Air-fryer Peruvian Chicken with a delicious classic green sauce for easy tasty dinners!
Ladies and gentlemen, as you very well know – I love my air-fryer! Are you tired, yet? I know that I’m not! My latest Hispanic creation using my favorite small kitchen appliance is – Air Fryer Peruvian with a classic Green Sauce.
I absolutely love making it the traditional way, which is either baked or grilled. However, I recently discovered that making it in the air-fryer gives me results that are just as tasty. Making it either way is a guaranteed way of making a dinner that is sure to wow and please.
Hands down my favorite part of Peruvian Chicken is the seasoning. Specifically the Aji Amarillo Paste! Now I’m lucky enough to live in an area where this is easy to find at my local supermarket, however, you can also find it online at Amazon. Aji Amarillo is a must whenever you’re making Peruvian food. Aji amarillo (yellow pepper) is vibrant in color and has just the right amount of heat. You can easily make the paste yourself, but I find that using the ready-made paste is just as good.
The Aji Amarillo is a key ingredient when making Peruvian Chicken and making the delicious classic Green Sauce as well. Another fun aspect of Peruvian food is that some dishes are naturally fused with Asian flavors, which I love!
The marinade for making my Air-Fryer Peruvian Chicken is very similar to my marinade for my Traditional Peruvian Chicken – Pollo A La Brasa recipe. I changed a few things to make it air-fryer friendly. For example, instead of using fresh garlic, I opted for garlic powder. You’re probably thinking, hold on Zee – rewind!
In my Air Fryer Steak Bites – Carne Frita recipe where I only cooked the meat for a small amount of time in the air-fryer, using fresh garlic was okay. Since we only air fried the meat for a few minutes, this meant that the garlic was not going to burn. However, with the Air Fryer Peruvian Chicken, we’re actually going to be air frying the meat for 25+ minutes. We run the risk of burning the garlic and it won’t taste that great. In fact, it will take on a bitter flavor, which can ruin the whole dish.
The marinade in general is very easy to make. It consists of Aji Amarillo Paste, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and more. You can make the marinade ahead of time and save it in the refrigerator. You can then use it on other proteins like pork and fish. In fact, I LOVE using this marinade when making ribs. No worries – that’s a different recipe for another day.
Keep in mind that when making this recipe, you can use a variety of cuts of chicken. Today, I opted for drumsticks. However, you can make this Air Fryer Peruvian with chicken thighs, wings, and even breasts. Just note that depending on the size of the chicken, you may have to alter your cooktimes.
My favorite air fryer is the Ninja Foodi. I’ve tried a ton of different air-fryers, but this one is hands down my workhorse. It comes up to temperature quickly, it’s easy to use, and it’s extremely durable. Note that Ninja makes a variety of different air-fryers and some that also have different functions. Today, I’m using my 11-in-1 Ninja Foodi, which perfectly holds about 2 lbs of drumsticks. If your air-fryer is smaller, you may have to cook the chicken in batches. If that’s the case, set your oven to about 200-220 degrees so that the first batch stays warm while you cook the second.
Lastly, roasting and cooking any meat can be a little bit daunting. I recommend having a meat thermometer on hand to make sure that the meat is fully cooked through. There’s no harm in being 100% sure. It gives you confidence knowing that your dish is cooked to perfection! I personally like to cook my chicken drumsticks and thighs once they’ve reached 185F.
If you’d like to follow along and learn How to Make Peruvian Chicken in the Air Fryer, visit my YouTube Channel – Chef Zee Cooks
… and now for the recipe
Ingredients
- Ingredients: Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs Drumsticks
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ½ tbsp Cumin
- ½ tbsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Aji Amarillo Paste
- 1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 Lime
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper to Taste
- Olive Oil
- Ingredients: Green Sauce
- 2 Jalapenos (No seeds)
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 tbs Aji Amarillo Paste
- 1 cup Fresh Cilantro
- 1 Lime
- ⅓ cup Mayo
- Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add jalapeno, fresh garlic, 1 tbsp aji amarillo paste, cilantro, lime, mayonnaise, olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth and store in the refrigerator.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine soy sauce, aji amarillo paste, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, red wine vinegar, sugar, lime juice, kosher salt and black pepper. Mix together until well combined and then add chicken. Make sure chicken is covered fully in marinade and let marinate for 20mins or overnight.
- Place chicken into air fryer. Then set to air-fry at 375F and cook for 25mins or until internal temperature of drumsticks reach 180F. Once chicken is done, remove and serve with green sauce, rice, and plantains.
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