!!! Hope you have a lovely dinner, LUCKY guest! N x
Nagi, I’ve just found this recipe via Pinterest and I’m adding it to my “must make” list too. It looks absolutely delightful, really great flavours going on in this dish.
Oooh, I hope you do try this Georgina!! It really is delightful – I LOVE the marinade!
Made it again for dinner tonight, lol. This time I was able to marinate it overnight & the result, was even better. I didn’t think that could be
HA HA! You’re like me, when I find something new I love, I make it repeatedly until I get sick of it!!!
This recipe was absolutely AMAZING!! I was looking for a recipe similar to Whole Foods Peruvian Chicken but this was even better!!! 10 Stars
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it Leighanne, thank you SO MUCH for letting me know!!
Hi Nagi,
I found your blog recently and it’s since become my go to for easy, delicious recipes! You’re a genius!
I made this dish tonight and it was divine, the balance of flavours is just right!
I’ve also made your chicken shawarma and the cabbage and carrot slaw to go with it, both equally good. Thank you so much for sharing such simple flavourful meals with us, it’s certainly lightened my week night cooking load!
Next on the list: I’m making your leek and potato soup and the boyfriend is going to make your Ragu with parpadelle.
GG x
Hi GG! I’m so glad you “found me” and are enjoying my recipes, thank you!!! Ooh, lucky you with a BF who makes me ragu!!! 🙂
I don’t know how I came to find this blog but as soon as I saw this recipe I thought I had to try it!
I’ve barely cooked before but it looked easy enough so I gathered all ingredients and set to work. My mom was a bit iffy about letting me inside the kitchen (that’s my level of cooking) but after some convincing I did it.
This chicken was delicious! I don’t know what it is but it had a bunch of flavors bursting inside my mouth, all I wanted to do was take another bite until my stomach was full. Even before in the oven it smelled divine! The skin did get all crunchy and looked red-ish and beautiful, just like you said it would. I’ve never had Peruvian Chicken before but until then I can feel content with this recipe, it’s the best.
The garlic butter rice… was amazing too! Since I’m clumsy I almost let it burn at the bottom but even that couldn’t deter the wonderful taste of this rice. It felt so fluffy inside my mouth too, I loved it. With all of this my mom is asking me to do this rice again for Christmas because she thinks it’ll compliment the turkey well.
I’m happy and with a pleasant full belly. Me, who doesn’t know anything, pulled off a tasty dish like this and it’s all thanks to you. No omitted steps, very truthful and careful about all the procedures and tips. I even got to learn a bit about history. Now that I got a bit of a taste for cooking I’m definitely going to choose another one of your recipes to do in the future.
Thank you for inspiring me and again thank you for the recipe, I wish you the best! 🙂
Gosh Daniela, thank you for such a thoughtful feedback! I am SO glad you enjoyed it so much and I’m thrilled to think of the rice being part of your Christmas feast 🙂 You think you’re clumsy in the kitchen? Oh boy, I have had some EPIC kitchen disasters, I bet I’m much worse than you!! 🙂 N x
Peruvian food is high up on my ‘to try’ list and I love the sound of this marinade! I don’t eat chicken but I’m still curious to try it out, maybe on some veggie!
Oooh, this spice mix would be fab with any roast-able veggies!!
Made this last night it was delicious…since my husband likes bland food I spiced it up with a killer cilantro green sauce to dip my pieces in…just made recipe even more terrific…thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lyn! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! N x PS Cilantro dip too? You just totally showed me up! 😉
Tried it and it was Delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Charisse! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! N x