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Peruvian chicken with Awesome Sauce

Garlic-and-cumin chicken, chopped and folded with a creamy cilantro sauce. Serve it over bone-broth rice with lime-pickled cucumbers.

By Jared Veldheer

Published · Updated

Servings
6 generous portions
Total time
About 1 hour 10 minutes, plus 2 to 12 hours marinating
Jump to recipe
Peruvian chicken and green herb sauce over rice, with cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and lime on a lunch tray.
In the school kitchen.

Call it Awesome Sauce

I had no idea how the kids would feel about this one. Turns out they absolutely love it. It's a hit whenever we make it.

The green sauce is the funny part. Green can look a little suspicious on a lunch tray. Call it Awesome Sauce, and suddenly they can't wait to put it on their food. It's our take on ají verde, with cilantro, garlic and gentle heat from a little seeded jalapeño. A different flavor for the kids, and one they're excited to try.

Put it on the grill if you can

A few hours in the marinade is plenty at home. Overnight works too, but I hold the lime juice until closer to cooking. Too much acid sitting on the chicken for too long can change the texture around the edges.

If you can grill this at home, that's how I'd do it. I wish I could cook it that way for the kids at school. The char from the grill tastes so good with that sauce. The oven version below works when grilling isn't an option.

Chop the cooked chicken and fold some Awesome Sauce through it. Then put it over the rice and spoon a little more sauce on top. You want that sauce getting into the rice, too.

Smart Chicken donates the chicken, the biggest ingredient cost in this meal. I cook the rice in chicken bone broth and finish it with lime and olive oil.

Home recipe

Peruvian chicken with Awesome Sauce

The Lunch Lady · Jared Veldheer

Servings
6 generous portions
Prep time
About 35 minutes
Cook time
About 25 minutes
Total time
About 1 hour 10 minutes, plus 2 to 12 hours marinating

Equipment: Two rimmed baking sheets, or a grill and tongs; blender or food processor, mixing bowls, instant-read thermometer; 6-quart electric pressure cooker or saucepan for rice.

Ingredients

Check off ingredients as you go.

Chicken and marinade

Awesome Sauce

Lime-pickled cucumbers

Bone-broth rice

Instructions

Chicken and marinade

  1. Stir together the oil, garlic, cumin, paprika, honey, coriander, oregano, tamari and salt. Coat the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours. A few hours is enough; overnight also works. Keep the lime juice and zest out for now.
  2. Stir in the lime juice and zest 30 minutes before cooking. Keep the chicken refrigerated during this time. For roasting, heat the oven to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection. For grilling, use the option in Recipe notes. Get the sauce, rice and cucumbers ready while the chicken marinates.
  3. For the oven method, spread the chicken in a single layer on two lightly oiled sheet pans, leaving room between the pieces. Discard any marinade left in the bowl. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, starting checks at 12 minutes. If using two racks, switch the pans' positions halfway through. The thickest pieces should reach 165°F.
  4. Rest the cooked chicken for about 5 minutes, then chop into bite-size pieces. Fold in about ½ cup Awesome Sauce, adding more until the pieces are lightly coated. Spoon the chicken over the rice and drizzle with more sauce so it reaches the rice underneath. Serve with cucumbers alongside and any remaining sauce at the table.

Awesome Sauce

Makes about 1½ cups.

  1. Finely chop the garlic and jalapeño. Blend with the sour cream, cilantro, lime juice and salt until smooth. Taste and adjust the lime, salt or pepper. Refrigerate while the chicken cooks.

Lime-pickled cucumbers

  1. Whisk the lime juice, vinegar, aji amarillo, sugar, salt, garlic, cumin and pepper in a bowl. Add the onion and let it sit for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the cucumbers and toss. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes, tossing once or twice.
  3. Drain off most of the liquid. Toss with the cilantro and olive oil just before serving.

Bone-broth rice

  1. Put the rice and broth in a 6-quart electric pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally with Keep Warm off. Allow about 25 to 35 minutes in all, including coming to pressure and releasing it.
  2. Fluff gently with a fork. Fold in the lime juice and olive oil. Taste before adding salt.

Recipe notes

  • To grill, preheat to medium-high, about 400°F, with a cooler area to one side. Clean and lightly oil the grates. Lift the tenders from the marinade, let the excess drip off and discard the marinade. Grill across the grates with the lid closed, turning halfway through, until the thickest pieces reach 165°F. Start checking at 6 minutes; expect roughly 6 to 10 minutes total, depending on thickness. Move pieces to the cooler area if the honey or garlic browns too quickly. Cook in batches if needed, then rest, chop and serve as in step 4.
  • For stovetop rice, follow your rice package's water ratio and cooking time, using broth in place of water. The 1:1 ratio above is for the pressure cooker.
  • Aji amarillo is a yellow Peruvian chile. Jarred pastes vary in heat. Start with a teaspoon in the cucumbers if you're unsure, taste the dressing and add more as you like.
  • The sauce is mixed into cooked chicken. Keep it separate from the raw chicken marinade.
  • If using chicken breasts, cut them into strips of even thickness before marinating. Go by the chicken's temperature rather than an exact roasting time.
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