A Guide to Piri-Piri Chicken: A Definite “Must Eat” in Portugal

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Written by: | Last updated on October 5, 2023 | Est. Reading Time: 6 minutes

Piri-piri chicken is, like a lot of Portuguese cuisine, a one of Portugal’s best dishes. Every restaurant and Portuguese mother has their own secret ingredient that makes their frango piri-piri the best, but overall it is a fairly simple dish. 

The chicken is spatchcocked and marinaded (or not) in a sauce that normally contains ingredients like garlic, olive oil, salt, lemon juice, and of course piri-piri chilies, along with whatever those other secret ingredients are. Although you can cook frango piri-piri in an oven, cooking it over a coal BBQ really adds more flavour. 

The chicken is normally served with a simple salad along with either rice or chips (fries) or both: in the north of Portugal, rice is much more common, whereas in the Algarve and South of Portugal, chips are the side of choice. 

It’s cheap, it’s delicious, and it’s one of the best things that you can eat in Portugal. 

I’ve eaten piri-piri chicken (frango assado) throughout Portugal. Although you can find it at churrasqueiras throughout the country, the best piri-piri chicken comes from the Algarve. Not necessarily Guia where it originates from. I’ve eaten at most of the restaurants there, but found other places in the Algarve to have as good, if not better, piri-piri chicken.

The origins of piri-piri chicken

The chillies used in piri-piri chicken aren’t native to Portugal: they originated in South America. But it wasn’t as simple as the Portuguese bringing the chillies back from South America to Portugal. 

They may well have brought chillies back, and probably did, but the dish has its origins in the African colonies of Mozambique and Angola rather than Continental Portugal: the Portuguese brought chilli seeds from South America to Africa, planted them, and, gradually, the people there began mixing the chillies with other ingredients like garlic and lemon juice to create a sauce.  The dish evolved and evolved until it became the popular piri-piri chicken dish we know today. 

It was particularly popular with the Portuguese who were living in or stationed in Angola in the middle of the last century. When the Portuguese began returning to Portugal from Angola in the 60s and 70s, they began trying to get piri-piri back home. 

José Carlos Ramires, a shoemaker based in Guia in the Algarve, had opened a restaurant in but initially didn’t serve piri-piri chicken. As more and more people returning from Angola began to ask for it, however, he soon began to serve it, cooking his first piri-piri chicken in 1964. It wasn’t long before other restaurants in Guia began to serve piri-piri as well, and soon Guia became the piri-piri capital of Portugal.

Today, the small town in the Albufeira concelho, is home to even more churrasqueiras. It also hosts an annual piri-piri chicken festival (Festa do Frango da Guia), which normally takes place every year in early August. 

The restaurant (Ramires) still exists today, and is one of the most popular restaurants in Guia. Some say it’s still the best churrasqueira in Guia, while others people have their own favourite spot which may not even be in Guia at all. It’s usually somewhere on the Algarve, though: although people will debate which churrasqueira is the best, they will almost all agree that if you want good piri-piri chicken you have to come to the Algarve. 

In recent years, piri-piri chicken has become extremely popular around the world. That’s more due to the South Africans than the Portuguese, though. 

Nando’s has quickly become one of the largest restaurant chains in South Africa, the UK, Australia, and now the United States as well. Is it Portuguese? Not quite. Although Nando’s “peri-peri chicken” is very similar to what you’ll find in Portugal, it’s not really the same. Which is better? Portuguese piri-piri chicken obviously! 

The key components of piri piri chicken

To make frango piri-piri, there are couple of things that you need. 

A chicken

Any chicken won’t do, although if you’re not in Portugal you will obviously be limited to what’s available in your supermarket or butcher. 

In Portugal, size matters. The chickens that are used for grilling are killed at 25 days rather than 45 and should weigh no more than 700 grams. A good chef, or someone that works in a churrasqueira, should be able to tell whether it’s the right size just by holding it in their hands. 

The bird’s diet matters as well. Ideally it should be free range, and also it should be raised on a good diet of cereals and vegetables. 

The charcoal grill

You can make piri-piri chicken in an oven, and it still tastes delicious, but it does taste a lot better if it’s cooked over a charcoal or wood fire. 

The sauce

As with every other dish, the secret is in the sauce. Every restaurant has a secret ingredient or two which is key to their sauce. Sometimes it’s down to adding something, but often it’s a case of increasing of one ingredient like garlic or chili. As simple as that sounds, it can be enough to make one churrasqueira the favourite in a town. 

You can also buy piri-piri sauce from your local Portuguese supermarket, if you’re cooking at home and are in a rush. Traditionally, this is a cheap and simple bottle of piri-piri sauce, but more and more companies are now offering more luxurious and artisan recipes that include other herbs and spices, as well as fruits and other ingredients.  

The next question is when you add the sauce. Some places marinade overnight, some for a few hours before, while some actually cook the chicken first and then baste it or dip it in the sauce right at the end. 

Where to try eat frango piri-piri

The following are just a few places to try frango piri-piri in Portugal. You’ll also find it on most menus in the Algarve (sometimes called frango piri-piri, frango assado com piri-piri, frango no churrasco, or frango na brasa) but, to really experience proper piri-piri, it’s worth going to a restaurant that specialises in it.

The following are just a few popular places. 

Written by

James Cave is the founder of Portugalist and the author of the bestselling book, Moving to Portugal Made Simple. He has visited just about every part of Portugal, including Madeira and all nine islands of the Azores, and lived in several parts of Portugal including Lisbon, the Algarve, and Northern Portugal.

You can contact James by emailing james@portugalist.com or via the site's contact form.

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There are 26 comments on this article. Join the conversation and add your own thoughts, reviews, and stories of life in Portugal. However, please remember to be civil.

Comments

  1. I love Portugal and wanted to move their, from the UK after I retired, lovely people, food and wine but Brexit wrecked that possibility, now I am only allowed to stay their for a few months each year. Thanks for nothing, UK Conservative government!

    Reply
  2. Don’t be fooled, We have been travelling around Lisbon, Porto and Douro Valley regions for 2 weeks. The only traditional food here is Cod, Cod, Cod … and a sandwich made of sausage, steak and other random meat, covered in cheese, and more Cod. Definitely no Peri Peri Chicken. (closest we saw was a bbq spatchcock at the market)
    Whatever you do, don’t try the “veal”, it’s also a random piece of beef, sliced and folded to look like veal, tough as boots.
    If you’re looking for great food, go to Spain, Italy, France or Greece. No offense to the lovely people of Portugal, they are very generous and kind, food just isn’t thier thing. However, they do make a good assortment of Port Wine.

    Reply
    • Hi Harry,

      Piri-piri chicken is typically an Algarve dish. You can find it in churrasqueiras in some other parts of Portugal, and sometimes on menus, but you really need to go to the Algarve to try it.

      Reply
    • Like in any other place you must know where you go, if you stick to tourist places you will eat in tourist restaurants, wich means food cooked for tourists, normally pay alot for a cheap not well cooked meal. Piri piri chicken is everywhere but not in such restaurants, like the article talks about its called churrasqueiras and every neighborwood has them.

      Reply
    • It sounds like you are at all the bad places!!!! Portugal has AMAZING food! Sea food is for me their specially as they have one of the biggest fishing areas in the world. Arroz da marisco and cataplana are some of my faves 🙂

      Reply
  3. A few drops of piri piri sauce in Gin & Tonic is also nice.
    The best piri piri chicken I ate, is in Tavira in a small place where workmen eat their lunch. The chicken is sprinkled with chili seeds and is delicious. No sauce from a bottle but real piri piri seeds.
    And it is cooked over a charcoal fire. I always ask for extra hot.

    Reply
  4. There were no bird’s eye chilies in Mozambique before the portuguese arrival there. All chilies (of the Capsicum family) have their origin in South America.

    Reply
  5. There were no bird’s eye chilies in Mozambique before the portuguese arrival there. All chilies (of the Capsicum family) have their origin in South America.

    Reply
  6. In Cascais there is an excellent chicken place called Somos Um Regalo – does piri- piri Da Guia – honestly the best chicken I’ve had anywhere and extremely popular. Interesting article and informative – thank you – but in my opinion the question of who makes better chicken piri-piri (or peri peri) is a split decision. I think chicken cooked in Portugal on the churrasco is better cooked than what you generally get in SA – but the South African sauces are way better than what you have here in Portugal. And remember after the war in Mozambique loads of Portuguese crossed the border, stayed, opened restaurants etc there – the best option might be to bring sauce from SA and add to chicken cooked here!! Now there’s a win win!

    Reply
  7. Hi

    I have relatives in Almancil in the Algarve and visit regularly. The best piri piri (and I’ve tried many churrasqueiras) I’ve tried is actually the Almancil churrasqueira. All the churrasqueiras I’ve been to seem to cook the chicken, cut it up then spoon over the oil sauce. I saw what ingredients go into the sauce but I wondered how the piri piri chilli is added (fried or raw). Also a piri piri chilli is potent but all the chicken I’ve had with piri piri sauce can be eaten quite comfortably.

    I want to try and recreate the recipe at home in the uk but waned some advice on the sauce as really spicy foods aren’t my best friend! I can tolerate the piri piri from the churrasqueira so it cant be hotter than that.

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • We portuguese to make that sauce add the piri piri dried, usually the easiest to to find and buy specially all year arround is dried piri piri and thats what we use to make the sauce

      Reply
  8. Hi. I have visited Portugal many times over many years and normally can only find Piri Piri in the Algarve. However in May 19 I found a place called Frango da Guia in Sesimbra. Curious, I visited and can say it was amazing Piri Piri. Worth adding to the list of places to get a good plate of Chicken Piri Piri.

    Reply
  9. Can you tell me where in the uk can I buy the spatchcock chicken cooking apparatus used in Portuguese supermarkets as I would like to have one of these machines in my restaurant. Kind regards, John Fraioli.

    Reply

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