Oven-baked peri peri chicken – just like Nando’s

If you enjoy Nando’s peri peri chicken, you are going to love this recipe for oven-baked peri peri chicken. Tasty chicken thighs are marinated in a spicy peri peri sauce before being baked in the oven to give you the juiciest most tender chicken pieces with the familiar peri peri flavour we all know and love.

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Oven-baked peri peri chicken

When I was working in London, one of our favourite treats was a lunch-time visit to Nando’s for some of their famous peri peri chicken. Since leaving work, and moving away from London, I find myself in the position of not having a Nando’s restaurant nearby, and that particular pleasure is now just a distant memory.

Until, that is, I decided to try making it myself, at home. And now that I’ve perfected the taste, I can enjoy peri peri chicken any time I feel like it. I just wish I’d done this sooner 🙂

What I like about making this at home is that you can adjust the amount of chili you add. I prefer the peri peri to be hot enough to provide a ‘zing’ but not so hot that it numbs your mouth so you can’t taste what you are eating. With this recipe you just alter the chili to suit your own taste.

I also like to bake this chicken in the oven which to my mind is so much healthier than frying. And because the marinade contains olive oil, there’s no need to add any additional oil before baking.

The sauce itself is so easy to make. You just whizz all the ingredients in the blender and then pour over the chicken to marinate for an hour or two (or overnight in the fridge if you can wait that long). Then it’s just 20 minutes in the oven for the tastiest peri peri chicken ever.

How do you make peri peri chicken?

This recipe will feed 4 people. If you want to make extra you should allow 100g or 4 ounces of raw chicken per person (add extra if your chicken is on the bone, and also add extra for seconds – I guarantee you will need it).

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Marinate: 2 hours
• Cooking time 25 minutes in the oven

To start off with you will need some peri peri chilis. These are extremely hot little chilis that originated in Mozambique and Angola on the southern African continent. They are sometimes called bird’s eye chilis. If you can’t get hold of these you can substitute with dried chili flakes.

You will also need a small red bell pepper, a few cloves of garlic and some herbs and spices. See the printable recipe card at the end of this post for a detailed list of ingredients.

For the chicken I like to use skinless, boneless chicken thighs, but you can use any cut of chicken you prefer, with or without the skin. If you decide to leave the skin on the chicken pieces you will find it crisps up beautifully in the oven.

Just whizz all the ingredients for the peri peri sauce in a food processor so that they are very finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor then you will need a sharp knife, a chopping board and a lot of patience to get the chilis, bell pepper and garlic chopped as finely as you can get them, before mixing them with the remaining sauce ingredients.

Marinade the chicken

Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and pour the sauce over, then mix well to ensure the chicken is completely covered. This doesn’t make for the most attractive photo.

Cover the bowl and allow to marinade for at least 2 hours. You can leave it overnight (or even for a couple of days) covered, in the refrigerator, for the flavours to really develop.

Once you are ready to bake the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F and arrange the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and pour over any remaining marinade. You do not need to add any additional oil. There is sufficient olive oil in the marinade. If you are using chicken pieces that still have their skin on, then place them skin-side up.

Bake the chicken

Place the baking tray in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through (smaller pieces of chicken will take less time). If you are using larger pieces of chicken, with the bone still in, you should cook it until the internal temperature reaches 75C/165F, and there should be no pink juices running out when you prick the chicken with a skewer.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and serve.

What do you serve with peri peri chicken?

I like to serve this peri peri chicken with a spicy mushroom rice, a few slices of fresh tomatoes to cut through the peri peri, and a slice of garlic bread.

You could also serve it with potato wedges or crispy french fries and a side dish of fresh corn on the cob.

The baked chicken also makes a delicious burger. Just sandwich between one of these crusty Portuguese bread rolls for an easy lunch or light supper.

Can I freeze peri peri chicken?

You can freeze the raw chicken in the marinade. Just tip the marinade and chicken into a ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator before baking.

Can I make it in advance?

You can safely store the chicken in the marinade in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

What can I do with the leftovers?

What leftovers? 🙂

Seriously though – this chicken is perfect served in a sandwich, or even just cut into slices and served with a plate of cherry tomatoes and a crusty breadroll for a light lunch.

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Nandos copycat peri peri chicken recipe

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