Grilled Peruvian Chicken (Pollo a la Brasa) with Peruvian Green Sauce and Avocado Tomato Cucumber Salad. Can be made in 40 minutes- perfect for weeknights!
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 weddings, but really not as many as previous years. 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 as much anxiety. 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 1x
- 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.
Keywords: Peruvian Chicken, Peruvian Chicken Recipe, Grilled peruvian chicken, Peruvian Green Sauce, peruvian green sauce recipe
Lisa says
July 16, 2017 at 9:19 amThanks for my Sunday dinner menu! Can’t wait to make this!
Anonymous says
July 16, 2017 at 3:55 pmWas AWESOME!!
★★★★★
Katie says
July 19, 2017 at 3:34 pmVery good. Make with Cuban rice (corn and black beans)
Sylvia Fountaine says
July 20, 2017 at 7:54 amLove the cuban rice idea…thanks for the inspiration!
★★★★★
Pete says
July 19, 2017 at 4:50 pmMy 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.
LARA Klapper says
July 23, 2017 at 3:58 pmThis is great with chicken. Wondering if there is a type of fish it would work with
Sylvia Fountaine says
July 24, 2017 at 7:00 amI think any grill-able whitefish would work here – Like Black Cod, Sea Bass, or even large prawns!
Anonymous says
July 24, 2017 at 8:56 amThx! Will try and let you know
Tracy says
July 26, 2017 at 12:12 pmThis 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.
Sylvia Fountaine says
July 26, 2017 at 2:32 pmperfect! let us know what you think!!!
Catherine Salazar says
August 9, 2017 at 6:13 pmI 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.
Mary Reiling says
August 19, 2017 at 5:28 pmThis 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.
Sandy says
September 17, 2017 at 7:12 pmI have made this twice as written & it is a family & guest favorite! Love, love, love!
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 21, 2017 at 7:34 amYay! Glad you are enjoying it!!!
Ellen Brice says
October 26, 2017 at 3:03 pmquestion actually: can I omit the sugar/agave/honey in the chicken marinade?
Sylvia Fountaine says
October 26, 2017 at 8:44 pmWell, you can, but Im not sure how the balance will be. Try it and see!
Anonymous says
May 8, 2018 at 6:07 amIncredible! I used the cilantro-lime rice (from the Chilean beef skewers recipe) recipe to serve this on.
★★★★★
Louise says
May 22, 2018 at 5:57 pmGreat marinade, and wonderful cilantro sauce. Tried it with salmon filets on the bbq, very good
Sylvia Fountaine says
May 24, 2018 at 6:02 amSounds great! Glad you branched out and used salmon!
Rita Goldsmith says
May 27, 2018 at 1:48 pmDelicious and very easy
★★★★★
Sylvia says
July 24, 2018 at 7:25 pmEver one in my family loved this recipe. Will make it again for sure.
★★★★★
David says
August 18, 2018 at 3:10 amSplendid! All at table thought it was scrumptious, including one lad who has been to Peru several times and declared it an improvement on authentic. Marinade was quite delicious, but most declared the “green sauce” topped that. I served a skin-on thigh and a medium portobello cap per person and it was quite filling. I am keto and this menu is not very carb-y: I limited tomatoes in salad, but went with honey in marinade b/c the carbs were well distributed…besides, I had saved carbs for the day so I could have this just as Sylvia created it. I was well rewarded for my will power…Thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★
Erick says
September 11, 2018 at 10:43 amThis is another winner! The whole fam loved this one (including my 3 year old). Making it again tonight. Thanks:)
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 11, 2018 at 11:00 amYay! Love it…makes me so happy! Thanks Erick!!!
Erick says
September 11, 2018 at 8:15 pmForgot to mention: I used chicken thighs and firm tofu and grilled it on a little counter top griller. I also cut the mayo in the green sauce by half with nonfat Greek yogurt. It was all perfect!
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 12, 2018 at 10:20 amPerfect, thanks Erick! 🙂
Tommy says
September 24, 2018 at 10:19 pmI highly recommend this dish! I made this last night for some friends… it was so friggin’ delicious! Lots of rave reviews and requests for the recipe- I directed them right to Feasting at Home!
Wife said the cilantro sauce now her new favorite! Kids loved it too! No leftovers, which was a bit of a bummer because I wanted them for lunch today.
I tweaked things just a smidge for my family… reduced cumin to teaspoon and cut back a bit on paprika. I didn’t have enough cilantro so added some parsley…turned out great.
Really, really enjoy the website! Thanks so much for some many simply delicious recipes.
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 25, 2018 at 9:13 amHi Tommy, thanks for the great comment and feedback. Very appreciated and so happy you liked it!
Theresa says
October 20, 2018 at 8:49 pmAs with all of Sylvia ‘s recipes, this was yummy, easy to prepare and makes a beautiful presentation. I substituted Greek yogurt for the sour cream in the cilantro sauce. We grilled both chicken thighs and Portobello mushrooms to please all eaters. Salad was very refreshing!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
October 20, 2018 at 9:42 pmYou are so sweet Theresa…. I’m so happy you enjoyed. Thanks for the comment and rating! Appreciate it!
Aly says
November 7, 2018 at 10:46 amHi! I want to try this recipe but don’t have a grill or grill pan. Could this be baked, and if so, how would you recommend doing so? Thanks! Xx
Sylvia Fountaine says
November 8, 2018 at 4:09 pmI would pan sear it first then bake to finish!
Kelli says
February 8, 2019 at 3:48 amThis receipe is absolutely divine!!! A wonderfully, health conscious dish the entire family can enjoy!!!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
February 8, 2019 at 6:36 amSo glad you and your family like it Kelli!!!
Fab says
May 11, 2019 at 6:42 pmWow!! This recipe is a keeper!! I made this today and it was soooo delicious! Everyone loved it. Thanks for sharing
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
May 12, 2019 at 8:01 pmGlad you liked it!