Portuguese BBQHow to Host a Real Churrasco

A Portuguese BBQ, or churrasco, is charcoal-grilled chicken brushed with piri-piri, strips of pork belly (entremeada), thin pork steaks (febras), sardines in summer and chouriço, all served with a mixed salad, chips and bread. The marinades are simple, built on garlic, white wine, paprika and bay. The secret is a properly hot bed of charcoal and lots of coarse salt.

It's how Portuguese families eat on summer Sundays, and it's easy to recreate in any back garden.

What goes on a Portuguese BBQ?

Pick three or four of these. Don't try to do everything.

• Frango no churrasco (piri-piri chicken): the star. A whole chicken split open and flattened, grilled and basted with chilli oil.
• Entremeada: slices of pork belly, salted and grilled until the fat crackles.
• Febras: thin slices of pork loin or shoulder, marinated in garlic and wine.
• Entrecosto: pork ribs, usually in the same marinade.
• Sardinhas: whole sardines with coarse salt, at their best from June to September.
• Chouriço: grilled whole or in thick slices, or flamed in a clay assador.

Portuguese

Portuguese clay chouriço grill (assador)

The glazed terracotta dish with a slotted top for flaming chouriço at the table. Most Portuguese homes have one in a cupboard.

Tip: The medium size fits a standard chouriço. Use it on a cork board or tiles, never near curtains.

View on Amazon

Frango no churrasco with piri-piri

Portugal's churrasqueiras (grill houses) are famous for this. The village of Guia, in the Algarve, is especially known for it.

How to prepare the chicken

1. Spatchcock it. Cut out the backbone with kitchen scissors, turn the bird over and press down hard on the breastbone so it lies flat. This is how it's done in Portugal, and it cooks evenly.
2. Marinate. Rub with crushed garlic, coarse salt, sweet paprika, a bay leaf, a splash of white wine, lemon juice and olive oil. Leave for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.
3. Grill. Start skin side up over medium heat, turn every 8 to 10 minutes, and allow about 40 to 50 minutes for a whole bird.
4. Baste. In the last 10 minutes, brush with piri-piri oil, more if your guests like heat.
5. Check it's done. The thickest part of the thigh should reach 74 °C (165°F). A probe thermometer takes the guessing out.

Amazon best seller

Alpha Grillers instant-read thermometer

Takes the guesswork out of piri-piri chicken and bifanas: 74 °C in the thickest part and the chicken is done.

Tip: Check the thickest piece, away from the bone.

View on Amazon

Quick piri-piri oil

Warm 150 ml olive oil with 6 to 10 crushed dried piri-piri chillies, 3 sliced garlic cloves, a bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Take off the heat before the garlic browns, add a squeeze of lemon and a splash of whisky or brandy if you like, and leave to infuse. It's even better made a day ahead. Our piri-piri sauce guide has fuller versions.

No grill? Our air fryer frango piri-piri gets close.

Pork: entremeada and febras

Entremeada

Entremeada is pork belly sliced about 1 cm thick. It needs only coarse salt, maybe garlic, and a hot grill. Cook until the fat is golden and crisp at the edges, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve it with bread so the fat soaks in. For a non-grill version, see our air fryer entremeada.

Febras

Febras are thin pork steaks, usually from the loin or shoulder (cachaço). The classic marinade, called vinha d'alhos, is:

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 150 ml white wine
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika (colorau) or 1 tablespoon massa de pimentão (red pepper paste)
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and black pepper
• A splash of olive oil

Marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Grill fast over high heat, 2 to 3 minutes a side, so they stay juicy. Stuff leftovers into bread rolls the next day: that's a bifana in all but name.

Sardines

Portuguese sardines are best in summer when they're fat. Leave them whole and ungutted (that's how they're grilled in Portugal), sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt about 30 minutes before cooking, then grill over hot coals for 3 to 4 minutes a side. A hinged fish basket makes turning easy. Serve on a slice of bread.

Our guide to grilling sardines covers buying and cleaning, and the air fryer sardinhas assadas is there for rainy days.

Portuguese

Algarve sea salt

Sea salt from the Algarve salt pans, for coarse-salt roasting batatas a murro and for finishing grilled fish.

Tip: A little goes a long way. Use it for finishing, not boiling water.

View on Amazon

Sides: salada mista, chips and bread

A Portuguese churrasco plate always looks the same, and that's part of the charm.

• Salada mista: lettuce, tomato and onion, sometimes with grated carrot or green pepper, dressed at the table with olive oil, wine vinegar and salt. A pinch of dried oregano is common.
• Batatas fritas: proper chips. Churrasqueiras serve them in big piles.
• Arroz: plain white rice, or tomato rice, is common next to chicken.
• Pão: crusty rolls or a big loaf of bread. Essential with sardines.
• Salada de pimentos: roasted red peppers with garlic and olive oil, the classic with sardines.

To drink: cold beer, chilled Vinho Verde or a jug of red. See our Vinho Verde guide.

Charcoal tips for a Portuguese grill

1. Use lumpwood charcoal, not briquettes with additives. It burns hotter and cleaner.
2. Wait for the coals. Light them 30 to 40 minutes before cooking and wait until they're covered in grey ash and there are no flames. Cooking over flames burns the outside before the inside is done.
3. Make two zones. Pile coals to one side for a hot zone (pork, sardines) and leave the other side cooler (chicken, chouriço).
4. Oil the grate, not the food, for fish.
5. Cook in order. Chicken first, since it takes longest. Then chouriço and entremeada as starters while the chicken finishes. Febras and sardines last, because they cook in minutes.
6. Keep a water spray bottle nearby for flare-ups from pork fat.

How much to buy

For 8 people with three or four meats:

• 2 chickens (spatchcocked)
• 1 kg pork belly
• 1 kg pork loin or shoulder for febras
• 1 or 2 chouriços
• 3 to 4 sardines per person if they're on the menu
• 2 loaves of bread, 1.5 kg potatoes for chips, and a big salad

For the sausages to look for, see our Portuguese sausages guide.

From the shop

What you’ll need

Links go to Amazon, where you can check today’s price. If you buy, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Amazon best seller

Alpha Grillers instant-read thermometer

Takes the guesswork out of piri-piri chicken and bifanas: 74 °C in the thickest part and the chicken is done.

Tip: Check the thickest piece, away from the bone.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Piri-piri chillies from Portugal

Whole dried bird's-eye chillies, the heat behind frango piri-piri and the bottle of chilli oil on every Portuguese table.

Tip: Two packs last a year. Crush them as you need them.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Algarve sea salt

Sea salt from the Algarve salt pans, for coarse-salt roasting batatas a murro and for finishing grilled fish.

Tip: A little goes a long way. Use it for finishing, not boiling water.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Portuguese clay chouriço grill (assador)

The glazed terracotta dish with a slotted top for flaming chouriço at the table. Most Portuguese homes have one in a cupboard.

Tip: The medium size fits a standard chouriço. Use it on a cork board or tiles, never near curtains.

View on Amazon