I’m sure you’ve heard of Nando’s or Porto’s famous Peri Peri chicken. Peri Peri translates to Pepper. Therefore, expect a kick with this sauce. I used only 2-3 habanero peppers in this recipe for an entire blender’s worth of sauce. I really didn’t want this sauce to be too spicy to handle. You can kick up the spiciness if you’d like.

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds of chicken
• 2 red onions (cut into quarters)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• The juice of 4 lemons
• The zest of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 15 cloves garlic
• 7 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 2 seeded habaneros (you can add more if you want it to be extra spicy)

Instructions:

1.) Combine all ingredients (except the chicken) in a food processor and blend it until all ingredients are well incorporated.

2.) Remove half the mixture from the blender and incorporate it into the chicken. Mix until all pieces of chicken are covered in the marinade.

3.) Allow your chicken to sit in the marinade for a few hours. If you have time to let it sit overnight, thats even better. All of the flavors get deeper into the chicken the longer you let it marinate.

4.) For the other half of the peri peri sauce, cook it on medium heat in a small pot until the olive oil rises to the top. The flavors change when it is cooked down and result in a perfect topping for the cooked chicken or a dip to use for other meals.

5.) Cook the marinated chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

NOTES

1.) Once the chicken is cooked, you can put it under broil for a few minutes if you’d like a char or caramelization before serving.

2.) If you are using boneless chicken breast or thigh for the recipe, adjust the temperature and time accordingly. This recipe calls for bone in chicken cut into pieces so it takes a little longer than boneless chicken does.

3.) Be very careful with adding the spicy peppers. The seeds of a pepper are the spiciest part so I suggest wearing disposable gloves. You don’t want the seeds getting into your nail beds. You’ll definitely feel that burn later on.

4.) You can grill this chicken or saute it in a pan if you’d like. Just adjust the cook time accordingly.

5.) You can make much more peri peri sauce and refrigerate it to use later on if you’d like. It lasts in the fridge for a little over a week.