Spicy Grilled Chicken
A delicious marinade for grilled chicken is as easy as the molcajete or blender! Stop buying store bought marinades!
Servings 4 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsps. whole peppercorns
- 1 ½ tbsps. coarse sea salt
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsps. dried chile piquin
- 2 tsps. dried onion flakes
- 2 tsps. oregano
- 1 tbsp. of ground achiote paprika or mild chili powder
- Zest and juice of 2 limes
- ¾ c olive oil
- 2 ½ lbs boneless chicken thighs excess fat trimmed
Instructions
- Process and grind all the spices in the molcajete until finely ground. If no molcajete, you can use the blender or use ground spices.
- Mix in the lime zest, juice and the oil. Stir well to combine. Pour marinade all over the chicken. With gloves on your hands, work the marinade all over chicken, making sure it’s evenly coated. Cover and chill for 6 hours.
- When ready to grill pull the chicken out 35 minutes before you light the grill. Start a fire one side of the grill. Ideal temperature is 375-400 degrees. You will be cooking the chicken with indirect heat. One side hot and one side cold. Take half of an onion and rub it on the grates of the cold side of the grill. Place the chicken evenly on the indirect side. Close the lid. Grill the chicken for 30 minutes with the lid closed.
- After that, open the lid and rotate the chicken. Close the lid and cook for another 15 minutes. Begin turning the chicken several times and rotating the chicken around the grill. Chicken is ready when the internal temperature reads 165 degrees F. You can quickly sear the chicken for 30 seconds on each side on the hot side if you desire. Transfer cooked chicken to a covered dish and let it sit for 10 minutes. Slice for tacos. Serve with warm tortillas, salsa, avocado, cilantro and lime.
Notes
For a smoother marinade, use a high speed blender like a Vitamix. Prepare it ahead of time for more flavor!