Frango Piri-Piri in the Air Fryer

In Portugal, frango piri-piri comes off a charcoal grill, flattened and basted with chilli oil until the skin blisters. Restaurants in Guia, in the Algarve, made it famous. You can't fully copy charcoal at home, but the air fryer gets the most important part right: crisp skin over juicy meat, in under half an hour.

The marinade is where the flavour comes from. Give it at least 2 hours and overnight if you can.

Why thighs, not a whole chicken

A spatchcocked whole chicken only fits in big oven-style air fryers. Bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks fit any basket, stay juicy and cook evenly. If you have an air fryer oven, a small spatchcocked chicken (around 1.2 kg) takes 35–40 minutes at 180 °C.

The recipe

Frango Piri-Piri in the Air Fryer

Portuguese piri-piri chicken with crisp, blistered skin, made in the air fryer in 25 minutes. Includes the marinade and a piri-piri oil for basting.

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Prep15 min

Cook25 min

Total40 min

Serves4

Ingredients

MetricUS

Serves

4

½×1×2×3×

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks (about 1.2 kg)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2–6 dried piri-piri chillies, crushed (or 1–2 tbsp piri-piri sauce)
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika (pimentão doce)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf, crumbled
• 1 tsp coarse salt

Method

1. Mix the garlic, chilli, paprika, lemon juice, olive oil, wine, bay leaf and salt. Set aside 3 tablespoons for basting.
2. Slash each piece of chicken twice to the bone, rub the marinade all over and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
3. Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Shake off excess marinade so the skin can crisp.
4. Air fry skin-side down at 180 °C for 12 minutes.
5. Turn skin-side up, brush with the reserved marinade and cook for 10–13 minutes more, until the skin is blistered and the thickest part reads 74 °C.
6. Rest for 5 minutes. Brush with a little extra piri-piri oil before serving if you like it hot.

Clear ticks

Tap ingredients and steps to tick them off. Scaling changes the quantities at the start of each line; check the rest by eye.

Quick piri-piri oil

Warm 100 ml olive oil with 2–3 crushed dried chillies, 1 crushed garlic clove and a bay leaf for 5 minutes on low heat. Cool, then keep it in a jar. Portuguese restaurants put a bottle of this on the table so people can add their own heat.

What to serve with it

Batatas fritas (chips, which you can air fry while the chicken rests), a tomato and onion salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar, and rice. For a lighter plate, try our batatas a murro.

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

Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt Air Fryer

One of Amazon's best-selling air fryers. The 6 Qt basket fits a batch of pastéis de bacalhau or chicken thighs for four, and the ceramic coating is PFAS-free.

Tip: Size is what matters for Portuguese cooking: 5.5–6 Qt feeds 2–4 people in one batch.

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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.

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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.

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Portuguese

Costa Nova Rosa dinner plate

An 11-inch Portuguese stoneware plate with a soft organic edge. Pairs with the Costa Nova bowls.

Tip: Buy one to check the colour, then build a set.

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