Row row row your boat, gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.~
While in Seattle we lunched at a little Peruvian restaurant and ordered Pollo a la Brasa, aka, Grilled Peruvian Chicken. It came with an addicting spicy green sauce and a simple side salad, and instantly I was hooked. Instead of roasting a whole chicken in the traditional way I used boneless, skinless breast and thighs and grilled them instead of firing up the oven- making the cooking process faster, cooler (during the summer months) and without the skin, a bit lighter and healthier. For mixed households, vegans can substitute portobellos for the chicken using the same flavorful marinade- it’s very easy to grill up both the chicken and portobellos. And be sure to make this fresh Avocado-Cucumber and Tomato Salad – it’s so simple and tasty and if you want, serve it all up with rice. If you are a fast chopper and a multitasker, the whole meal can be made in about 35-40 minutes. Seriously!
On the home-front: We’ve been taking it easy. Yes catering some, but really not so much. I’m loving my life- I can’t remember a summer where time felt so plentiful. It’s really a luxurious feeling. I’m not sure if I’ve told you this, but this will be our our last year catering. The plan is to travel part of the year and focus on this blog. Yes, surprisingly blogging is actually a business, and one that doesn’t cause me too much grief or anxiety. I won’t go in to the nitty gritty, but for those of you who, like my 75 year old father-in-law can’t seem to fathom how a blog can generate a steady income, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Anyways- I’m so excited- mostly about slowing down and not being as busy, and getting to do more of what I love!
Look how clean and healthy this looks! Especially if you go light on the green sauce, which I’ll admit, is difficult to do.
Mildly spicy, citrusy, earthy the Peruvian chicken is flavorful and juicy, and the portobellos are just as tasty! This whole meal could be easily be made vegan, so be sure to look at the recipe notes.
The quick easy marinade is made with olive oil, garlic, spices and lime juice.
Marinate the chicken while the grill heats up. Here I’m using boneless skin-less thighs, but breasts would work too, as well as bone-in, skin on chicken. Keep in mind that boneless breasts cook the fastest and are the leanest, not including these portobello mushrooms.
Portobellos can be sliced or grilled whole. Be sure to brush the marinade on lightly, because mushrooms are porous can actually soak up too much, if you are not careful.
While the grill heats up, whip up the Peruvian style spicy Green Sauce in the blender.
As the chicken and portobellos grill, make the Avocado Tomato Cucumber salad.
Avocados and cucumber are diced, and cherry tomatoes are halved. Then it’s simply drizzled with olive oil, lime juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Serve the Peruvian Grilled Chicken with rice for a heartier meal.
Serve the Grilled Peruvian Chicken with Green Sauce separately or build bowls.
Love hearing your feedback and comments….let us know how you like it, or how you adapted it….and remember to tag your creations #feastingathome on instagram so I can see what you are making!
PrintGrilled Peruvian Chicken with Cilantro Sauce
This simple delicious recipe for Pollo a la Brasa is bursting with Peruvian flavors and can be made with either chicken or portobellos ( a tasty vegetarian option) or both for mixed households. Served with Spicy Cilantro Sauce, Avocado Cucumber & Tomato Salad and optional rice, these can be made into individual Bowls, or served separately.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: Main
- Method: Adaptable
- Cuisine: South American
Ingredients
- 1 ½ -2 pounds chicken ( thigh or breast, boneless, skinless- see notes) Or substitute portobellos.
Marinade
- 4 garlic cloves- finely minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons honey, agave or sugar
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika or smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano ( or 1 tablespoon fresh) or sub thyme or marjoram
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce ( optional)
Cilantro Sauce
- ½ cup sour cream ( or sub mayo or vegan mayo)
- ½ jalapeño (use less for less spicy)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 cup chopped cilantro- thin stems ok.
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- squeeze of lime ( 1 tablespoon, save other half for salad)
Avocado Cucumber Tomato Salad
- 2 cups diced or sliced english or turkish cucumber
- 1 large perfectly ripe avocado, diced
- handful cherry tomatoes ( yellow and red are nice )
- cilantro leaves for garnishing
- olive oil for drizzling
- generous, 5 finger pinch kosher salt
- squeeze of lime
Optional Bowl Additions- cooked rice or beans…. or both.
Instructions
Preheat grill to medium high.
If making rice, start this now on the stove.
Make the marinade in a small bowl. Using a garlic press, finely mince the garlic and place it the bowl. Add oil, lime juice, cumin, paprika, coriander, oregano and salt and optional soy sauce. Stir. Toss it with the chicken in bowl, coating all sides well, and/ or brush it onto the portobellos.
Make the Cilantro sauce by placing all the ingredients in a blender and blending until relatively smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary.
When the grill is hot, grill the chicken and/ or portobellos, searing both sides well ( using a metal spatula to flip) then turn heat down or move to a cooler side of the grill to allow chicken to cook through. Portobellos will cook faster, so plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Make the salad by placing the diced cucumber in a wide shallow bowl. Add avocado, spacing it out evenly. Add a few cherry tomato halves. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Squeeze with lime juice. Garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serve with the rice. If making bowls, place ¾ cup rice on the bottom of the bowl, add sliced chicken or portobellos to one side, avocado salad on the other side and drizzle with the cilantro sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to use bone in, skin-on chicken, although cooking time will increase on the grill. Instead of grilling you can also roast in the oven at 400F, or pan-sear, then finish in the oven. Traditionally, in Peru, a whole chicken is marinated then roasted in the oven, but to save time here, I used boneless, skinless thighs, and breast would work just as well.
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Thanks for my Sunday dinner menu! Can’t wait to make this!
Was AWESOME!!
★★★★★
Very good. Make with Cuban rice (corn and black beans)
Love the cuban rice idea…thanks for the inspiration!
★★★★★
My wife and I made this tonight. It was easy and delicious. Leftover cilantro sauce will be used again in some nice fish tacos! We used the thighs. I loved the tenderness and juiciness compared to chicken breasts which I tend to overgrill and dry out. I grilled the chicken for about 20 minutes in the back of the grill, indirect at 350-400 after searing both sides for about a minute each. They came out perfect.
This is great with chicken. Wondering if there is a type of fish it would work with
I think any grill-able whitefish would work here – Like Black Cod, Sea Bass, or even large prawns!
Thx! Will try and let you know
This looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try it. I have a lot of cilantro in my garden I would like to use and my cucumbers are almost ready to pick.
perfect! let us know what you think!!!
I made this tonight and it went into my Pinterest favorite recipe boards. Additions: cumin to the sauce and red bell peppers and purple onion to the salad (next time I will soak the onions in the lime juice to mellow them a bit.) Definitely would be better marinated overnight, but 2 hours gave us a hint of flavor and was super juicy.
This has great flavor and is easier than the recipes using a whole chicke. I did marinate it about 3 hours and I am sure more would be fine. I served it with Panna garlic rice.
I have made this twice as written & it is a family & guest favorite! Love, love, love!
Yay! Glad you are enjoying it!!!
question actually: can I omit the sugar/agave/honey in the chicken marinade?
Well, you can, but Im not sure how the balance will be. Try it and see!
Incredible! I used the cilantro-lime rice (from the Chilean beef skewers recipe) recipe to serve this on.
★★★★★
Great marinade, and wonderful cilantro sauce. Tried it with salmon filets on the bbq, very good
Sounds great! Glad you branched out and used salmon!
Delicious and very easy
★★★★★