Pollo Asado Recipe (Mexican Grilled or Roasted Chicken) (2024)

Grilled or roasted, this Pollo Asado recipe makes the most tender, juicy and flavorful chicken. Marinated in an easy pollo asado marinade made with a mixture of citrus juices, Mexican spices and achiote powder, this chicken recipe can be a stand alone meal or made into pollo asado tacos, burrito bowls, salads and more.

Pollo Asado (Chicken Asado)

This Pollo Asado recipe is easy to make, very healthy and packs lots of great flavor.

This roasted or grilled chicken gets it’s vibrant red-orange color from the addition of achiote powder or achiote paste, it’s bright citrusy taste from fresh orange juice and fresh lime juice, and a distinct earthy, peppery and smoky flavor from the addition of warm spices.

This Mexican dish is a great dinner option, excellent for meal prep, backyard barbecues and to serve on holidays like Cinco de Mayo.

What’s Pollo Asado?

Asado or asada is a Spanish word that means grilled, barbecued or roasted. Pollo asado is a Mexican grilled dish made with different cuts of marinated chicken. The citrus marinade includes spices like ground cumin, ground coriander, dried oregano and ground annatto seeds (achiote powder or achiote paste) which gives the chicken its signature orange and red color.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Chicken: You can use a whole chicken cut up into pieces or your favorite chicken part. When I’m in a rush, I usually use boneless chicken breasts (which is my husband’s preferred cut) or boneless skinless chicken thighs. I personally love bone-in chicken thighs and chicken legs which have so much flavor and always produces juicy chicken.

Pollo Asado Marinade

• Citrus Juices: In Mexican cuisine as well as other Latin American cuisines, sour orange is used in marinades. Since that sour oranges are hard to come by in the United States, we use a combination of fresh orange juice and fresh lime juice. The combination of both juices resembles the flavor of sour orange. If fresh lime juice is not available, fresh lemon juice can be used.
• Achiote: Achiote powder or paste can be used. This ingredient can be found in the spices or Spanish aisle of any grocery store.Read more about this ingredient below.
• Oil: Olive oil or any mild oils such vegetable oil can be used.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic is best. Garlic paste can also be used.
• Black Pepper and Salt: Salt is incredibly important when making a marinade. I use sea salt or Kosher salt. To add a nice peppery flavor, freshly ground black pepper is best.
• Spices: You can buy whole spices, toast them in a dry skillet and grind them at home or you can buy already ground spices. We add ground cumin, ground coriander and dried oregano. You can add red chili powder and cayenne to add a bit of spicy heat if you’d like.

What’s Achiote?

Achiote or annatto seeds is a spice and food coloring agent that comes from a tree native to tropical regions in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Whether is ground to a powder, made into a paste or infused into oil this, achiote is used in many different cuisines. Achiote has a very distinct and vibrant orange – red color. It has a subtle earthy and peppery taste that add flavor to many dishes, from rice to stews and marinades.

Annatto seeds are very hard to grind so unless you have a very good grin

How to Make Pollo Asado (Chicken Asado)?

• Mix the marinade: Add the marinade ingredients to a resealable plastic bag or large bowl. If using achiote paste, make sure you break up the paste so it mixes well with the rest of the marinade ingredients.
• Marinate: Coat the chicken with the marinade. Marinate up to 4 hours.
• Preheat oven or Grill: Preheat the oven and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place a wire rack inside the baking pan. Clean the grates of your grill and preheat it, creating 2 zones of heat. Direct heat (that’s the hot grill part) and an indirect heat side (or cooler side).
• Cook: Remove the chicken from the marinade. Discard the marinade. Place chicken skin side up on the roasting rack or skin side down on the grill. Bake or grill (see specific directions below).
• Rest: Remove the chicken from the heat when it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF when checked with an instant read thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken. Allow to rest, tented with aluminum foil for 10 minutes before serving.

What Cuts of Chicken Can I Use to Make Pollo Asado?

This easy recipe can be made with any part of a chicken. You can buy a whole chicken and cut it up into pieces or prepare the dark meat (thighs, legs, wings) or the white meat (breast). Both skin on and skinless chicken as well as boneless and bone-in chicken can be used.

How to Tell if the Chicken is Cooked?

The best way to tell if your chicken is fully cooked is by using an instant-read thermometer. The chicken is fully cooked when its internal temperature reaches 165ºF when you check the thickest part of the meat with an instant-read meat thermometer.

What is the Safe Temperature for Cooked Chicken?

For safety, always cook chicken until the juices run clear and the internal temperature has reached165 degrees Fahrenheit.Use aninstant-read thermometerfor accuracy.

The Secret to Perfectly Juicy Grilled Pollo Asado?

The secret to tender and juicy grilled chicken or pollo asado is the cooking method. Grilling over direct heat and indirect heat is key! Here are a few other tips for grilling chicken.

• Clean and Oil the Grill Grates: It’s an important step that you shouldn’t skip!
• Heat up the Grill: Create 2 zones of heat. Direct heat (that’s the hot grill part) and indirect heat (or cooler side).
• Grill Over Direct Heat: Place the marinated chicken, skin side down, on the grill, directly over the heat first. and cook for about 20 minutes, turning once every 5 minutes.
• Grill Over Indirect Heat: Move the chicken to the cooler side of the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165º F degrees.

What to Serve with Mexican Pollo Asado?

This delicious chicken asado pairs very well with so many dishes. Some of our favorites are:

• Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
• Homemade Refried Beans
• Easy Pico De Gallo
• Mexican Green Chile Rice Casserole

Storing and Reheating

Storage: Leftover chicken asado will keep, stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Reheating: Although you can enjoy pollo asado cold or at room temperature, the chicken can be reheated in the microwave or in a preheated 300ºF oven, for about 10-15 minutes. You can also use an air fryer for about 5-7 minutes at 375ºF

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