Pollo Asado Recipe
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This pollo asado recipe creates a juicy grilled chicken dinner that starts with a quick and easy lime juice, Mexican spices and achiote marinade. Use my recipe tips and video to make a fantastic Cinco de Mayo meal!
Grilled and roasted meats are very popular in Mexican cuisine. From chicken fajitas to barbacoa beef and chipotle carne asada, Mexicans are skilled at creating dishes with a great balance of smoky and spicy flavors and pollo asado is no exception!
What is Pollo Asado?
The Spanish word “pollo” translated to English means “chicken”, and asada (or asado) means “roasted” or “barbecued”.
Pollo asada (also spelled pollo asado) is a flavorful marinated chicken dish with roots tied to Mexico and Cuba. The Mexican pollo asado marinade features freshly squeezed citrus juices and Mexican spices, including achiote, which gives the dish a beautiful red color.
The chicken pieces are almost always grilled over indirect heat, but as the name implies, it is sometimes roasted in the oven. Here I use chicken thighs, but other cuts of chicken can include chicken breast. Perfect to eat as is with any Mexican side dish or cut into strips for tacos.
💲💲 MONEY SAVING TIP:
Many people aren’t aware of this, but most grocery stores with a butcher will break down a whole fryer chicken for you at no charge. All you have to do is buy the whole fryer from that store and then take it to the butcher counter and ask!
- Chicken– You’ll need 5 pounds of bone-in chicken for this Mexican chicken recipe. The budget-friendly route is to buy what’s known as a “whole fryer chicken”, which you can then cut into individual pieces. If you aren’t comfortable breaking down a chicken into pieces yourself, get one that’s already broken down.
- Achiote paste– Achiote paste (also known as recado) is a flavorful spice made by grinding annatto seeds and combining them with vinegar, garlic and other spices. Generally, the paste is sold in small, 4-ounce blocks. Deep red in color, achiote has a slightly peppery, smoky flavor. You can read more about achiote paste in my post Achiote and the Annatto Seed.
- Orange and lime: Orange and lime juice to create a delicious citrus flavor base for the marinade.
- Seasonings: I used a mix of cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, Mexican oregano.
- Marinate the chicken a minimum of 45 minutes, but I recommend 4 hours or up to overnight. Unlike beef, poultry doesn’t have any tough connective tissue that needs to be tenderized. It starts to break down and the texture gets mushy. While it’s OK to marinate overnight, any longer would be far too long if the marinade or rub has a high acid base (vinegar, wine, citrus juice and tomatoes, etc).
- Prepare the Grill. To prevent your pollo asado from burning, it’s important to set up your grill for indirect cooking. This just means that one side of the grill will be hotter than the other.
For indirect cooking on a charcoal grill, place your lit charcoal across half of the grill and leave the other half empty.
To indirect cook on a gas grill, only turn half of the burners on. - Grill your chicken. Remove the chicken from the pollo asado marinade and shake off any excess. Place the pieces skin side down on the direct heat side of the grill, close the lid and let it cook for 10 minutes. Open the lid and move the pieces to the indirect heat side of the grill. You can flip the pieces over if you’d like to, but it isn’t necessary. Close the lid and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, or until the chicken internal temp reaches 165°F on a probe cooking thermometer.
- Cook on the Stovetop: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 to 10 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat, until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F on an instant read thermometer.
- Bake in the Oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on a large foil-lined baking dish. Bake the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F on an instant-read thermometer (chicken thighs and tenders need 15 minutes. Medium to large breasts need 20 to 25 minutes).
Achiote paste substitute
If you need a substitute, it’s easy to make. For this pollo asado recipe, you’ll need 2 ounces of paste. To make the substitute, combine the following ingredients together in a small bowl:
- 3 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Looking for other ways to use achiote paste?
Make my recipe for Yucatan Chicken Tostadas or Achiote Pan Seared Chicken.
Pollo Asado Recipe Serving Suggestions
Anything that you enjoy eating with grilled chicken will be delicious with Mexican grilled chicken. Good choices include this Mexican rice recipe or mashed potatoes, grilled cactus, and Mexican black beans and corn.
Pollo asado is a citrus based, tangy, grilled chicken with achiote paste giving it it’s distinct red color while chipotle chicken highlights the smoky, earthiness heat of the chipotle pepper.
Achiote paste (also known as recado) is a flavorful spice made by grinding annatto seeds and combining them with vinegar, garlic and other spices. Generally, the paste is sold in small, 4-ounce blocks. Deep red in color, achiote has a slightly peppery, smoky flavor.
I say yes, but if you can’t find it I have an achiote paste substitute listed in the recipe card with ingredient substitutions to make your very own. If anything you could just add some smoked paprika.
Look for achiote powder and paste in the ethnic foods aisle of most larger grocery stores. If you’re unable to find it there, almost all Latin markets carry it or you can purchase online.
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Pollo Asado
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 2 oz achiote paste optional (you will only use 2 oz. in this recipe. See Note 1)
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, and achiote paste (See Note) and cook for several minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Set aside.
- Add cooled achiote garlic mixture, orange juice and lime juice to a bowl and whisk to combine. Reserve 1/4 cup of marinade in the bowl to use for basting the chicken as it grills. Add remaining marinade to a 1 or 2 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Add chicken pieces, seal bag, and massage the bag, then transfer to a refrigerator to allow the chicken to marinate a minimum of 45 minutes, but I recommend 4 hours or up to overnight (8 hours).
- Grilling: Preheat grill to 350°F to 400°F. Remove chicken from marinade, then discard the bag of marinade. We will be grilling with indirect heat.
- For indirect cooking on a charcoal grill, place your lit charcoal across half of the grill and leave the other half empty. To indirect cook on a gas grill, only turn half of the burners on (for mine I keep the top Medium, middle Low and the bottom Medium).
- Grill chicken, covered, until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F when inserted into thickest portion of each piece, about 20 to 30 minutes. As chicken is cooking, use reserved marinade to baste the pieces every few minutes. I do not turn the chicken pieces over during cooking, as there is no need for grill marks.
- Cook on the Stovetop: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 to 10 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat, until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F on an instant read thermometer.
- Bake in the Oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on a large foil-lined baking dish. Bake the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F on an instant-read thermometer (chicken thighs and tenders need 15 minutes. Medium to large breasts need 20 to 25 minutes).
Video
Notes
- 3 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hey Kevin, I just found this and I’m excited to try it! We normally buy our pollo asado
from the local Costco but I’m looking to change things up. Right now I’ve got a package of it cooking in the crock pot (we like to shred it) to put in tortilla soup and or tacos.
I hope you do and like it as much as others do. It’s a pretty popular recipe here on the site. Enjoy Thea!
Fantastic recipe. Everyone absolutely loved it! So easy too!
Excellent! So happy you enjoyed this one Jayleen. Appreciate you taking the time to come back and let me know!
Wow, just WOW! That was the comment from every family member. Find the Achiote paste…game changer.
Thanks for making my day with that comment Todd. So glad you and the family enjoyed this one!
You can find the Achiote paste on Walmart’s site or on Amazon.
This recipe makes seriously delicious, seriously authentic pollo asado. The fam could not stop talking about it. The achiote paste clumped so I had to blend it smooth. My god, the flavor.
Thanks so much Christopher, it’s a favorite of mine!
Thanks for the recipe, I’m making it for dinner tonight and it smells divine.
I did get a little confused about the achiote paste alternative recipe. I would have expected it to be in the proportions needed for the pollo asado recipe as written, but I figured out too late that it was only half the amount needed for the recipe. Between that and the fact that if you’d had the achiote paste you would only use half a cube, I got all sideways. But it still looks and tastes great, I’ll just try it next time with doubling the recipe for the achiote paste alternative.
So glad you’re making this one Satchel. Sorry for any confusion regarding the substitute. I went ahead and updated the recipe Notes to reflect the new changes for a full recipe equivalent, although previously I did state above the ingredients “Double this recipe for a full 4-5 lb chicken. Use as is for half a chicken.” Cheers!
This was excellent even though I used refrigerated/bottled orange and lime juices, boneless breasts and cooked under the broiler. Sliced into flour tortillas topped with cilantro and onion.
Looking forward to making again! How would pork work with this marinade? We love Pastor tacos.
Give it a go Pat, although I do have an Al Pastor recipe if you’d like to give it a go!
I looked at your tacos al pastor and they look good! Will definitely be giving them a try. I also looked for birria de res or Mexican beef stew, something I recently came across and getting ready to try, but didn’t find it.
I’ll have to put birria de res on the list Pat!
I accidentally mixed the marinade together before cooking the ingredients in step 1 of instructions, should I try to cook it now or just use it as is?
Stephen, the idea here is to cook the garlic and temper the herb/seasonings along with the achiote in the skillet. This brings out the flavors and helps the spices bloom. It’s fine if you didn’t, but it is preferred. Use a sis and I let me know how it turns out.
Thank you so much Kevin! I did this and it turned out beyond incredible! I had made the achiote paste and am very happy you helped me save it.
Excellent to read this Stephen!
I noticed in step 1 you stated only used half of the Achiote Paste, at what point in the recipe do you use the rest?
Thanks for the question Drake. Most achiote paste is packaged in 4 ounce cubes. We will only need 2 ounces, hence only half is needed for this recipe. Save remainder for another use. Just follow the remaining steps. Thanks for stopping by!
This also caused me some confusion as I thought I was reserving half the 2oz portion, not the half of a 4oz cube. Probably didn’t help that my paste came in a single 16oz package. My plan is too just add the amount I reserved in when I blend up the basting mixture and hope all is well.
Hi Kevin,
Recipe looks great, I was wondering what your thoughts are on adding some fresh orange juice and also some honey to counteract any bitterness? I also plan to marinade over night but by the time I cook this will likely go over 8 hours (more like 24 hours) , do you think this will have a noticeable difference re tenderness?
I am marinating bite size chunks of chicken breasts for burritos
My first thoughts Jack, and I apologize for the late reply here, is that with the smaller cut up chicken the citrus might start to “cook” the pieces if over 8 hours. Was that your result? Did you make this yet?
Can you make this in a crock pot?
I see no reason why not, although I have not myself. The grill or under the broiler is best for that added char flavor. It would be a different texture, but if you do, please let me know Kelly.