Pollo Asado

By Ham El-Waylly

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes, plus at least 3 hours marinating
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, plus at least 3 hours marinating
Rating: 4(344)
Notes: Read community notes

Pollo asado, Mexican marinated and grilled chicken, uses pigmented annatto seeds to get its signature brick red color. Annatto seeds can be found in Latin supermarkets or online, but a cube of prepared achiote paste is a suitable sub. This recipe uses two types of dried chiles, for which there are no substitutes; however, if they’re hard to come by, swap them out for a can of seeded chipotles in adobo for a different, but still delicious, smoky vibe. The acidity from the citrus in the marinade helps tenderize the chicken legs, but a limit does exist; keep it under 12 hours. Serve the chicken alongside pickled onions and warm tortillas for quick tacos, or beans and rice.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

For the Marinade

6garlic cloves, peeled
1small yellow onion, peeled and halved through the root
3guajillo chiles, seeded
2pasilla chiles, seeded
2teaspoons coriander seeds
1teaspoon cumin seeds
½cup grapefruit or orange juice (from 1 grapefruit or 2 oranges)
½cup lime juice (from about 4 limes)
1tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more for seasoning
2teaspoons annatto seeds, or a cube of achiote paste
1teaspoon dried oregano
1teaspoon hot paprika

For the Pollo Asado

3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks and thighs
2tablespoons neutral oil
½bunch cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
3limes, cut into wedges

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the marinade: Heat a medium skillet over medium. Add the garlic cloves and onion, and cook on one side until charred in spots, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook until charred on the opposite side, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a blender.
Step 2
Place the chiles in the same skillet and press down firmly until blistered and fragrant, about 1 minute. Flip and repeat on the other side. Add to the blender.
Step 3
Turn off the heat under the skillet and immediately add the coriander and cumin. Swirl the pan until the spices are fragrant and the cumin sounds like it's popping, 15 to 30 seconds. Transfer the spices to the blender, then add the grapefruit and lime juices, 1 tablespoon salt, annatto, oregano and paprika. Blend until smooth.
Step 4
Transfer the marinade to a bowl, or resealable freezer bag, and add the chicken. Toss to coat and transfer to the fridge for at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours.
Step 5
Using your hands, scrape off excess marinade. With a brush, coat the chicken with some neutral oil and season on all sides with salt. Place on a baking sheet or tray for carrying to the grill.
Step 6
Prepare a grill for indirect heat: Heat the coals on one half of a charcoal grill, or turn half the burners to medium-high on a gas grill. Lightly grease the grates of the grill with a paper towel dipped in neutral oil and place the chicken skin-side up on the side of the grill without coals (or turned on burners). Cover the grill and cook until chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 25 to 30 minutes. If you’d like more color on the skin, flip the chicken and place skin-side down on the coal side with the cover open, until it’s nicely charred. Be vigilant, as the chicken can quickly burn; it will only need 1 or 2 minutes. (Alternatively, cook the chicken on a grill pan over medium heat, flipping the pieces every 5 minutes, until the chicken registers 165 degrees.)
Step 7
Transfer the chicken to a platter, season with salt, tent with foil and let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving with cilantro and lime wedges.

Ratings

4 out of 5

344 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Doug W, Tucson8 months ago

Cooking a beautiful and delicious meal like this for family and friends is a warm expression of love for them, food and life.This one takes time to obtain some ingredients, preparing the marinade and marinating (overnight, preferred). Appetites soar as vigilant cooking proceeds. Then the serving part. No need to choose between beans and rice or pickled red onions and tortillas. Serve them all! And please, show that love for all by presenting the mandatory toss of cilantro on the side.

Jeffrey8 months ago

Cat, regarding oven cooking methods for this dish: I find with similar recipes that cooking chicken thighs in a hot oven - 425 to 450 degrees F - for 30 to 40 minutes (accounting for oven differences) - can deliver crackling, blistered skin and juicy meat. And you can deglaze the pn with water or white wine (degreasing according to taste) - and making a nice finishing sauce, spiced with the marinade to drizzle over the chicken. Some experimenting may be involved, but I've had good results.

Cat8 months ago

Love! Any suggestions for cooking in oven? Thx-

Sherry8 months ago

I live in South Texas where these ingredients are so easy to find — a nice change from all the recipes that call for ingredients I can’t buy here! A block of El Mexicano Achiote Rojo paste is under $2 and lasts for ages.

mb8 months ago

penzeys spices

Ricka G8 months ago

Penzy's carries them, too.

Jen8 months ago

Absolutely DELICIOUS! I marinated only an hour with both bone in chicken thighs (30 minutes )and boneless breasts (20 minutes) in a 425°F convection oven. Served with an avocado, red onion and orange salad and Mexican street corn. Juiciest chicken ever!! YUM!!

Michele8 months ago

Penzey's! (penzeys.com)

NY8 months ago

In NYC you can find the chilies at your local grocery store in most Hispanic rich neighborhoods. And of course they’re also available through Amazon.

JooJoo1 week ago

I’m confused about how the dry chilies are to be handled? Does one deseed them first , then roast them “dry” and put in a blender “dry” or does one ‘reconstitute’ the dry chilies and then roast them In the pan and then blend them with other spices and garlic/onion in a blender ??

Heather A.3 weeks ago

This makes a lot of marinade, you might be able to do 2 chickens in here or save half for another time, but it is delicious and worth the trouble to toasting the marinade elements.

Naz3 weeks ago

Yes, the marinade take time but so worth it. Being in Canada, it's a little more difficult to find all the ingrediants but the solution is ONLINE! Just plan ahead. And yes, keep a close eye on it while on the grill as it will burn! A definite keeper!

Ruth Dyal1 month ago

can i make and freeze this?

Yvette1 month ago

I can find those chilies dried but not fresh. The recipe doesn’t indicate dried chilies. Do I reconstitute or just go with chipotles?

Chuck1 month ago

Hi Yvette. Guajillo and pasilla are dried chilies and it is far easier to reconstitute them before deseeding. If you have the time go the extra step and toast them BRIEFLY over an open flame or in a dry skillet to enhance the flavor before soaking in water. You won’t be disappointed.

RSC32 months ago

Took a fair amount of time to make the marinade, but result was very good. Added a few adobe chilies to the marinade for heat. Served alongside cheese enchiladas, beans, and rice. Low & slow indirect grilling is key, and I put a medium char on the skin side to finish.

Sean2 months ago

I made two modifications: I used a small amount of oil in the first step, and I kept some marinade on the chicken rather than completely removing it. The bites with the marinade had way more flavor, but it's not the most visually pleasant. The rest of the meat itself didn't get much flavor other than from grilling. The chiles are substitutable without concern.

Luther7 months ago

This was good but not crazy good. Followed recipe to the letter, including the chilies called for. Marinated thighs for 7 hours and did indirect cooking on grill. Results were picture perfect, but once you got past the skin (that was great), the meat was fairly bland.

Carla V.7 months ago

I made these last night (I prepared the marinade the night before and marinaded the chicken in the morning). As I grilled these, my children would not stop asking when it would be ready. I served them with spicy pickled red onions, cilantro-lime rice, and seasoned black beans. Definitely a hit with my family.

Roberta Harley8 months ago

reserve some marinade before you add chicken to use as a sauce for cooked chicken

Shalini8 months ago

Indirect heat on grill didn’t work Try direct low heat next time

Pat8 months ago

Are these dried chiles or fresh?

s zupic7 months ago

was thinking the same and if i find fresh then fresh it is if not ill use dry and bring it back:)

Carla V.7 months ago

I used dried chiles, which I rehydrated first. It worked well.

Neal8 months ago

Dried or fresh chilies? Many Latin marquetas sell packaged, dried guajillo chilies, etc.

Hed8 months ago

Had to subdried ancho peppers for pasilla - all good. Marinade didn't "scrape" off very well. I rinsed 1/2 of the thighs off, left the marinade on the others before smoking at 225 until up to 140 internal. Put on 500 degree grill for 90 seconds then flipped 4x. Everything else followed the recipe - it was phenomenal. Wonder if all the steps like onion and garlic blistering was necessary considering the depth of flavors, but no arguing with the results of the product - simply fantastic.

Jen8 months ago

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