Peruvian Chicken
This Peruvian Chicken is succulent, juicy, flavorful, and very easy to make! It’s marinated, then roasted, and is good enough to eat on its own, or with a side of Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce.
This might be my favorite chicken of all time.
And yes, I did peruse through the chicken section of my recipe index just to make sure I can stand behind such a statement. Peruvian chicken is just so flavorful and tender and delicious!
My obsession with Peruvian Chicken started when I lived in New York City, where there were numerous restaurants serving this staple roast chicken with green sauce.
As I wrote in my Where to Eat in NYC post, I ate at over 500 places during my time living in Manhattan, and I rarely repeated restaurants because I always had a list of new places to try.
But I went to Peruvian restaurants like Pio Pio and Chicken Festival over and over again, because their chicken and sauce was just so. darn. good.
And though I have left the city, I still enjoy what I’ve been able to replicate at home. As I discuss in the post, Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce is not quite the same but we enjoy it as a pairing for this chicken.
How to Make Peruvian Chicken:
There’s nothing complex about this recipe, and basically all we do is marinate a whole chicken and then roast it.
Spatchcock the Chicken
While not required, I highly recommend spatchcocking the chicken, which means we cut the backbone out so we can flatten it.
This chicken cooks more evenly, more quickly, and is much easier to carve.
I have step-by-step pictures for how to Spatchcock Chicken and it only takes a couple minutes.
Pat the Meat Dry with Paper Towel
Before I do anything else with the meat, I always remove excess moisture. Particularly with chicken that comes out of a plastic shrink bag, there can be quite a lot of excess liquid.
Peruvian Chicken Marinade Needs Aji Amarillo
One ingredient that’s important to get is Aji Amarillo Paste. This is a hot pepper that’s grown in Peru, and it has a really unique, delicious flavor that’s important for the marinade.
To me, it tastes like a cross between habanero and hatch chile with a hint of fruitiness.
It’s blended up into a paste that has a bright orange color:
While you may be able to find it at the store, this is an item I order on Amazon (affiliate).
I know it’s a little annoying to get unusual ingredients, but it’s essential here, and the opened jar keeps well in the fridge for repeat batches of chicken.
Make the Marinade
Combine avocado oil (or olive oil), the aji amarillo paste, fresh lime juice, garlic, salt, cumin, dried oregano, and black pepper in a bowl:
Stir the ingredients together, and it will look like this:
Add the Marinade
Once the chicken is patted dry, pour the marinade on top:
Rub it all over, and know that the marinade will pool around the chicken a little bit. This is fine.
Marinade for 1 Hour at Room Temperature
1 hour is plenty of time for the chicken to absorb the flavors of the marinade. I let the chicken sit at room temperature for an hour, which takes the chill off the chicken and helps it cook more evenly as well.
If you want to marinade longer, you can do this up to 1 day in advance. Just make sure you marinate it in the fridge. Meat should never be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Roast the Chicken
All that’s needed now is a 40-45 minute roast in the oven, with a little basting toward the end.
Do not worry about the burned bits on the pan. I assure you that even though the chicken can look dark in parts, it does not taste burned whatsoever. There are some natural sugars in the marinade from ingredients like the lime juice that are going to caramelize and darken no matter what.
When the chicken has cooked through, let it sit for a few minutes, then you can carve it up. We enjoy it with a side of Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce.
Cilantro Lime Rice is a compatible side dish for this recipe, and you can make it lower carb with Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice. Enjoy!
Peruvian Chicken FAQ and Tips:
Other Cuts of Chicken: You don’t have to do a whole chicken here. You can get your favorite cut, like a pack of drumsticks or chicken thighs, and make this recipe with specifically that cut.
How to Store Leftovers: Keep the chicken in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing: You can freeze chicken leftovers for up to 2 months. Do not freeze the green sauce.

Peruvian Chicken
Ingredients
For the Peruvian Chicken:
- 3.5 lb* whole chicken spatchcock recommended**
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 2 tbsp aji amarillo paste***
- 1.5 tbsp lime juice
- 3 large garlic cloves pressed or minced
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- While it's not required, I highly recommend you spatchcock the chicken. All this means is you cut the backbone out so it lays flat on the roasting pan. Spatchcock chicken cooks more evenly, more quickly, and is much easier to carve. My Spatchcock Chicken post shows you how do to this.
- In a small bowl, mix together the avocado oil, aji amarillo paste, lime juice, garlic, salt, cumin, oregano, and black pepper.
- Place the chicken on a sheet pan and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Then rub the marinade all over the chicken. Let sit at room temperature for one hour. Alternatively, you can marinate this up to 24 hours in advance in the fridge. Note: never leave meat out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
- 15 minutes before cooking, preheat the oven to 425F.
- Roast the chicken for 40-45 minutes, basting the chicken in its own juices after 30 minutes, and again at 40 minutes. When the chicken is done, the breast should register at 160F when measured with a thermometer.
- Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes after roasting, so the juices don't run out while carving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
65 Comments on “Peruvian Chicken”
This is now a regular menu item at our house!! We love it, and the sauce, and the rice!! I do use bone in legs and thighs instead.
Outstanding. I made it for my investment club and everyone raved. Incredibly moist and flavorful.
Could this be made ahead and if so how would it be reheated? Would be using bone in thighs. Thanks
I rarely ever post reviews of recipes online, but after discovering this recipe, I’ve made it once a week for the past three weeks. I’ve used boneless chicken thighs and chicken tenders and both were delicious! I’m sure it would’ve been even better using whole chicken as described, but I have picky eaters who won’t deal with bones. The jalapeño cilantro sauce was also phenomenal! Thanks so much for sharing this!
That’s awesome!! Thanks for sharing that you’ve tried with other cuts of chicken as well.
Best Peruvian Chicken ever!
This has become my go to recipe for chicken. It’s perfect as is but I opt for smoking it on low heat and high smoke on the pellet grill. After 20 minutes I crank up the temperature. It gets crisp and has a little extra flavor.
Perfect Chicken. Lived in Ecuador for 4 years and loved the chicken restaurants that spin the chick on the street… so I was excited to have found this recipe and make it for some South American friends.. Found the paste on Amazon.
The recipe hit it out of the park. South American friends loved it and so did I. Thank you!
Hi:
We would like to try the Peruvian Chicken, but since we don’t for hot peppers, could we try it w/o the aji paste?
Thanks!
Wow, this is the best whole roasted chicken recipe I’ve tried by a mile. I had trouble finding aji amarillo but finally found it online for a good price from igourmet.com, so I bought two bottles hoping they wouldn’t be a waste of money. They will definitely get used because this Peruvian chicken will be a monthly if not bi-monthly meal. The chicken smells and tastes amazing and is so tender and juicy. I plan to make wings using this marinade, then maybe just leg quarters or thighs. Maybe I’ll even try it with a pork loin or beef steak! Thanks so much for this recipe.
I was semi impressed by this recipe. Other people in my household enjoyed it a little more than I did, but with some changes I was able to produce, what I thought was a juicier chicken.
The original recipe I found to lack flavor. But keep in mind I did not make the green sauce as I like my food without the *extras. That being said, without the extra enhancements, a chicken really has to stand out.
So what I did was give my chicken a sugar/salt/rosemary brine overnight. Next I used all the ingredients in recipe and let that sit for another few hours to marinade. Overnight is even better. Instead of baking/roasting, I used the rotisserie and it was 10xs juicier (im guessing here:-)) than the original recipe.
I will definitely make again rotisserie style!! I give it a 5 with changes.
The marinade on this chicken is something to talk and dream about! Took your recommendation to spatchcock the chicken first and it definitely cooked more evenly. Our house smells like heaven rn 😍
Paired it with your Mexican rice! Perfect!! Thank you ☺️
This chicken was amazing. Loved the heat from the Aji Amarillo paste. After chicken done I separated oil in dripping and made a small batch of gravy using cornstarch. A great flavor to have on the side if you want to dunk chicken. I’ll definitley be making this over and over.
Excellent recipe, Joanne! Finally a Peruvian sauce that hits the mark. Entire recipe is great. You have a new fan.
I also used marjoram instead of oregano and it worked!!