Mozambican Piri-Piri Chicken
🇲🇿 The BEST Mozambican Piri-Piri Chicken
Serves: 4
Prep: 20 minutes + marinating
Cooking: 35–45 minutes
🌶️ Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (about 1.5–2 kg)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Piri-piri marinade
- 8–12 fresh red piri-piri/bird's-eye chilies
- 5 cloves garlic
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
👨🍳 How to Make It
1. Make the piri-piri sauce
Blend the chilies, garlic, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, and vinegar until you have a chunky-smooth sauce.
2. Prepare the chicken
Place the chicken breast-side down and cut along both sides of the backbone. Remove the backbone and press the chicken flat.
Make a few shallow cuts in the thickest parts of the meat so the marinade can penetrate.
3. Marinate
Rub the piri-piri sauce generously all over the chicken, including underneath the skin.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
4. Grill 🔥
Heat your grill to medium-high. Place the chicken skin-side down and grill for about 8–10 minutes to develop a beautiful char.
Move to indirect heat, cover, and cook for another 25–35 minutes, turning occasionally and brushing with more sauce.
Cook until the thickest part reaches 74°C / 165°F.
5. Rest
Remove from the grill and let the chicken rest for 5–10 minutes.
6. Finish
Squeeze fresh lemon over the chicken and serve with extra piri-piri sauce.
🍋 Serve it Mozambican-style
Pair your chicken with:
- 🍟 Crispy chips
- 🍚 Coconut rice
- 🥗 Fresh tomato and onion salad
- 🌽 Grilled corn
- 🍋 Extra lemon
- 🌶️ Extra piri-piri sauce
🔥 Chef's secret
For that restaurant-style smoky flavor, don't just cook the chicken over high heat. Start with enough heat to char the skin, then finish it slowly over indirect heat. Brush with piri-piri sauce near the end so the garlic and chili don't burn.
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