When you need to make dinner NOW, here’s an easy chicken dish – Pollo Asado.
Jump to RecipeSpanish for “grilled chicken”, chicken does need to marinate for a few hours, but then cooks quickly. Make the marinade in the morning (or even the night before), pour it over the chicken, and leave for work. The marinade flavors and tenderizes the chicken, and it cooks quickly. It’s best made with dark meat – legs or thighs – either with bones or without. White breast meat also works but needs much less marinating time.
A few minutes for great flavor
The marinade is so easy….I just blitz it in a blender for 30 seconds. You can whisk it by hand, but you’ll need to chop the onion and garlic more finely. Pollo asado is a blend of spices, onion, garlic, citrus, and salt.
Ingredients
Let’s take a look at the ingredients.
- Chicken – leg quarters, thighs, or drumstick pieces work best. Some recipes do use a whole chicken cut up. I prefer thighs, boneless or bone-in.
- onion
- Citrus – lots of orange juice and some lime juice too. Best if fresh-squeezed, but use what you’ve got, including boxed or frozen concentrate.
- Oil – I prefer olive oil for the marinade. You’ll need a different high-heat oil for the actual cooking.
- Spices – cumin, oregano, salt (sea salt for this part at my house), pepper, smoked paprika, coriander, and maybe some chipotle pepper. I have seen recipes that also include a bit of cloves, and cayenne pepper. Use them if you want.
- Achiote paste or powder (annato) – always used traditionally in Pollo Asado as it imparts not only flavor but a reddish color. It’s available on Amazon. I don’t have this condiment, so I leave it out. The smoked paprika will add some color to the dish, just not like the original.
You can cook the chicken on a grill, flat top, or in the oven. I like using my cast iron baking tray. It gets hot, is preheated in the oven, and can sear the meat. The key points with pollo asado are: heat the cooking surface, then flip the chicken only once. Let the chicken rest before serving.
Easy Pollo Asado
Chicken thighs are marinated then grilled or baked, resulting in a tangy, spicy smoky flavor that the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs or thighs or a whole chicken cut up
- 1 small onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/2 cup orange juice fresh squeezed if possible
- 1/4 cup lime juice fresh squeezed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp chipotle chili increase to make spicier
- 2 tsp grey sea salt or 1 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
Instructions
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Place chicken parts in a plastic bag or lay flat in a shallow dish, like a pie plate.
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Put all the other ingredients into a blender and blitz on high 30 seconds. Pour over the chicken and marinate 4-8 hours. Overnight is fine for legs; less time if white breast meat is used.
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Heat the grill until very hot, then oil it with a high-smoke-point oil. For the oven, heat to 450F and oil a sheet tray or large skillet (cast iron works best).
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Place skin side down and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned. Lower the heat. Flip the chicken only once to cook the other side. Cook until meat registers 165F. The marinade can be used to baste the chicken while cooking.
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Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Serve Pollo asado with Mexican grilled corn, tortillas, beans, or lime rice for an authentic Mexican meal. Roasted potatoes or wild rice along with a salad are great too.
May be served with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole on the side.
I found the oven doesn’t sear the chicken well, so I used the convection setting. An air fryer would also work, or broil at the end for a few minutes.
So, have you made Pollo asado? Will it be a family favorite for you?
I serve it with my Crispy roasted potatoes. Do you want the recipe for these?
