Peruvian Chicken with Green Sauce
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This Peruvian chicken rivals the juicy, crisp-skinned roast chicken from your favorite Peruvian spot. And the creamy, zesty green sauce? You’ll want to put it on everything!
This Peruvian chicken recipe is my take on Pollo a la Brasa, the delicious roast chicken made popular by so many Peruvian restaurants. The chicken is first marinated in olive oil, lime juice, garlic and spices, and then oven-roasted until tender and juicy with super crispy skin. The accompanying green sauce, which gets its color from cilantro and jalapeño peppers, is spicy, creamy and downright delectable. You can put it on virtually everything, and it even doubles as a fabulous dip or salad dressing.
Before we get to the recipe, a few words on buying a whole chicken. In the poultry department, you’re likely to find birds labeled “broilers,” “roasters” and “fryers.” These labels are based on the weight of the bird, and are meant to suggest a method of cooking. This recipe calls for a four-pound chicken, which is typically considered a “fryer.” This might seem strange since we’re roasting but don’t worry about it—all of these chickens can be used in recipes interchangeably.
“I don’t know I’ve ever eaten a better roast chicken. The rub alone is wonderful, but the sauce??? Oh man, puts it over the top…This recipe is as good as it gets!”
Step-by-Step Instructions For Peruvian Chicken with Green Sauce
Begin by making the marinade. Combine the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, cumin, and oregano in a blender or mini food processor.
Blend until smooth.
Using your fingers or a wooden spoon, loosen the skin over the breasts and legs of the chicken.
Spoon about two-thirds of the marinade under the skin.
Then rub the rest of the marinade over top. Place the chicken in a bowl and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight—the longer the better!
Preheat the oven to 425°F, and set the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. I like to tuck the wings underneath the bird and tie the legs together so the bird holds its shape.
Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, until the skin is golden, and then turn the heat down to 375°F and roast for about an hour and ten minutes more. Let the chicken rest, covered with foil, for about 20 minutes before carving.
While the chicken marinates, make the spicy green sauce.
Simply combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeños, garlic, lime juice salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. It will seem thin at first but, don’t worry, it will thicken up as it sits.
Keep in mind that the heat in the sauce comes from the ribs and seeds in the jalapeño peppers. I use about half of the seeds and ribs for a medium-hot sauce. If you’re worried about the heat, you can always leave them out at first and then blend them in to taste. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken with Green Sauce
Enjoy tender, juicy Peruvian chicken drizzled with a spicy and irresistibly good green sauce.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lime juice, from 2 limes
- 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 4 pound whole chicken
For the Green Sauce
- 3 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded if desired (I use about half the seeds for a medium-hot sauce), and roughly chopped (see note)
- 1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, from one lime
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Combine all of the ingredients except the chicken in a blender or mini food processor, and blend until smooth. Remove the giblets from the inside of the chicken and pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels; place in a bowl, breast side up with the legs facing you. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or your fingers, loosen the skin from the flesh over the breasts and legs, being careful not to tear the skin or push all the way through (you want the marinade to stay inside the bird). Spoon about ⅔ of the marinade evenly underneath the skin, and spread the remaining ⅓ evenly over the skin. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Spray a rack (preferably a v-shape) with non-stick cooking spray and place the chicken on top. Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Roast for 20 minutes, until the skin is golden. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees, and continue to roast for about an hour and ten minutes more, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. (Keep an eye on it -- if it's browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.) Tent the chicken with foil and let rest for about 20 minutes. Tilt the chicken over the roasting pan to release the juices, then transfer to a cutting board. Carve the chicken and serve with green sauce.
For the Green Sauce
- Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend into a smooth sauce. With the motor running, open lid and slowly drizzle in olive oil. It will seem very runny at this point but, don't worry, it will thicken up as it sits. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Note: Be sure to wash your hands well after handling hot peppers, and do not touch your eyes while working with them.
- Note: The nutritional information does not include the green sauce.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 614
- Fat: 43 g
- Saturated fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 49 g
- Sodium: 694 mg
- Cholesterol: 340 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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This was crazy delicious! I’m going to try it on a butterflied turkey on the bbq.
Can I use the marinade on chicken wings? I have made this recipe dozens of times on a whole chicken, and bone in chicken breasts and thighs.
Sure!
We love this chicken every time! Would it pair well with cilantro lime rice? What bread would you suggest serving with it?
So glad you like it, Susan! Yes, this would pair nicely with my cilantro lime rice. Regarding a bread, I’d go with something neutral so it doesn’t compete with the flavors of the chicken – maybe a crusty baguette or ciabatta. Either of those would also be great for dipping in the green sauce. 😊
I made it minus the sugar and with the addition of garlic powder and onion powder. Made it spatchcock style following the ATK cooking instructions but using this spice mix and it turned out delicious.
This was so good!! The chicken was so wonderful and the green sauce took it over the top. We ate 2 lbs and made the rest into Street Tacos with onion, cilantro, avocado and the green sauce. So good! I like to make crispy chicken tacos with your Chipotle chicken nacho meat and I think this sauce would go great with those too.
Hi looking forward to making this. I have 4 lbs of drumsticks. Would you change the time or temp vs roasting a whole chicken? Thank you!
Hi Shannon, Yes, you’d need to reduce the cooking time. Once you turn the heat down to 375 degrees, you’ll probably only need to cook them another 25 – 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your prompt reply!
I’m a college student looking for affordable meals to cook and this is it! The chicken is insanely flavorful and tender and the green sauce pairs perfectly. I made this after craving the food from a Peruvian restaurant I’d been to and I think this was better. No notes!
I have made this recipe to the letter for the past 6 years and it’s my most requested dish. It’s what won my MIL over, what won my family over with my husband, and my friends. Thank you.
This is just an outstanding recipe. The chicken is moist and tender and the spices are so different than the usual salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary.
I spatchcocked two small chickens and swapped Aleppo pepper for the black pepper that the marinade called for and doubled the marinade.
Found a previous commenter asking for roasting times for spatchcocked chicken and Jenn’s response to start at 450 for 35 – 40 minutes and then to reduce to 375 for 15 – 20 minutes. That was perfect timing for the two chickens and the 20 minutes rest time settled the juices back in to the meat and it was still crispy skinned and warm. Since the green sauce is so flavor packed I served the chicken with white rice and black beans.
I like to have what I call the cook’s treat – the chicken wings. So often they are just too dry but this recipe makes crispy wings with juicy, fall off the bone meat.
I love so many of Jenn’s recipes but this one didn’t work for my family at all. Everyone thought that the marinade lacked balance and was overwhelmed by the cumin. 1 TBSP is way too much. I wish I had followed my instincts and started with 1 tsp.