Serve with French fries or wedges for a real-deal Nando’s experience at home. Excellent for gatherings – marinade large batches of chicken, cook on the BBQ, set up a DIY burger station!
Ingredients
Peri Peri Sauce/Marinade
- 1 – 3 birds eye red chilies (1 is very mild, 3 is mildly spicy) (Note 1)
- 1 medium red capsicum / bell pepper , roughly cut into 1.5cm / 1/2″ pieces
- 5 garlic cloves , peeled, whole
- 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil , or other plain flavoured oil
- 4 tbsp malt vinegar (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika (substitute regular / sweet paprika)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp onion powder (substitute garlic powder)
- 1 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 3 drops red food colouring (optional, Note 3)
Perinaise
- 3 tbsp Peri Peri Sauce (above)
- 1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise (or other mayonnaise)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (or yoghurt)
Burgers
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts or chicken thigh fillets , skinless boneless (each large enough for a burger)
- 4 soft rolls , split and lightly toasted (if desired)
- 2 tomatoes , sliced
- Lettuce of choice
Instructions
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Prepare chicken breast – If using breast, pound to 1 cm / 0.4″ even thickness (cover with go-between or freezer bags, use a meat mallet or rolling pin). Then trim each chicken piece so it is a bit larger than the buns (factor in 20% shrinkage when it cooks).
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Peri Peri Sauce – Put the Per Peri Sauce ingredients in a jug and blitz until smooth using a stick blender, or other appliance of choice (food processor, blender, NutriBullet).
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Marinade chicken – Pour 1/2 cup of the sauce into a bowl or ziplock bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Marinate for at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours, in the fridge.
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Perinaise – Mix together the Perinaise ingredients. Set aside.
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Cook chicken – Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a fry pan over medium / medium-high heat, OR brush BBQ grill with oil then heat. Cook breast for 3 minutes on each side, thighs for 4 minutes (in batches, if they won’t fit in the pan), lowering the heat as needed if they are charring too much (char = legit!).
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Rest – Remove the chicken onto a plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 5 minutes. (Meanwhile, toast the rolls)
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Assemble – To make the burgers, spread the base of a roll with Peri-naise. Top with lettuce, tomato then chicken, then top with more Peri-naise and extra Peri Peri sauce if desired!
Notes
Best substitute – Thai chillies, followed by red pepper flakes / chilli flakes (start with less, blitz, taste, repeat as needed).
2. Malt vinegar – Brown vinegar made from ale, nuttier and less sharp than most vinegars. Substitute with red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
3. Red food colouring – For legit looking Peri Peri red sauce. Entirely optional!
Leftovers – Cooked chicken will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Peri Peri sauce will keep for 3 to 4 days (or freeze 3 months), and the pink sauce will keep for at least a week.
Nutrition per burger, assuming half the pink sauce is used (average usage) and 1/2 of the Per Peri sauce is leftover too (use it for dipping, pour over veg, dollop on scrambled eggs, spread like pesto on sandwiches. SO GOOD!).
