This zesty, brightly flavored Cuban Mojo Chicken makes me SO happy! What gives the chicken its amazing flavor is a Cuban-style marinade called Mojo (pronounced moho), made with fresh orange and lime juice and their zest, garlic cloves and cumin seeds. Colorful bell peppers and onions with white wine and bay leaves line the bottom of the heavy bottom pot and nestled in the center, lies the chicken.
The whole thing is placed in the oven and when it comes out, the chicken is roasted golden brown, and the delicious pan sauce has been reduced and infused with the juices of the chicken and mojo.
Served over Chili Roasted Yams (or simple rice) spoon the flavorful pan sauce, peppers and onions over the chili roasted yams, and place the chicken over top. Finish with fresh zest and cilantro. I hope this makes you as happy as it makes me
How to make Cuban Mojo Chicken
Make the mojo marinade:
Prep the whole chicken
Marinate the Chicken
Prep the veggies
Nestle the chicken in the pot
Bake the Cuban Mojo Chicken!
You may also enjoy:
Cuban Mojo Chicken with Chili Roasted Yams
Cuban Mojo Chicken with flavorful Mojo Marinade and Chile Roasted Yams – roast this as a whole chicken or with chicken pieces on a sheet pan.
- Prep Time: 75 mins
- Cook Time: 80 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 mins
- Yield: 4-5
- Category: Chicken
- Method: roasted, baked
- Cuisine: Cuban
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1 orange- zest and juice
- 1 large lime- zest and juice
- 8 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted ( or ground cumin )
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
—–
- 4 – 4.5 lb chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion- sliced ½ thick rings
- 2 bell peppers- sliced into ½ inch thick rings
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- Garnish: cilantro, lime wedges, zest
Chile Roasted Yams
- 2 Yams- ½ inch thick slices, cut in half
- 2 T olive oil
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- lime wedges
Instructions
Note: Marinate chicken for at least 1 hour at room temp…. or up to 24 hours refrigerated.
- Make marinade: Zest orange and lime and set aside. Add juice from lime and orange ( should be at least a ½ cup total ) and garlic to a blender. Add oil, salt, pepper, cumin. Blend well.
- Rinse and truss chicken and place in a large Ziploc bag, with the marinade, turning to coat all the nooks and crannies. Let sit at room temp for one hour, turning occasionally. (Or marinate up to 24 hours in the refrigerator).
- Prep the Yams. To make roasted yams, toss the cut yams in medium bowl with olive oil, salt, chili powder, allspice, coating evenly. Spread out on a parchment lined baking sheet, set aside.
- Preheat oven to 450F
- In a large dutch oven, heat 1-2 T oil over medium heat. Add the onion “rings”, sauté on med-high heat, stirring often until golden and just tender about 4-5 minutes. Add peppers, turn heat to med, sauté 3-4 more minutes. Add the wine, half of the orange and lime zest, the bay leaves and turn heat off.
- Remove chicken from the marinade place it BREAST SIDE DOWN, over the onions and peppers. Pour all remaining marinade over top and give pot a good shake.
- Place in the middle of the oven, bake uncovered 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, reduce heat to 400F, and continue to roast until inner thigh reaches 165 F -about 35-45 minutes more.
- Place yams in the oven when you flip the chicken, checking them after 25-30 minutes. Squeeze with a little lime after removing.
- Let chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.
- Cut chicken and serve over roasted sweet potatoes, making sure to scoop up some of the braised peppers, onions and pan juices.
- Garnish with a squeeze of lime, a sprinkling of lime and orange zest and fresh cilantro.
Notes
Feel free to use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, marinating, then place on a sheet pan with the onion and bell pepper. Roasting time will be reduced, use your thermometer. 😉
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of a chicken
- Calories: 792
- Sugar: 14.6 g
- Sodium: 1110.9 mg
- Fat: 58.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 17.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.1 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 43.3 g
- Cholesterol: 240.4 mg
Keywords: mojo chicken, roasted mojo chicken, baked mojo chicken, sheet pan mojo chicken, cuban chicken
How much oil goes into the marinade? The recipe says “2 Olive Oil” but doesn’t state 2 of what… teaspoons, tablespoons, cups?
2 tablespoons! Sorry about that!
I used chicken breast instead of a whole chicken, and let the whole thing simmer in a pan on the stove. I roasted yams, and provided rice and black beans for additional side dishes. Definitely a go-to meal. I made this as a birthday dinner for a Cuban friend of mine and she thoroughly enjoyed every bite.
★★★★★
Great to hear Julie!
It is mentioned to lower heat to 400 but it does not seem to mention the temperature before hitting the 400…
Oops, sorry about that, fixed it Nick!
Do you coo with the lid on Dutch oven? Thank you
No Suzanne, leave the lid off. 🙂
Fabulous recipe! Our favourite meal now. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
As a Cuban, who learned her cooking at my Mother’s side, I would recommend you substitute sour orange (they are also called Seville oranges) for the lime and orange juice. Fresh sour orange juice is the best, but a good substitute would be the bottle juice in the Hispanic aisle of the supermarket. I love this recipe, and cook it often accompanied by rice and black beans, of course. Yum!
No… leave it uncovered!
Am I supposed to cover chicken when I put it in the oven?
Made this last night with wine that hubby had to run out to buy. 🙂 So yummy and easy to prepare! Had leftovers for lunch and just as delicious. Can’t wait to make again!
I’m making this tonight and looking forward to every delicious bite. The photograph is just so retty, I had to try preparing it. We’re not having yams but long grain wild rice. Didn’t have white wine so had to send hubby out for that. Darn, LOL, hate when that happens!
I do too! Good luck and let me know how you like it.
Seriously the most delicious roast chicken i have ever made! I did not have any white wine so i substituted with chicken stock and a splash of cooking sherry. served over mashed potatoes because i was out of sweet potatoes.
Sounds delish! Thanks for sharing!!
I can just about smell this – so delicious!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was so delicious! My hubby loved it! Thanks for another great inspiration, Sylvia.
Thanks Karen– glad you liked!
This sounds fantastic!
This looks amazing! What beautiful comfort food. I love yams brightened with lime and chili, too. Thanks for the idea.
This is so gorgeous! I love the fresh garnishes on top, and the yams sound like the perfect compliment too. I’ll have to cook this and reminisce about my years of eating Cuban food in Miami. Thanks!!