Piri piri is a hot, sour chili sauce, and the dish traces to Portuguese and Mozambican cooking. The sauce is a blender job: small red chilies, a roasted red pepper, garlic, lemon, vinegar and smoked paprika. Pour off half before any chicken touches it. That half goes to the table. The other half marinates the chicken overnight. At the lot, cook it on the cool side of the grill with the lid down until it's nearly done, then move it over the heat to char the skin. Breasts are done at 165°F; leg quarters are better at 175°F and up. Serve it over rice with lemon and the clean sauce.
At the lot: Marinate at home, ride the chicken at the bottom of the cooler, and grill it two-zone; plan on about an hour from lighting to eating. Cook ahead: Grill it at home, carry it hot in a towel-lined cooler, and char the skin on the lot grill for a few minutes. Homegating: Same cook in the backyard, or roast the pieces at 425°F and run them under the broiler to char.
165°F
Breast, done
175°F+
Leg quarters, for tender dark meat
HALF
The sauce, kept back for the table
8
People
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 chickens, 3½ to 4 lb each, each cut into 2 leg quarters and 2 breast halves with wings (or 7 lb bone-in, skin-on pieces)
- 2 tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; 1¼ tsp if Morton)
Piri piri sauce
- 8 to 12 red bird's eye chilies, stemmed (or 4 Fresno chilies for mild)
- 1 jarred roasted red pepper, drained
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; 1¼ tsp if Morton)
- 1 tsp sugar
To serve
- 6 cups cooked long-grain rice
- 4 lemons, halved
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 6 pitas or flatbreads
Steps
At home
- The night before, blend everything for the sauce until smooth. Taste a drop and add chilies if you want it hotter. Pour half into a jar, seal it and refrigerate it; that half never touches raw chicken.
- Pat the chicken dry and salt it. Cut 2 or 3 slashes to the bone in each leg quarter. Toss the pieces with the other half of the sauce in a zip-top bag or a lidded container and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight. Wear gloves for the chilies, or wash your hands well.
- Cook the rice. Stir a few spoonfuls of the jarred sauce through it for color, cool it, and chill it within 2 hours in a lidded container.
- The chicken rides sealed at the bottom of the cooler at 40°F or below, below the jar, the rice, the lemons and anything else ready to eat.
At the lot
- Set the grill up two-zone: one side on medium-high, the other side off. The cool side should sit around 350°F to 375°F with the lid down.
- Lift the chicken out and let the extra marinade drip off. Throw out the marinade it sat in. Set the pieces on the cool side, skin side up, leg quarters closest to the heat. Close the lid and cook 35 to 45 minutes, until the breasts read about 155°F.
- Move the pieces over direct heat, skin side down, 2 to 4 minutes, watching for flare-ups, until the skin chars in spots. Flip and give the other side a minute. Grill the lemon halves cut side down at the same time.
- Check that the breasts read 165°F in the thickest part and the leg quarters at least 165°F, away from the bone; for tender dark meat, take the legs to 175°F to 185°F. Rest 5 minutes. Warm the rice in a covered foil pan on the cool side until it reads 165°F, and warm the pitas 30 seconds a side.
- Serve the chicken over the rice with the grilled lemons, parsley, pita and the jar of clean sauce. Brush on only the jar sauce, never the marinade. Everything sits out no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F.
Cook ahead
- Grill at home through step 8 and wrap the chicken in foil. Preheat a cooler with hot water, pour it out, line it with a towel, set the foil packs in and cover them with a second towel. Nothing cold goes in it. Check that it still reads 140°F or above at the lot, then char the skin over direct heat for a minute or two a side.
- Or grill it the night before, cool it and chill it within 2 hours. At the lot, heat it over indirect heat with the lid down until it reads 165°F, then char the skin over direct heat.
Pack for the lot
What is piri piri chicken?
Chicken marinated in and served with piri piri, a hot sauce of small red chilies, garlic, lemon or vinegar and oil. The dish traces to Portuguese and Mozambican cooking.
What can you use instead of piri piri peppers?
Red bird's eye chilies are the closest easy swap for heat. For a milder sauce, use Fresno chilies, and add a roasted red pepper for body and color either way.
How spicy is piri piri chicken?
Hot, but you set it. Eight to twelve bird's eye chilies make a sauce with real heat; four Fresno chilies make it mild. Taste the sauce before it goes on the chicken.
What temperature should piri piri chicken reach?
Chicken is safe at 165°F. Breasts are done there; leg quarters are most tender at 175°F to 185°F, checked in the thickest part away from the bone.
Can you baste chicken with the piri piri marinade?
Not once it has touched raw chicken, unless you boil it first. Pour off half the sauce before marinating and use that half for basting and serving.
Can you make piri piri chicken ahead for a tailgate?
Yes. Grill it at home and carry it at 140°F or above in a preheated, towel-lined cooler, then char the skin at the lot. Or grill it the night before and reheat it to 165°F.
More chicken off the grill: huli huli chicken, smoked chicken quarters and grilled Buffalo wings. Pour big-batch margaritas or sweet tea lemonade, and set out Texas caviar. Carrying it hot? See how to keep food hot at a tailgate. Cold-weather tips are in our cold-weather tailgating guide.
Gear for this cook
