Succulent chicken thighs basted in fiery peri-peri marinade and grilled to smoky perfection is a fantastic easy, spicy dinner recipe.
Listen, some days you just need spicy grilled chicken in your face. You need to eat it with your hands, lick your fingers before going on to the next piece. Because believe me when I tell you, this is what the good Colonel was talking about when he said “finger lickin good”.
In South Africa, peri-peri chicken is a bit of a thing. We love the stuff. We even started a fast food chain that is now worldwide (and super famous) focused on it. And with good reason. There is just nothing like that succulent chicken burning your mouth (in the best way possible) with every bite. Yes, yes, YES!
You could totally make this chicken by just slathering it in my Peri-Peri sauce recipe but adding a little honey and more acidity turns this marinade into a knock-out. The sweetness compliments the spicy peri-peri sauce beautifully and also helps to caramelize everything a bit when the chicken is grilled.
What to serve with grilled chicken thighs
Serve this chicken with a crunchy green salad and crusty baguette to mop up the sauce or turmeric-scented rice would be just as good. These are all good ideas for side dishes too:
- Spicy garlic potato wedges
- Simple side salad with lemon dressing
- Almond pilaf rice
- Crispy salt and pepper smashed potatoes
Grilled peri-peri chicken thighs
Ingredients
- ½ cup peri-peri sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
- 8 chicken thighs skin-on
- 1 whole lemon sliced in half
Instructions
- Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well.
- Spread over the chicken on both sides and allow to marinade for up to 24 hours but at least 1 hour.
- Grill in a hot griddle pan with the lemon halves (alternatively cook the chicken on a barbecue) for 7-10 minutes per side then transfer to the oven (pre-heated to 180ºc) and cook for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Squeeze over the grilled lemon juice and serve.
Nutrition
Peri-peri recipes
Baked Peri-peri chicken
Home-made peri-peri sauce
Peri-Peri chicken salad with charred corn
What temperature in the oven?
I’ve amended the recipe, thanks for notifying me! It’s 180ºc.
Winner, winner chicken dinner Alida!
🙂
This looks like such a cozy dinner!! xo
It so is. 🙂