Vegan Nandos Piri Piri Chicken
This vegan piri piri chicken is the answer to all of your Friday night dinner cravings.
Piri piri is a sauce traditionally made from birdseye chillis with roots in Portuguese and African cultures. It’s a spicy, tangy and savoury sauce most famously known as the main offering of the restaurant Nandos.
In this recipe I used a meat replacement chicken and made the sauce from scratch to make my own piri piri or Nandos style chicken but vegan.
This sauce can be fully customised to fit your tastes or even other Nandos flavours such as lemon and herb. Add some lemon, mango or some hot sauce to switch up the flavours. Feel free to try this on any protein you like, its really versatile so get creative!
You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make and after trying this at home you’ll never need to spend all that money on the real deal. Friday night fakeaway sorted!
How to make Vegan piri piri chicken
- Roast the vegetables.
- Blend with the seasonings & liquid
- Marinate your meat
- Fry until charred and heated through
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Why you will love this vegan Nandos chicken
Easy-All you need to do is roast or air fry the veggies, blend the seasoning paste, marinate the chicken then fry to serve.
Make ahead friendly- As the chicken tastes better when marinated this recipe is perfect for making ahead. Prep a big batch on Sunday to cook up for weeknight dinners.
Saves money- Once you make this at home you’ll never have to go to Nandos and pay lots of money for dinner again! Make it better at home.
Versatile- I used shop bought vegan chicken for this recipe but the marinade works on anything. Try this on tofu, tempeh or vegetables.
What to eat with piri piri chicken
This chicken goes well in a wrap or as a burger. As a protein topping for salads. Or serve up as is with some spicy rice, corn on the cob or chips with some peri peri salt.
Vegan Nandos chicken piri piri ingredients and substitutes-
- Vegan chicken- I just used my favourite shop bought plant based chicken as the meat replacement that Nandos use in their wraps but this marinade will work on any protein or even vegetables. You can use whatever you fancy.
- Red bell pepper- In this recipe red bell pepper gets roasted in the oven to make up the bulk of the sauce. You could use pre roasted jarred pepper to cut down the time if you wish.
- Garlic- Fresh garlic, pre minced or garlic powder are all fine. In this recipe I used roasted garlic for a more subtler, slightly sweeter flavour.
- Red chilli- Traditional piri piri uses birdseye chilli however I prefer it less spicy so I use a milder chilli. You can also use chilli powder or chilli flakes.
- Paprika- A good quality Spanish smoked paprika gives this sauce a slight hint of deep smokey flavour and red colour. You can use normal paprika but double the amount
Step by step of how to make vegan peri peri chicken
- To a dish or baking tray add the garlic, chilli, onion and bell pepper.
- Drizzle with oil and roast until soft
- Once cooled blend the vegetables
- You now have the piri piri marinade
- Add the marinade to the chicken
- Fry until charred on the edges and cooked through
Homemade vegan piri piri nandos chicken
Ingredients
- 150 g vegan chicken
For the sauce-
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 1 Onion
- 3 Cloves of garlic
- 1 Red chilli
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 10 g Fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp of EVOO
Instructions
- Dice up the pepper, chilli and onion roughly and add to a baking tray with the garlic cloves.
- Drizzle with olive oil and roast until soft and charred
- Once cooked leave the veggies to cool fully then add to a high speed blender with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
- You may need to add a little water to loosen the veggies and blend into a smooth sauce.
- In a big bowl add the vegan chicken and pour in the sauce. Stir well to combine and be sure all of the chicken is covered.
- Leave to marinate for up to 24 hours.
- After marinating fry in a hot pan until cooked through and browned on the outside.
- Enjoy in wraps, sandwiches or salads.
If you liked this recipe be sure to check out some of my other recipes!
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