Peruvian-Inspired Whole Roasted Chicken with Tangy “Green Sauce”

This Peruvian-Inspired Whole Roasted Chicken with Tangy “Green Sauce” is a must-try!

I have the most wonderful employee on the planet. In fact, I feel weird calling her my “employee” or “assistant” because it’s not quite the title for Taylor. Taylor has become a friend to me and someone I can’t imagine running this blog without. She’s like the partner I never knew that I needed.

While checking out one day at Whole Foods, Taylor approached me, told me she loved my blog, and quickly said if I was ever looking for someone to help out that she’d had experience as a personal assistant before and she just moved to the area from NYC and was looking for a job. The rest was history. It was love at first sight. 

Taylor does all sorts of randomness for me but mainly, we sit in my kitchen together and create wonderful content together that you guys get to see day in and day out. One thing that Taylor has begged me to make is her favorite meal she’s ever had from her favorite restaurant in NYC, Pio Pio. Pio Pio is a Peruvian style restaurant that specializes in rotisserie chicken. She rants and raves about the green sauce any chance she can get. She might just move back to NYC and ditch me so that she can be closer to Pio Pio. I would be devastated.

Anyway, I knew I had to make Taylors dreams come true and together, we reinvented Pio Pio’s Peruvian-Inspired Whole Roasted Chicken in my kitchen (to the best that we could) and made a Whole30/Paleo rendition of their famous “Green Sauce” (or Aji Verde). 

Instead of making Rotisserie chicken at home, we opted to spatchcock and roast our chicken, then serve it with a lovely Mayo-based “green sauce”. Typically, “green sauce” has some cheese in it, and sometimes even sour cream. But to keep it whole30 we stuck with just mayo, cilantro, jalapeños, lots of garlic, and then lime and vinegar to give it that nice tang that makes you never want to stop eating it.

The sauce alone is all you need for a week of delicious meals. You ARE going to want leftovers to put on all the things and this Peruvian-Inspired Whole Roasted Chicken recipe makes plenty for just that. It’s just incredible! The chicken also turned out so flavorful and so juicy. 

I recommend serving it with this simple side avocado salad (also inspired by Pio Pio) and even roasting up some my oven fries for the most epic weeknight meal that your whole family will just adore.

Special thanks to Taylor for being a part of this journey with me! I hope we make and enjoy this Peruvian-Inspired Whole Roasted Chicken and Green Sauce together for years to come! 🙂

Peruvian-Style Whole Roasted Chicken with Tangy "Green Sauce"

2019-01-02 17:12:06

Serves 4

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

For the Chicken

1. 1 whole chicken, about 3.5-4 pounds
2. 2 teaspoons dried oregano
3. 1 teaspoon paprika
4. 1.5 teaspoons cumin
5. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6. 2 teaspoons kosher salt
7. 1 teaspoon black pepper
8. 1/4 cup avocado oil

For the Tangy "Green Sauce"

1. 1 cup avocado oil or safflower seed oil
2. 1 egg
3. An Immersion blender
4. 1 wide mouth, glass jar a little bit wider than the head of your immersion blender
5. 1 large jalapeno, seeded and loosely chopped
6. 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
7. 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
8. 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or more to taste
9. 2 cloves garlic
10. 1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed
11. 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)

For the Simple Avocado Salad

1. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2. 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3. 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4. 1 clove garlic, minced
5. Kosher salt, to taste
6. Black pepper, to taste
7. 1 large avocado, sliced
8. 2 cups iceberg lettuce, sliced thin (about 1/2 head)
9. 1 large tomato on the vine, sliced thin
10. 1/4 cucumber, sliced on the diagonal

For the Chicken

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Place the whole chicken on a cutting board and flip it over, breast side down, so that the backbone is face up. "Spatchcock" the chicken, or remove the backbone, by using a pair of good poultry shears to cut along both sides of the backbone. Discard the backbone (or safe it for making stock). Rinse chicken (inside and out) and pat very dry.
3. Transfer chicken to a large oven safe skillet (I use a cast iron) or sheet pan, cavity side up.
4. In a small bowl, combine the oregano, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper and avocado oil and stir until well combined.
5. Brush 1/4 of the seasoning mixture on the inside of the cavity. Flip chicken over skin side up and pat dry one last time. Brush the remaining seasoning mixture all over the top of the chicken, until evenly coated.
6. Transfer chicken to oven and cook until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes depending on the size of your chicken, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155 to 160 degrees.
7. Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
8. Quarter the chicken, and serve with the green sauce.

For the Tangy “Green Sauce”

1. Pour oil into the jar. Crack the egg into the oil and let settle into the bottom of the jar.
2. Place the immersion blender into the jar and position the blade directly over the egg yolk. Turn the immersion blender on low and hold in place, while blending, until the bottom of the jar starts to turn into a creamy emulsion, about 15 seconds. Once you see that creamy emulsion, start lifting the blender up a bit and pressing it back down, essentially emulsifying the mixture above the mayo at the bottom, bit by bit, until you reach the top and it’s a creamy, mayo texture.
3. Add the jalapeno, white vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice. Use the immersion blender once more to blend all ingredients until well combined.

For the Simple Avocado Salad

1. In a small jar, combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Shake to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, add the iceberg lettuce. Top with sliced avocado, tomato and cucumber.
3. Drizzle with the dressing immediately before serving.

By Alex Snodgrass

Adapted from Serious Eats

Adapted from Serious Eats

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