Peruvian Chicken Drumsticks with Spicy Green Sauce

These Peruvian Chicken Drumsticks are perfect on their own but absolutely explode with flavour when coated with the spicy, green sauce!

Shake things up on game day, spice up your next barbecue with friends or make family dinner something to remember.

Move over ranch, dill, and blue cheese… we have a new sauce in town, and it is freaking delicious! So good that we double the recipe, then serve it with fresh vegetable and/or plain chips.

Watch how this recipe was made here.

Ingredients

• Chicken drumsticks

Chicken Marinade

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lime juice 
• Garlic cloves
• Crushed hot chili peppers in oil
• Kosher salt
• Paprika
• Smoked paprika
• Black pepper
• Cumin
• Dried oregano
• Honey

Green Sauce

• Jalapeños
• Cilantro
• Garlic 
• Greek yogurt
• Avocado 
• Sour cream
• Lime juice
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil

Garnish, optional

• lime zest
• chopped cilantro

See recipe card for quantities.

INSTRUCTIONS 

Marinate the Chicken

• Add all the chicken marinade ingredients (except the chicken) into a food processor, then blend until smooth.
• Pat the drumsticks dry with paper towels, then place in a resealable bag (or bowl). Pour over the marinade and toss to ensure the chicken is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

Prepare the Green Sauce

• While the chicken marinates, prepare the Green Sauce. Combine all the green sauce ingredients (except for the olive oil) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil with the motor still running, then transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grill the Chicken

• Preheat the grill on medium heat (approximately 400F).
• Remove the drumsticks from the marinade and place on the top rack of the preheated grill, close the lid and cook for 20 minutes (I use the top rack to limit flare-ups. If a top rack is not available, turn off a burner to create an indirect cooking zone and place the drumsticks in that area).

• When the 20 minutes have elapsed, flip the drumsticks (exchanging the positions of the drumsticks with one another for more even cooking). Close the lid and cook for another 15 minutes.
• Move the drumsticks to the lower rack, directly above the heat source burner and cook over medium heat until the chicken has a nice char and is cooked through. Approximately 15 minutes, flipping every 3-4 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 165F.

Garnish and Serve

• Remove the drumsticks to a platter and serve with the green sauce. Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime zest, optional.
• To experience the whole flavour of this dish, dip the chicken in the green sauce or spoon it over the chicken and enjoy.

These Peruvian Inspired Spicy Chicken Drumsticks were grilled on my 36″ Hestan freestanding Grill.

Proud Hestan Ambassador. Opinions in this post are always my own.

Variations

Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Spicy Cilantro Sauce

• Since we really enjoyed the grilled Spicy Peruvian Drumsticks, I thought I’d try the recipe with a whole roasted chicken… and it did not disappoint!
• For the whole roasted chicken follow the instructions for the the marinade and the green sauce in the recipe card. One whole chicken replaces the drumsticks.
• See the full recipe in the recipe card notes below.

Peruvian Chicken Drumsticks with Spicy Green Sauce

Shake things up on gameday, spice up your next barbecue with friends or make family dinner something to remember. These charred Peruvian inspired drumsticks are perfect on their own but absolutely explode with flavour when coated with the spicy, creamy green sauce.

Move over ranch, dill, and blue cheese… we have a new sauce in town, and it is freaking delicious! So good that we double the recipe, then serve it with fresh vegetable and/or plain chips!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Game Day Snack, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Peruvian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 12 to 16 chicken drumsticks

Chicken Marinade

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup lime juice freshly squeezed
• 4 large garlic cloves chopped
• 1 tablespoon crushed hot chili peppers in oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 teaspoons honey

Green Sauce

• 2 jalapeños charred, skin removed, then roughly chopped (seeds optional)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• ½ avocado chopped
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Garnish, optional

• lime zest
• chopped cilantro

Instructions

 

Prepare the Marinade

• Add all the chicken marinade ingredients into a food processor, then blend until smooth.
• Pat the drumsticks dry with paper towels, then place in a resealable bag (or bowl). Pour over the marinade and toss to ensure the chicken is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

Prepare the Green Sauce

• While the chicken marinates, prepare the Green Sauce. Combine all the green sauce ingredients (except for the olive oil) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil with the motor still running, then transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grill the Chicken

• Preheat the grill on medium heat (approximately 400F).
• Remove the drumsticks from the marinade and place on the top rack of the preheated grill, close the lid and cook for 20 minutes (I use the top rack to limit flare-ups. If a top rack is not available, turn off a burner to create an indirect cooking zone and place the drumsticks in that area).
• When the 20 minutes have elapsed, flip the drumsticks (exchanging the positions of the drumsticks with one another for more even cooking). Close the lid and cook for another 15 minutes.
• Move the drumsticks to the lower rack, directly above the heat source burner and cook over medium heat until the chicken has a nice char and is cooked through. Approximately 15 minutes, flipping every 3-4 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 165F.

Garnish and Serve

• Remove the drumsticks to a platter and serve with the green sauce. Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime zest, optional.
• To experience the whole flavour of this dish, dip the chicken in the green sauce or spoon it over the chicken and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Creamy Green Sauce

• 1 x 3 ½ to 4-pound chicken
• Fingerling potatoes, onions and roasting vegetables of your choice
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

Follow the instructions for the the marinade and the green sauce in the Drumstick Recipe above. One whole chicken replaces the drumsticks.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then place in a resealable bag (or bowl). Pour over the marinade and toss to ensure the chicken is well coated. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the potatoes, onions and vegetables in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 50-60 minutes, until the internal temperature of the breast reaches 165°F. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and tent with foil for about 20 minutes. Portion the chicken and serve with the Green Sauce.

Keyword green sauce peruvian, peruvian chicken sauce, peruvian chicken with creamy green sauce, peruvian spicy green sauce, peruvian style chicken

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