Adobo Rojo-Red Adobo
A basic red adobo or recado for a tasty roasted chicken dinner.
Servings 6 Servings
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- wire rack to cover baking sheet
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 large oranges juiced
- 2 large limes juiced
- 3-4 cloves of garlic peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 1/2 oz achiote paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp chile de arbol powder, optional
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper, plus more to season chicken
- 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more to drizzle onto whole chicken
- Salt to taste
- 5 1/2-6 lbs roaster whole chicken
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with foil paper then lay wire rack on top. Set aside.
- To the blender, add orange juice, lime juice, garlic, achiote paste, cumin, oregano, chile de arbol powder, fresh cracked pepper, 1/3 c oil and salt to taste. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
- After washing the chicken, transfer to a sturdy cutting board. You are going to spatchcock the chicken or butterfly it open. Using kitchen scissors, carefully cut the backbone from whole chicken. Place cut side down onto board and apply a good amount of pressure between the chicken breast to flatten the chicken further.
- Drizzle entire chicken lightly with olive oil, then season(to taste) with salt and pepper on both sides. Generously coat chicken, on both sides with adobo(recado) and place cut side down onto a baking sheet lined with the wire rack. You may not need all of the adobo. It can be refrigerated or frozen for use in another recipe. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- When ready place seasoned chicken on middle rack in the oven. The chicken will roughly roast for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the deepest part of the breast near the bone reaches 150 degrees F. Thigh meat should read 165 degrees F.
- When ready, remove from oven and let chicken rest at least 20 minutes before transferring to cutting board to slice. Serve right away with your favorite salsa and warm tortillas!
Notes
If you decide not to spatchcock the roaster chicken, you can still roast whole chicken. The roasting times may vary and be slightly a little longer. I would suggest adding some seasoning, cut lemons and sliced onions to the inside of the chicken cavity before roasting.
In the adobo recipe, you can incorporate vinegar into the recipe instead of lime if you prefer. Or you can eliminate the citrus if you don't prefer the acidity. Substitute with broth.