Name: Piri Piri Chicken Bowls
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Portugese
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 bird’s eye chili pepper (or serrano pepper), finely chopped*; juice, 1/2 lemon; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp paprika; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 cup dry rice (white or brown); 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained; 1 large yellow plantain, peeled and sliced diagonally; 1 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 small shallot, roughly chopped; 1 bird’s eye chili pepper (or serrano pepper), roughly chopped*; 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems included; 1/2 lime, juiced; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup water

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These Piri Piri Chicken Bowls are packed full of flavor and spice with a rice and beans base, roasted plantains, the ultimate piri piri chicken and of course, spicy sauce! Dump it all into a bowl to ensure the best flavor in every bite.

We consider ourselves to be bowl connoisseurs around here. Breakfast in a bowl? How we start our day. Leftover lunch in a bowl? There’s no other way to eat it! Dinner packed into a bowl? SIGN US UP. I’m all about combining different ingredients and flavors to make the perfect bite. Meals just simply don’t taste as good when they aren’t in a bowl.

These piri piri chicken bowls are no exception. Yes, dinner will require a few extra steps, but trust me when I say that it’s worth it. The plantains are roasted to perfection and the spicy sauce is everything! Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself!

What is Piri Piri Chicken?

Piri Piri Chicken is chicken marinated in a piri piri sauce. Piri Piri sauce is also sometimes called Peri Peri Sauce. Both are accurate. Piri Piri sauce is a traditional African spicy sauce that also made it’s way to Portugal so it is oftentimes synonymous with Portugese food. However, its origins are truly in African countries and typically use a combination of African Bird’s Eye Chili peppers, lemon, oil and paprika.

These piri piri chicken bowls are my interpretation of piri piri sauce and are not to be construed as an authentic version of the recipe.

Ingredients You Need:

These piri piri chicken bowls have 4 parts: the marinated chicken, the roasted plantains, the rice and beans and of course, the spicy sauce. Here’s what you need:

FOR THE CHICKEN:

Chicken breasts – buy boneless + skinless and chop into bite-sized pieces
Garlic cloves
Red Chili Peppers – traditionally you should use bird’s eye chili peppers but you can also use serrano pepper or another red chili pepper. Just be sure to seed it if you don’t like it super spicy.
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Paprika + Salt

FOR THE BOWLS:

Rice – choose whatever kind you want. You can use brown or white. Just adjust your cooking time based on type of rice.
Black Beans
Plantain – be sure to buy a plantain that is riper and has more of a yellow hue. Most grocery stores carry plantains near the bananas.
Olive oil + salt

FOR THE SPICY GREEN SAUCE:

Olive oil
Shallot – try to find one on the smaller side otherwise it can be a little overpowering
Red Chili Peppers – traditionally you should use bird’s eye chili peppers but you can also use serrano pepper or another red chili pepper. Just be sure to seed it if you don’t like it super spicy.
Fresh Cilantro – you can include the stems!
Lime juice
Cumin + Salt
Water

How to Make Piri Piri Chicken Bowls

STEP 1: In a large bowl combine chicken breast pieces with garlic cloves, chili pepper, lemon, olive oil, paprika and salt. Let marinate for 20 minutes (or overnight in fridge).

STEP 2: Make rice according to package instructions. When rice is done stir black beans directly into pot to combine.

STEP 3: Preheat to 400 degrees F. Place sliced plantains on a lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove plantains from oven and using either a mallet or the base of cup, squish the plantains so they flatten out.

STEP 4: Move flattened plantains to one side of pan and add marinated chicken to the other side. Bake for 15 minutes. Increase heat to broil and broil chicken and plantains for 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure they don’t burn. Remove from oven and set aside.

STEP 5: Add all sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until well combined.

STEP 6: Plate your piri piri chicken bowls by adding rice and bean mixture to a shallow bowl and top with roasted plantain and chicken. Drizzle with spicy sauce.

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