Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken (or Homemade Nando’s Recipe) cooked TWO WAYS! On the barbecue OR in the oven! THE CHOICE IS YOURS!
Bring your favourite Nando’s chicken to the table with this Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken Recipe! PLUS the addition of juicy corn cobs in foil packets are charred for added flavour.
Every single time we go to Nando’s, the chicken marinade flavour we all order is the BBQ. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty, with added onion or garlicky flavours, plus a slight tang.
I shared a recipe like this one TWO YEARS AGO… only in that recipe I used the BBQ sauce marinade found in supermarkets.
This time, I wanted to try and recreate it for myself.
It’s safe to say…. I think I did it. Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken for the WIN!
Studying the back of the bottle for days on end and testing and failing and testing AND FAILING 6 more times, I finally nailed it. Or, at least I’ve come close to it! Also, it wouldn’t be Nando’s chicken without the burst-in-your-mouth corn cobs as a side dish!
The secret is definitely in the sauce. I managed to include just about ALL of the ingredients on the back of that bottle except anything with numbers, and came upon a flavour so damn good, my whole family forced us to make this chicken 5 more times. You know, just to be sure, I guess.
I’ve included two cooking methods in the recipe. Both oven and barbecue methods are equally just as good. We tried both on our family and friends, and both methods were given the same thumbs up results.
I prefer barbecue because I LOVE BARBECUE flavours, BUT you can use your oven. Just sear your chicken in a skillet until nice and charred before putting it in the oven. I do NOT recommend broiling (or grilling) in the oven at the end of cooking time. We tried it and the sauce burned on the chicken — even after a minute on a low heat setting. However, you can try it at your own risk!
Let me know what you think if you try this Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken!
Portuguese BBQ Peri Peri Chicken (Homemade Nandos Recipe)
Ingredients
For The Marinade:
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- â…“ cup BBQ sauce
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice fresh squeezed, optional
- 2-4 teaspoons sriracha
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pinch cracked pepper to taste, optional
Chicken:
- 3-4 pounds whole chicken Butterflied is preferred
- 1 pinch salt to season
- 1 pinch pepper to season
Corn (OPTIONAL):
- 6 corn cobs
- 3 teaspoons butter optional
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients (except for the Sriracha) together until well combined. Mix in 2-4 teaspoons of Sriracha, taste test, and work up from there until reaching your desired level of heat (or leave it out all together if you don't want any spice at all).
- Using ¾ of the marinade, coat the chicken evenly on the outside, as well as under the skin where possible (the breast especially), until fully coated in sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night if time allows. (I recommend a minimum marinade time of two hours for this chicken. The longer you leave it, the better the flavours.)
FOR THE OVEN:
- When ready to cook, arrange oven shelf to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 470°F | 245°C.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit on a bench top for 20 minutes, or just enough time to take the chill out of the chicken. (I find 20 minutes plenty of time. Don't leave it any longer than half an hour at room temperature.)
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in an oven proof pan or well seasoned skillet over medium heat. When pan is hot, place the chicken, breast-side down into the pan, and sear for a good 5-6 minutes, until the skin becomes golden browned. Flip and sear on the other side for a further 5 minutes.
- Add 2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the remaining marinade, and pour half of it over the chicken. Use a basting brush to coat evenly.
- Place the chicken in the preheated oven, and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce heat down to 400°F (200°C) and roast for a further 35-40 minutes, or until cooked right through to the centre and juices run clear.
- (If serving with the corn: completely wrap each cob in foil large enough to cover them, and add the corn foil packets to the same pan as the chicken, half way through cooking time (after 30 minutes). If your pan is too small, arrange them on another pan. They only need 30-35 minutes of cooking time.) Once corn is done, dollop with ½ teaspoon of butter per cob (optional).
- Once the chicken is done, baste with the pan drippings and serve with any remaining UNTOUCHED marinade to use as a dipping sauce.
- Serve with the corn!
FOR THE BBQ:
- Place chicken on well-greased grill over medium heat, skin-side down, for 10-12 minutes, until the skin begins to have a nice char on it. Add 2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil to the remaining marinade. Flip and baste with a small amount of sauce (not too much or it will burn on your grill plates). Close barbecue lid and cook for 40-45 minutes, flipping once or twice while cooking, until chicken is completely cooked through and juices run clear.
- Follow corn foil instructions above. Place corn foil packets on the grill halfway through chicken cook time (after 30 minutes), turning the corn every 5 minutes or so to ensure an even char.
Notes
2 teaspoons of Sriracha yields a very mild spicy result. So mild we could hardly taste it. Feel free to leave it out if you have doubts, but we love it in there for the flavour enhancement. For a good kick of spice, 1-2 tablespoons is a good start. I started with 2 teaspoons, taste tested, and added extra teaspoonfuls from there until reaching our desired spice level (we loved ours at 1 ½ tablespoons of Sriracha). For an extremely HOT marinade, add in 3-4 tablespoons. When taste testing, the marinade will be strong. Don't worry, and please don't add any water to dilute it. It will dilute naturally in the oven when cooking through the pan drippings. *COOK time does not include marinating time
Serena Chagas says
So delicious! We had this marinade with chicken ribs. Even tastier than Nando’s! Thank you.
Ria Traynor says
Tried it for the first time and it turned out perfect! My husband, and even my toddler, loved it. Just a little tip for Indonesians: any kind of Saus Sambal will work! I bought the sriracha sauce (imported from Thailand) but the taste is just the same like ordinary Indonesian chili sauce which is way cheaper 🙂
Muktadir Rahman says
Awesome! Kids loved it and met their Nandos craving during lockdown infact they said its tastes better.Thanks for sharing your great cooking.
Sheikh Umer Siddique says
Extremely happy to try it for 1st time and it was not exactly but far better than the taste of nandos. My family loved it. Added to my favorities cook book. I used 3tbs peri peri sauce instead of srisacha sauce and it wasnt spicy as my 9 year old boy n 5 years old daughter really liked it. Used knorr bbq sauce. Wonderful. Kept refrigerated for 1 hour 30 minutes and then did same as you told. Cooked for 60 mins at 245C.
Brittani Andrews says
This sounds delicious and can’t wait to try it. If I were to use leg quarters for this recipe, how long should the cooking time be??
Dsven says
Tried this recipe, was a big hit with the whole family. Like some earlier comments stated, I think the suggested oven heat/time was too much…after 30 mins the skin was getting pretty charry so I dropped heat to 450, covered in foil and cooked for another 15 mins, and turned out well. I guess the moral of the story is results may vary per oven, and to keep a close eye on it.
Did find the bbq sauce I used (Diana brand) was a bit too sweet for my liking so any suggestions for a less sweet bbq sauce would be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe, will be adding it to my regular rotation!
Cleeo2 says
Fabulous!
After marinading, I cooked my chicken pieces covered in my oven on the slow cook setting (or use Crock-Pot) for 4 hours.
Then finished on the grill – grilled both sides and then brushed with plenty of Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce.
Chicken was delish & tender. My family loved it. My answer to giving my Barbecue Chicken flavor on the inside.
Nicole says
The BEST Portuguese chicken I’ve ever had. I used about 2 pounds of chicken breasts so when it came to the step of basting before you put the chicken in the oven I just used whatever was left in the ziploc bag that I marinated the chicken in. I didn’t add the two tablespoons of oil to the sauce because I had lots of sauce leftover. I baked at 450 for about 20 mins and the corn I baked for 30 mins. Served it with Portuguese rice on the side. Amazing! Thank you so much!
Tica says
How many times have I made this? Four? Maybe more? This recipe redeemed chicken in my esteem, which I had taken to not eating (apart from the occasional Nando’s, travel permitting). Too many overly sweet chicken recipes which took away from the dynamic flavours of a really good quality bird. This one was what I’d been waiting for – best Piri Piri recipe out there (though I cheat a tad and use Nando’s original Piri Piri in the place of sriracha). This chicken recipe cannot be beat – tender, flavoursome, delicious chicken that your taste buds (and friends, and family) will thank you for.
Amanda Muirhead says
This recipes is AMAZING!! 5 star happiness from our whole family, 3 children included. We used the 4tsp of sriracha and it wasn’t spicy at all. I didn’t cook it like you did – just cooked it at 350, then turned it up to 375 and it crisped up beautifully. Thank you for such an amazing. It has been added to the family cookbook!
Jamie Paget says
Fantastic! For those wondering about scorching, I’ve tried this recipe twice now with different bbq sauces- one homemade and one store bought. I really think the burn has to do with sugar content in the bbq sauce. With homemade the chicken came off without a hitch, and the sugars are much lower in my scratch sauce.
This is our new go-to for whole chicken 🙂