These piri piri chicken drumsticks are healthy, easy to make, budget-friendly and deliciously juicy… An absolute favourite!

Portions:

Great for three with some carbs. We love it with roasted potatoes/ fries and/or a small serving of rice. Perfect on its own as a satisfying low-carb meal for two.

Effort:

Hardly any; it takes 5 minutes to prepare and the oven does the rest. That said, marinating the chicken a few hours in advance flavours it wonderfully; marinating it overnight is even better. Be sure to refrigerate the chicken in a covered non metallic bowl. Take it out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before roasting.

Ingredients:

For oven roasted piri piri chicken drumsticks:

750 grams of chicken legs, skin-on

1.5 tbsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp of salt

5-6 fresh or dried piri piri chillies or 2-3 regular chillies; ground into a course powder/ paste. Alternatively, use 1 tbsp of chilli flakes or 1 tsp of chilli/paprika powder.

4 cloves of garlic, ground into a paste; feel free to grate it or mince it very finely instead

1 tbsp of hot pepper sauce; I love, love, love Encona Original hot pepper sauce; you can also replace this ingredient with blend of 1 tsp of tomato puree, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar and 1 tsp of chilli/ paprika powder.

1 tbsp of parsley leaves, minced or ground

2-3 dried bay leaves, torn roughly

Juice of half a regular sized lemon; throw in the rind as well

For tangy veggie salad:

1 cup of roughly chopped gem lettuce leaves

1 cup of baby spinach leaves, left whole

8 – 12 baby plum tomatoes, halved or left whole; alternatively, use 1-2 salad tomatoes, chopped

1 cup of cucumber, chopped into batonnets

1/2 cup of julienned carrots

A handful of nuts and seeds (optional)

A handful of berries (optional)

A pinch of salt if needed; I skip the salt often, I don’t really miss it too much

1 tsp of lemon juice; you could use orange segments as well

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp of course/ finely ground pepper, paprika or chilli flakes

Method:

First things first, let’s make the marinade.

In a bowl, add all the ingredients except the chicken and mix well.

In a separate bowl big enough to hold all ingredients, place all of the chicken and pour in the marinade.

Rub thoroughly to coat the chicken well with the marinade.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight or at least for 3-4 hours.

When you are ready to cook, bring the chicken out of the fridge and turn on the oven at 220 C.

After about 20 to 25 minutes, take a shallow roasting tray and cover it well with grease proof paper.

Place the chicken drumsticks on the tray in a single layer leaving enough room amongst the pieces for the hot air to circulate well.

Place the tray in the middle rack of the oven and let it roast.

After 15 minutes, turn the chicken over and roast for another 15 minutes.

Now, take the tray out of the oven, poke a piece at its thickest part with a skewer and the juices should run clear. Alternatively, pierce a drumstick at its thickest part with a meat thermometer and the internal temperature should read 75C. Place the drumsticks on a tray and cover with a sheet of foil until ready to eat. Drain the juices into a little bowl, fish out the bay leaves and skim off excess fat with a spoon. Use it as a sauce for your rice or/ and salad or save to use later in soups, sauces, stews or curries. That’s it, your chicken drumsticks are ready to eat!

The salad literally comes together in minutes. Wash all the fruits and vegetables thoroughly and chop them up accordingly.

Place all of the vegetables, lemon juice or orange segments, seasonings and olive oil in a large salad bowl and toss it well to combine and voila, it’s done 🙂