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Easy Portuguese Chicken

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 2:01

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One of the most popular places for people to eat, fast food chain wise, in the U.K. is Nando’s. This is a restaurant that specializes in Portuguese grilled chicken. Quite a few Brits travel to Portugal on holiday these days, and so they have acquired a taste for the chicken. No small wonder! It is loaded with bags of flavor!

Portuguese chicken is succulent grilled chicken with flavors of spice, smoke and savory herbs. Traditionally it would be butterflied and grilled over an open fire, but it can also be found grilled on an outdoor rotisserie. It can be somewhat spicy, ranging anywhere from fairly mild spicy to blow-your-head-off spicy!

This easy Portuguese chicken recipe which I am sharing with you today embodies all of the flavors of that chicken except it is much easier to make. No charcoal grill or rotisserie is needed. You can cook it very simply in the oven.

You do need to marinate the chicken for about 8 hours in a lovely spicy marinade. I cut slashes into the chicken to help the marinade really penetrate the flesh right down to the bone. Skin on chicken legs are best. The skin gets really crispy and finger lickingly tasty!

Plus, you are guaranteed that your chicken will be really juicy. Dark meat really holds up much better to the longer cook time, as does bone in meat.

Normally I will buy a whole chicken on offer and the cut it up into pieces to freeze. Chicken is getting to be so expensive these days that it makes sense to take the cheapest route possible.

My sister and I usually go to the store on a Monday and check out the sell by dates of the “free-from” whole chickens. We take note and then we go back again early on the last day they can be sold. You can usually get them for 50% off as you need to cook them on that day.

It is perfectly acceptable to bring them home, cut them up and then freeze them for later use, and a real money saver in the long run!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE PORTUGESE CHICKEN

You will need a blender or a smoothie maker to blitz the marinade together. Other than that, the ingredients required are quite simple. It looks like a long list but most of the things required are seasonings for the marinade.

2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS light olive oil
2 cloves garlic peeled
1/2 TBS paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp chili powder, or to taste
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 chicken leg quarters

You could use lemon juice concentrate, but fresh lemon juice will give you the best flavor. All of the remaining ingredients are pretty self-explanatory.

The chili powder used is the hot chili powder. Judge accordingly. Same with the red pepper flakes. You know what kind of heat you can tolerate so don’t go overboard.

If you wish you can use garlic powder (not salt) instead of the fresh garlic. About 1/2 tsp will do the trick.

Break the bay leaf up before you blitz it together with the remaining ingredients.

HOW TO PREPARE AND COOK EASY PORTUGUESE CHICKEN

Do bear in mind you will need to marinate this chicken for a good 8 hours prior to cooking. The longer the better and the more flavor will be infused into the meat. This cooks in the oven but you can also grill it on an outdoor grill as well. Very nice!

Place the lemon juice, oil. paprika, garlic, oregano, salt, chili powder, red pepper flakes, bay leaf and black pepper into a small blender. Blitz until it is very smooth.

Take your chicken quarters and, using a sharp knife, score them a few times down to the bone. (Easily done with a sharp knife) This helps to get the flavors right into the meat. Place into a zip lock baggie.

Add 2/3 of the spicy mixture to the bag. (Reserve the rest for later.) Zip the bag shut.

Using your hands massage the marinade into the chicken quarters until they are coated well with the sauce. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for about 8 hours. (Or overnight if you wish.)

When you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a baking dish.

Remove the chicken from the baggie, discarding any marinade left in the bag. Place the chicken into the baking dish, presentation/skin side down.

Cover with tinfoil and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover, and baste with the reserved marinade. Recover with the foil and return to the oven. Bake for a further 20 minutes.

Uncover and baste again with the reserved mixture. Return to the oven, uncovered this time, and roast for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the juices run clear and the chicken temperature (near to the bone) tests at 165*F/74*C.

This was really tender and juicy. The marinade gave it a lovely flavor. There was a bit of heat as you might expect from Portuguese Chicken, but it was not unbearably spicy. I would compare it to the Lemon Chicken that you might get at Nando’s.

I enjoyed this with some steamed basmati rice and some steamed peas and corn on the side. It made a really delicious supper. I found myself wishing that I had an outdoor grill. I can only imagine how delicious this might be grilled over gas or coals. This would add a lovely hint of smokiness.

Chicken leg quarters are one of the more affordable cuts of chicken available these days. In all truth the dark meat of the leg holds much more flavor than the rest of the chicken. It is also just as adaptable to other flavors and cooking methods as the breast. Here are a few other ways to enjoy them!

CHICKEN GRATINEE – This is an unusual way of cooking chicken leg quarters from the French. Simple and easy. Browned chicken leg quarters are roasted until delectably tender in a lush cheese custard with a buttered breadcrumb topping. This is rich and delicious. It is beautiful served with boiled new potatoes and a vegetable on the side.

LEMON ROASTED CHICKEN LEGS - Chicken leg quarters, rubbed with softened butter, some lemon zest, salt, pepper and parsley with a squeeze of lemon over top prior to slow roasting, covered, in a slow oven until they are almost cooked through. Uncovered and roasted at a high temperature to brown the skin up nicely. Delicious. Tender. Juicy. This is wonderful served with some of the pan juices spooned over top and some rice and a vegetable on the side.

Yield: 2 servings

Author: Marie Rayner

Portuguese Chicken

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 8 HourTotal time: 9 H & 15 M

Tender, juicy and loaded with flavor. This is as good as any Portuguese chicken you might find in a restaurant. It has a bit of a bite, but you can adjust the heat according to your taste. You will need to start marinating the chicken early in the day.

Ingredients

2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS light olive oil
2 cloves garlic peeled
1/2 TBS paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp chili powder, or to taste
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 chicken leg quarters

Instructions

Place the lemon juice, oil. paprika, garlic, oregano, salt, chili powder, red pepper flakes, bay leaf and black pepper into a small blender. Blitz until it is very smooth.
Take your chicken quarters and, using a sharp knife, score them a few times down to the bone. Place into a zip lock baggie.
Add 2/3 of the spicy mixture to the bag. (Reserve the rest for later.) Zip the bag shut.
Using your hands massage the marinade into the chicken quarters until they are coated well with the sauce. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for about 8 hours. (Or overnight if you wish.)
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a baking dish.
Remove the chicken from the baggie, discarding any marinade left in the bag. Place the chicken into the baking dish presentation side down.
Cover with tinfoil and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover and baste with the reserved marinade. Recover and return to the oven. Bake for a further 20 minutes.
Uncover and baste again with the reserved mixture. Return to the oven, uncovered, and roast for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the juices run clear and the chicken temperature (near to the bone) tests at 165*F/74*C.

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Source: https://www.theenglishkitchen.co/2025/06/easy-portuguese-chicken.html

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